Julie Benz (Role) : Rita Bennett/Rita Morgan
Birthday : May-1-1972
Birthplace : Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA
Recent Role : Herself on TMZ on TV
Gender : Female
Height : 5′ 4″ (1.63 m)
Julie M. Benz is an American actress. She took birth in Pittsburgh where her father was a surgeon. When she was two, her family settled in Murrysville. She started ice skating when she was three years old only. In 1988, Julie competed along with David Schilling in the US Championship and they ended appearing at 13th position. She has two siblings, Jeffery and Jennifer who competed in the 1987 US Junior Championship in ice dancing. At 14, she had a bad stress fracture and it forced her to take time off. Julie earned her graduation from Franklin Regional High School. She next joined New York University.
It was 1989 when her figure skating career became over. Ultimately, she decided to turn towards acting and got involved in the local theatre. Very soon, she earned a role on a play named ‘Street Law’. In 1991, she received a role on ‘Hi Honey, I’m Home’, a small TV show which got cancelled after two seasons only. After her graduation, she moved to Los Angeles to chase her dream of becoming an actress. In 1994, Julie got a guest role on ‘Married with Children’. There’re some projects which she worked for and which are still unaired such as ‘Cross Town Traffic’ and ‘Empire’.
Her other acting credits include ‘Hang Time’, ‘High Tide’, Step by Step’, ‘Boy Meets World’. She made a small appearance on the TV movie ‘The Barefoot Executive’; has an un-credited role on the TV movie ‘Black Sheep’. She guest appeared on some shows such as ‘Diagnosis Murder’, ‘Sliders’ and ‘The Single Guy’, ‘The Big Easy’ and ‘Fame LA’ etc. On the TV movie ‘Hearts Adrift’, she portrayed the character of Christy and appeared as Julie Falcon in ‘Darkdrive’.
In 1996, she auditioned for the role of Buffy but the role was given to Sarah Michelle Gellar instead. Despite the role of the leading character, she got the role of a vampire girl named Darla. In 1997, she was seen on “As Good As it Gets’ as a receptionist. In 1998, she portrayed the ditzy Joplin Russell in the TV show ‘Ask Harriet’. Her next appearances were on ‘Conrad Bloom’ and ‘The King of the Queens’. Her next projects were movies namely ‘Jawbreaker’ and ‘Dirt Merchant’.
Julie M. Benz appeared as a recurring character on ‘Roswell’ and has small roles on Satan’s ‘School for Girls’ and ‘Good Guys/Bad Guys’. She has a leading role on ‘Shriek if You know What I Did Last Friday the Thirteenth’. The lady reprised her role of Darla in Angel, spin off of ‘Buffy the Vampire Slayer’. She was next seen on ‘The Brothers’, a comedy film and as a guest host on the TV show ‘Rendez-View’. She left the ‘Glory Days’ after appearing in the pilot episode (still unaired) of the show. Julie’s next guest appearance was on ‘She Spies’ as Elaine, the mean, rich and bitchy one. In the miniseries ‘Taken’, she appeared as Kate Keys. Julie also has a role on ‘The Midget Stays in the Picture’ and ‘George of the Jungle 2′.
Following it was her appearances on ‘Peacemakers’, ‘Coupling’, ‘Navy NCIS: Naval Criminal Investigative Service’ and ‘Oliver Beene’ etc. In the Hallmark TV movie ‘The Long Shot’, she appeared as Annie Garrett. In the video game ‘Halo 2′, she gave her voice to Miranda Keyes. In ‘Bad Girls from Valley High’, she appeared as Danielle. She made a small appearance on the critically acclaimed TV movie ‘Lackawanna Blues’. Julie played the role of Vicky in the Sci-fi Original ‘Locusts: The 8th Plague’. On the straight to DVD movie ‘8mm 2′, she made a small appearance as Lynn.
She was next seen on popular shows such as ‘Supernatural’, ‘CSI: Miami’, ‘Law & Order’ and ‘CSI: Crime Scene Investigation’. ‘Kill Your Darlings’, a Swedish independent movie, was her next project and she appeared as a guest star. She also has a leading role on the Lifetime movie ‘Circle of Friends’. Julie also has a leading role on ‘Rambo’ and a supporting role on ‘The Punisher: War Zone’. On ‘the Boondock Saints II: All Saints’ Day’, she portrays the character of Eunice, the leading female character.
Julie Benz married John Kassir, an actor on May 30, 1998. Their relationship didn’t go very long. As of now, she’s dating Rich Orosco, the Vice President of Marketing for Warner Bros. Television.
Julie has won the 2006 Satellite Award as a Supporting Actress in a Series. In 2008, she won the Eyegore Award and in the very same year, she got the nomination for Scream Award as Best Actress in a Horror Movie or TV show.
Role on ‘Dexter’
Julie M. Benz appears as Rita Morgan on Dexter. Firstly, she was Dexter’s girlfriend and later got married to him. The lady is a mother of two who tries to recover from being abused by her ex husband. As the series goes on, her character become more and more important and she becomes one the most important characters of show.
