‘Knots Landing’ Star Melinda Culea, 70, Spotted in Rare Public Outing
What To Know
- Melinda Culea, known for her roles on Knots Landing, The X-Files, and The A-Team, was recently seen in a rare public outing in Los Angeles at age 70.
- Culea reflected on her early career struggles, revealing she nearly quit acting after several failed pilots but ultimately persevered with the support of new managers.
- Knots Landing, the primetime soap opera in which Culea starred during its later seasons, originally aired from 1979 to 1993 and is now available to stream on multiple platforms.
Knots Landing star Melinda Culea was recently spotted in a rare public outing 33 years after the primetime soap opera ended.
On Sunday, January 25, the ’80s TV star, 70, was photographed while out and about in Los Angeles in photos obtained by the Daily Mail.
Culea donned a black T-shirt wth a yellow hoodie, black pants, black tennis shoes, and a yellow scarf for the casual outing. The X-Files star, who had brown hair in her younger days, sported a natural gray pixie cut as she took a phone call during the excursion.
In addition to playing Paula Vertosick in Seasons 10 and 11 of Knots Landing, Culea is known for portraying Karin Berquist in Season 6 of The X-Files. She also played Amy Amanda “Triple A” Allen in Seasons 1 and 2 of The A-Team. Other notable acting credits included Soren in a 1992 episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation, Beverly Hills, 90210, Family Ties, The Fisher King (1991), and more. Culea’s most recent acting credit was in the 2001 film Dying on the Edge, per IMDb.
Before finding success, Culea nearly quit acting after missing out on multiple roles and after the pilots for an NBC series, Washed Out, and her own show, Dear Teacher, failed to get picked up.
‘The A-Team’ cast, from left: Dirk Benedict, Dwight Schultz, George Peppard, Melinda Culea, Mr. T (Mario Casilli / TV Guide /© NBC / Courtesy Everett Collection)
“I felt my work was terrible. So I just quit,” she said during a 1983 interview with the Albany Democrat-Herald, per Heroes & Icons. “I auditioned for a couple of good shows, very good shows, and just missed getting them. That killed me. I’d gotten to the level where I thought my work was good, and not getting those devastated me. It was enough, enough, enough. I couldn’t do it. I went away.”
Ultimately, she decided to give acting another go.
“What had happened is that I’d realized what is important is the work, not the outcome,” Culea explained. “A lot of the outcome has to do with business. You need someone with you who is knowledgeable about the business. I got new managers. They saw me on a pilot. They really believed in me. They’d never stopped calling.”
Knots Landing aired for 14 seasons from 1979 to 1993.
Knots Landing, streaming on Tubi, The Roku Channel, and Plex