Mel Gorham

Mel Gorham (born Marilyn Schnier, October 27, 1959) is an American actress who is best known for her role as Violet in Wayne Wang's films Smoke and Blue in the Face. Gorham is from Miami, Florida, and is of Cuban and Jewish descent. Gorham's improvised rendition of Peggy Lee's "Fever" in Blue in the Face garnered her much critical acclaim and press. Major film roles in Curdled and Cop Land followed. In 1997, Gorham was then cast to star in an NBC sitcom loosely based on her life titled Union Square. But after the pilot was filmed, the producers replaced her with Constance Marie. Gorham returned to the world of New York City theater where she began. After a long absence, she returned to film with a role in Wayne Wang's 2001 film The Center of the World. In 2012, she retired from show business and currently resides in South Beach.