Malinda Farrington's illustrious career on Broadway, television, and film can be directly attributed to her upbringing by her extremely talented mother, Jeanne Ellis, a child star during the Great Depression. Her mother, Jeanne, traveled and sang with Paul Whitman's Big Band and even played the role of Jeannette MacDonald as a child in the feature film Girl of the Golden West.
Born Malinda Lee Shaffer in Dixon, Illinois, Malinda was raised in Montgomery, Alabama. She went on to attend Southern Methodist University in Dallas, Texas, on a dance scholarship and left in her junior year to pursue her passion for the arts in New York City. In NYC, she received a full scholarship to Alvin Ailey's School of Dance while Alvin Ailey was still alive, and she was thrilled to learn from him and Judith Jamison. After a screen test with Sidney Poitier, Malinda realized she might have more to experience than just dance.
Malinda's journey to becoming a successful triple-threat on Broadway began in San Francisco with DANGEROUS GAMES, where she played the lead role of Lacivia and had the opportunity to work with Tony Award-winning choreographer and director Graciela Daniele. This was soon followed by her Broadway career launching with THE GOODBYE GIRL, during which she worked with Bernadette Peters and Martin Short. Malinda then worked with Michael Damian in JOSEPH AND THE AMAZING TECHNICOLOR DREAMCOAT, Bebe Neuwirth, Victor Garber, and then Jerry Lewis in DAMN YANKEES, and with the iconic Chita Rivera in CHITA RIVERA: THE DANCER'S LIFE.
Desiring to pursue an acting career in television and film, Malinda moved to Los Angeles. Her very first short film became an award-winning film that earned her a Best Supporting Actress win at a festival. Since then, she has appeared in a feature film, several national commercials, and most recently co-starred in the NBC pilot of Zoey's Extraordinary Playlist as the first to sing to Zoey (Jane Levy).
Malinda is a proud mother of two children, a sound engineer son and a TV/Film editing daughter, and is married to TV writer Glenn Farrington.
