Biography
Date of Birth
24 December 1986, London, England, UK
Birth Name
Mischa Anne Marsden Barton
Height
5' 9" (1.75 m)
Mini Biography
Born in London and raised in New York. From humble beginnings in New York Theater in 1994 where she trained with such esteemed director/writers as James Lapine ("Twelve Dreams" at Lincoln Center with Donna Murphy), Tony Kushner ("Slavs!" at New York Theater Workshop with Marisa Tomei), and Naomi Wallace ("One Flea Spare" at the Public Theatre with Dianne Wiest), she went on to work side by side with modern-day screen icons including Julia Roberts and Hugh Grant on Notting Hill (1999), Bruce Willis and Toni Collette on The Sixth Sense (1999) and Sam Rockwell in her Sundance critically-lauded feature film debut Lawn Dogs (1997) produced by Duncan Kenworthy in 1998.
Yet, despite this early success in theater and film, what really catapulted Mischa to the next level and made her a household name is her small screen performance as the irrepressible and irresistible "Marisa" on the popular Fox television show, The O.C. (2003) (2003 to 2007). The show fast became a global cult phenomenon and has earned many awards including a Television Critics Association Award nomination for "Outstanding New Program of the Year".
Established as one of the most sought after young actresses of her generation Mischa was named "It Girl" by Entertainment Weekly, she was also Hollywood Life's "Breakthrough Actress of the Year", she won several American Teen Choice Awards for the show, and also Cosmopolitan's "Fun Fearless Female Award" for "Knockout Ingenue" and Glamour's "Women of the Year". She has been ranked as one of People magazine's "50 Most Beautiful People" for 5 consecutive years. She was awarded the VIPer Award in 2008 for "Style Icon 2007" by Mr. Karl Lagerfeld. In 2008, she played opposite Shirley MacLaine & Christopher Plummer in Sir Richard Attenborough's Closing the Ring (2007), with Hayden Christensen in the Dino De Laurentiis film Virgin Territory (2003), and starred opposite Bruce Willis in Assassination of a High School President (2008) for the Yari Production Company. In 2007, she filmed Walled In (2009) for the French production company "Canal Plus", and she starred in and produced the film Homecoming (2009).
In 2012 Mischa went back to her Theatrical roots and starred in a production of "Steel Magnolias" at the Gaiety Theatre in Dublin.
Mischa has the following Films slated for release this year, 2013. "Bhopal: A Prayer for Rain" opposite Martin Sheen, "A Resurrection" starring the late Michael Clarke Duncan and Devon Sawa "Apartment 1303 3D" with Rebecca De Mornay, "I Will Follow You Into the Dark" opposite Ryan Eggold and "Beauty and the Least: The Misadventures of Ben Banks".
She has just completed "Mining for Ruby" Directed by Zoe Quist, "Beyond Justice" with Danny Trejo and Vinnie Jones and will star opposite Billy Zane in "Elephant's Graveyard" and with Christopher Plummer and Timothy Hutton in "Butterfly Love" 2014.
Mischa has also made a major impression in the fashion and beauty world. She has already graced the covers of countless international magazines and has become the face of numerous advertising campaigns.
She has developed her own Brand, her successful Handbag line having launched in 2008, together with Accessories, Clothing and Beauty products and her Flagship Boutique opened in Fashionable Shoreditch London in 2012.
This commercial and theatrical success has given the young woman an opportunity to take an extremely influential role in the global community. She became the spokesperson for "Climate Star", an organization that fights global warming through social and legislative activism. She serves as an "Entertainment Industry Foundation" ambassador teaming up with QVC to spread awareness and raise funds for women's cancer research through the "Fashion Footwear Association" of New York "Shoes on Sale Initiative" and is also involved in the "SAFE" campaign for skin cancer awareness. She is an ambassador for "Save the Children" and the "One Water" campaign which brings water to remote locations in Africa.
Trivia
Older sister of Hania Marsden-Barton & younger sister of Zoe Barton.
'It Girl 2003', according to Entertainment Weekly's 'It List' for top Creative People in Entertainment.
Born in London, England, but moved to New York when she was still a toddler.
Attended The Professional Children's School in Manhattan, New York. Was reportedly a straight-A student.
Has aspirations to attend the Yale School of Drama in New Haven, Connecticut after graduation from high school.
Favorite book: A Confederacy of Dunces by John Kennedy Toole.
Favorite author: William Shakespeare, George Orwell.
Favorite movies: Say Anything (1989), Almost Famous (2000), The Godfather (1972) and The Graduate (1967).
Pet: Angelo, a cat.
Older sister, Zoe Barton, is a barrister in London.
Mother's name is Nuala.
As a child, she was a model with Ford Modeling agency, along with Lindsay Lohan.
Named #33 on the Maxim magazine Hot 100 of 2005 list.
Younger sister is an aspiring singer.
Has a song named after her on Rozino Smith's 2005 album, "Blurry Summer"; entitled "Mischa Barton".
Ranked as #52 in FHM's "100 Sexiest Women in the World 2005" special supplement. (2005)
Has a dog that she calls Ziggy.
Would like to go back overseas to birthplace, London, England, and study more acting for a year.
Named #32 in FHM magazine's "100 Sexiest Women in the World 2006" supplement. (2006).
Childhood friend of Brenda Song and Ashley Tisdale.
Lives in the Hollywood Hills and in Tribeca, New York. [2007]
Ranked #49 on the Maxim magazine Hot 100 of 2007 list.
Arrested in West Hollywood, California on December 27, 2007 and could be charged with possession of a controlled substance, drunk driving and possession of marijuana. Has been released from jail.
Sentenced on April 10, 2008 to three years of unsupervised probation stemming from her DUI arrest on December, 2007.
Ranked #22 on the Maxim magazine Hot 100 of 2008 list.
Hospitalized for psychiatric observation in California [July, 2009].
In early 2009, at the age of 23, she had her ears pierced for the very first time especially for her role as Sonja Stone in The Beautiful Life: TBL (2009). She agreed to have them done at the producer's request so that Sonja would be able to wear the same pierced earrings as other models in various fashion show scenes.
Good friend of Nicole Richie.
Is best friend of Rachel Bilson.
She turned down the role of Georgina Sparks on Gossip Girl (2007), which was later given to Michelle Trachtenberg.
She has plans to launch her own clothing line in 2011.
Modeled as Stevie Lake for a few of the covers for the popular book series, The Saddle Club, by Bonnie Bryant.
Was born in the same hospital as Hugh Grant. The two worked together on Notting Hill (1999), when she was 12-years-old.
Suing her mother, Nuala, for allegedly mishandling her career, defrauding her of pay and royalties, and exploiting her fame. Barton is seeking up to three times in compensation what she claims to have been defrauded, as well as unspecified punitive damages. [April 2015]
(January 26, 2017) Was found screaming on her backyard fence and voluntarily taken to the hospital for a mental health evaluation with help from police and firefighters that were called to the scene.
Didn't enjoy her appearance on "Dancing With the Stars" at all. Claimed that she was told she could help design her outfits and set up the choreography before accepting her spot, but was barred from doing so afterwards, to the point where she was happy to be voted out.
Loves classic cars and has a longtime hobby of buying such cars and upgrading/maintaining them herself, which led to her accepting a role on a car-focused reality TV show.
Trademarks:
High cheekbones
Deep, sexy voice
Quotes
I do intelligent roles. I don't want to be labeled as doing silly movies. I'm more mature than kids my age because I'm constantly surrounded by adults.
I love to draw people's faces. I do that all the time.
I like playing dark, offbeat, quirky characters.
It kind of irritates me that I'm seen as this pretty face. People also say I'm too thin. The truth is pretty people aren't as accepted as other people. It comes with all these stigmas.
