Melissa Fahn
Melissa Fahn (born [April 28]) is a voice actor known primarily for her work in anime dubs and other mainstream animated television series.
Biography
Melissa Fahn grew up in Southern California. Her father worked in television production, giving her and her three older brothers performance experience while they were young. Melissa started singing and dancing at the age of three; she made her musical theater debut at age twelve and was privately trained in acting, dancing, and singing.
She majored in dance at Cal State Long Beach but left after one year to devote her time to work and theater. At her job as a receptionist, her voice caught the attention of a casting director for a new Betty Boop featurette. Melissa has since voiced many animated characters including Gaz of Invader Zim, Edward Wong Hau Pepelu Tirvrusky IV of Cowboy Bebop, and Rika of Digimon.
She has performed in Los Angeles, Denver, Paris, Avignon (France), and elsewhere in shows including Hal Prince's 3hree, Gilligan's Island the Musical, and the rock-opera Vox Lumiere. She was nominated for a Denver Critics Circle Award as Best Actress in a Musical for her performance as Maria in West Side Story. Stephen Schwartz invited her to join a workshop of his new musical "Wicked;" after a trial production in San Francisco, she performed eight nights a week in the Broadway ensemble and was the understudy for Glinda and providing the pivotal silhouette of Dorothy. Most recently, she has performed as Tillie in the Los Angeles Musical Theatre Guild’s production of the musical murder mystery Redhead, and as Marty in the Civic Light Opera of South Bay Cities' production of Grease.
Melissa Fahn met Joel Alpers on the set of Vox Lumiere in Los Angeles, and in 2002 they were married in Kauai, Hawaii. However, she works under her maiden name professionally.
The Internet Movie Database and other web sites claim that Melissa Fahn has performed under aliases including "Melissa Charles", "Tina Dixon", and "Heather Lee Joelson" in some of her voice work. (For example, the character of Edward in the Cowboy Bebop television series is credited to Melissa Charles, while the same character in the Cowboy Bebop movie is credited to Melissa Fahn.) Ms. Fahn has not publicly commented on these rumors. The productions listed below include credits for Melissa Fahn as well as for these other names.
Selected anime voice roles
- Ghost in The Shell: Stand Alone Complex - Tachikoma
- FLCL - Eri Ninamori
- Kikaider - Etsuko
- Please Teacher - Kaede Misumi
- Cowboy Bebop - Edward (Ed)
- Digimon Tamers - Rika Nonaka
- The Super Dimension Fortress Macross II: Lovers, Again - Amy
- El-Hazard - Alielle
- El Hazard 2 - Alielle
- El Hazard: Alternative World - Alielle
- El Hazard: Wanderers - Alielle
- Idol Project - Corvette Hyers
- Jungle De Ikou - Natsumi/Mei
- Konjiki no Gash Bell/Zatch Bell - Tia
- Mahoromatic: Automatic Maiden - Chizuko
- Ah! My Goddess: The Movie - Sora Hasegawa
- Love Hina Again - Kanako Urashima
- Mezzo Forte - Mikura Suzuki
- G.I. Joe: Sigma Six - Scarlett
Selected animated voice roles
- Invader ZIM - Gaz
- Hello Kitty's Paradise - Kitty
- Betty Boop's Hollywood Mystery - Betty Boop
Selected film roles
- Salsa - Featured Dancer
- Fast Food (Short Film) - Cookie
Selected stage roles
- Wicked (original Broadway cast) - understudy Glinda, ensemble soloist, Dorothy
- Vox Lumiere - Coloratura Soloist, Christine (Phantom of the Opera)
- Grease - Marty
- Redhead - Tillie
- The Sunshine Boys - The Nurse
- West Side Story - Maria (Denver Critics Circle Nominee - Best Actress in a Musical)
- Singin' in the Rain - Kathy Selden