Melissa Michaelsen

Melissa Michaelsen (born March 26, 1968) is an American actress probably best known for her role as the lead in Orphan Train and the title character in the James Komack television show Me and Maxx.

Michaelsen's father, Alwin Michaelsen, is a financial consultant who graduated from Princeton in 1954, and her mother, Gail, was once Alwin's secretary. Gail is the niece of Stork Club owner Sherman Billingsley. Gail's cousin, Glenn Billingsley, was briefly married to actress Barbara Billingsley who continued to use his last name for her stage name.

Gail was the one who initially took the children around to auditions. Michaelsen's four siblings all acted as children, most notably Peter Billingsley and, to a lesser extent, Neil, who began playing Danny Walton on the daytime soap opera Search for Tomorrow in 1975.

She appeared in many television commercials and guest starring in quite a number of television shows including Code Red,Here's Boomer, The Young Riders, and Seven Brides for Seven Brothers.

Melissa starred in several made-for-TV movies such as Orphan Train,Broken Promise, and the Goldie and the Boxer films.

Michaelsen's played the title role, Maxx Davis, on the sitcom Me and Maxx in 1980. She was picked for the role when a commercial starring Joe Santos aired during one of Melissa's early projects. NBC president Fred Silverman saw the commercial while watching Melissa's TV-movie and reportedly said "I want that guy with that girl." This was Melissa's second attempt at a network series. In an interview about Goldie and the Boxer, her co-star and producer, O. J. Simpson, mentioned that he first saw Michaelsen in an unaired ABC pilot a few days before the film was to begin shooting.

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