# Mindy Cohn

Melinda H. "Mindy" Cohn (born May 20, 1966) is an American actress. She starred as Natalie Green in the sitcom The Facts of Life from 1979 to 1988, and is known for voicing Velma Dinkley in the Scooby-Doo franchise from 2002 to 2015, succeeding B. J. Ward, before being succeeded herself by Kate Micucci. Cohn appeared on VH1's List of "100 Greatest Kid Stars".

## Early life

Cohn was born in Los Angeles and was raised Jewish.

## Career

Cohn was discovered by actress Charlotte Rae when Rae and the producers of The Facts of Life visited Westlake School in Holmby Hills, California, while doing research for the show; she had been asked by the principal to be a student tour guide for the group, who found themselves enchanted by her natural comic instincts as she led them around the campus. Cohn was cast as Natalie Green and portrayed the character for the series' nine-year run (1979–1988), as well as in the reunion movie (2001). In 2013, she commented on Charlotte Rae's lobbying on her behalf: "Mr. Reynolds calls me into his office. It seemed that Charlotte Rae had fallen madly in love with me, in part because I reminded her of her best childhood friend Natalie—and I was irrepressible, charming, and hilarious. So she asked the producers to create a part for me in the show. Honestly, the whole thing seemed so fantastic I didn’t know what to think." After the show, she remained friends with Rae. Two months before her acting mentor's 90th birthday in 2016, when Cohn was unavailable to attend The Facts of Life reunion interview, she sent Rae a video message praising her decades-long friend for teaching her the craft of acting. Cohn said that one of the reasons she did The Facts of Life Reunion in 2001 was that the actresses in the long-running 1980s series have been wrongly denied a cut of the syndication and DVD profits from the series. "We all never got paid and still don't get paid for DVDs and reruns... we felt we were owed."
Cohn has continued her acting career outside of The Facts of Life. In 1984 she had a leading role as the daughter alongside Stockard Channing in RKO's video production of Table Settings. In 1986, she appeared in The Boy Who Could Fly as next-door neighbor Geneva. She also had guest appearances in other popular TV shows, including Charles in Charge (playing Buddy's sister Bunny, a young alcoholic, in the 1988 episode "Bottle Baby"), and two guest appearances in the second season of the cop drama 21 Jump Street (playing Rosa in the 1987 episode "Christmas In Saigon" and the 1988 episode "Chapel of Love"). In 2004 Cohn appeared in the WB comedy The Help. In 2010, Cohn played the role of Violet, the leading character in Casper Andreas's movie Violet Tendencies, and appeared on the Season 8 premiere of TLC's What Not to Wear on October 29, 2010. She appeared in an episode of Hot in Cleveland on July 13, 2011, on The Secret Life of the American Teenager on March 26, 2012, in Judson Theatre Company's Bell, Book and Candle in 2013, and in The Middle on May 21, 2014. Cohn reprised her Velma Dinkley role in Lego Dimensions.

## Personal life

Mindy Cohn is a breast cancer survivor, having been diagnosed with it in 2012 and was declared cancer-free in 2017. Cohn is a strong supporter of the LGBT community and has stated that she is proud to be a "fag hag". She has a degree in cultural anthropology from Loyola Marymount University and is a founding member of the weSpark cancer support center.

## Filmography
### Actress

| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
| 1979–88 | The Facts of Life | Natalie Green, Frenchie | Main cast (201 episodes) |
| 1980–81 | Diff'rent Strokes | Natalie Green | Episodes: "The Slumber Party", "The Older Man" |
| 1982 | The Facts of Life Goes to Paris | Natalie Green | TV film |
| 1985 | Double Trouble | Janie Blakemore | Episode: "Funny Girl" |
| 1986 | The Boy Who Could Fly | Geneva Goodman | Feature film |
| 1987 | The Facts of Life Down Under | Natalie Green | TV film |
| 1987–88 | 21 Jump Street | Rosa Banducci | Episodes: "Christmas in Saigon", "Chapel of Love" |
| 1988 | Charles in Charge | Bunny Lembeck | Episode: "Bottle Baby" |
| 1991 | Dream On | Marie | Episode: "Toby or Not Toby" |
| 1993–94 | The Second Half | Maureen Tucker | Main cast (13 episodes) |
| 1999 | Suddenly Susan | Cindy | Episode: "Revenge of the Gophers" |
| 1999 | The Chimp Channel | Candy Yuponce (voice) | Main cast (13 episodes) |
| 2001 | Alone with a Stranger | Toni | Feature film |
| 2001 | Virtually Casey | Joanne Collins | TV film |
| 2001 | The Facts of Life Reunion | Natalie Green | TV film |
| 2002 | Under the Gun | Gale | Feature film |
| 2003 | One on One | Ms. Sorel | Episode: "Daddy, I Don't Need an Edumacation" |
| 2003 | Swing | Martha | Feature film |
| 2004 | The Help | Maggie, the Cook | Main cast (7 episodes) |
| 2005 | The Adventures of Tango McNorton: Licensed Hero | Lunch Lady | Short film |
| 2005 | The Third Wish | Bridgette | Feature film |
| 2007 | Sex and Death 101 | Trixie | Feature film |
| 2010 | Violet Tendencies | Violet | Feature film |
| 2011 | Hot in Cleveland | Cassie | Episode: "Love Thy Neighbor" |
| 2012 | The Secret Life of the American Teenager | Dylan's Mom | Recurring role (8 episodes) |
| 2013 | Holiday Road Trip | Artie | TV film |
| 2014 | The Middle | Kimberly | Episode: "The Wonderful World of Hecks" |
| 2014 | Operation Marriage | Kathy | Short film |
| 2014 | Bones | Valentina | Episode: "The Puzzler in the Pit" |
| 2014 | FreakMe | April | TV pilot episode (unaired) |
| 2015 | You're Killing Me | Karen | Feature film |
| 2016 | Worst Cooks in America | Herself (contestant) | Season 9: Celebrity Edition 2 (8 episodes) |
| 2016 | A Cinderella Christmas | Zelda | TV film |
| 2017 | Hollywood Dirt | Thelma | Feature film |
| 2018 | Fly | Air Traffic Controller Camille Fields | Recurring role (8 episodes) |
| 2018 | Long Island Medium | Herself | |
| 2019 | You Light Up My Christmas | Rose | TV movie features surviving original cast of The Facts of Life. Not a "The Facts of Life" Christmas movie. |
| 2020 | A Nice Girl Like You | Priscilla Blum | Feature film |
| 2021 | Live in Front of a Studio Audience | Herself | Episode: "The Facts of Life and Diff'rent Strokes" |
| 2024 | Palm Royale | Ann | TV miniseries |
| 2024 | Mother Father Sister Brother Frank | Joy Jennings | Feature film |

### Voice work

| Year | Title | Voice role | Notes |
| 1999–2001 | The Kids from Room 402 | Nancy Francis | TV series (34 episodes) |
| 2002–2006 | What's New, Scooby-Doo? | Velma Dinkley | TV series (41 episodes) |
| 2003 | Dexter's Laboratory | Librarian | Episode: "Voice Over/Blonde Leading the Blonde/Comic Stripper" |
| 2003 | Kim Possible | Ms. Whisp | Episode: "Naked Genius" |
| 2004 | Scooby-Doo! and the Loch Ness Monster | Velma Dinkley | Direct-to-video film |
| 2005 | Aloha, Scooby-Doo! | Velma Dinkley | Direct-to-video film |
| 2005 | Scooby-Doo! in Where's My Mummy? | Velma Dinkley | Direct-to-video film |
| 2006 | Scooby-Doo! Pirates Ahoy! | Velma Dinkley | Direct-to-video film |
| 2006 | Family Guy | Natalie Green | Episode: "Prick Up Your Ears" |
| 2006 | Shaggy & Scooby-Doo Get a Clue! | Velma Dinkley | Episodes: "Shags to Riches" and "Almost Ghosts" |
| 2007 | Chill Out, Scooby-Doo! | Velma Dinkley | Direct-to-video film |
| 2008 | Scooby-Doo! and the Goblin King | Velma Dinkley | Direct-to-video film |
| 2009 | Scooby-Doo! and the Samurai Sword | Velma Dinkley | Direct-to-video film |
| 2010 | Scooby-Doo! Abracadabra-Doo | Velma Dinkley | Direct-to-video film |
| 2010–13 | Scooby-Doo! Mystery Incorporated | Velma Dinkley | TV series (52 episodes) |
| 2010 | Scooby-Doo! Camp Scare | Velma Dinkley | Direct-to-video film |
| 2011 | Batman: The Brave and the Bold | Velma Dinkley / Ticket Girl | Episode: "Bat-Mite Presents: Batman's Strangest Cases!" |
| 2011 | Scooby-Doo! Legend of the Phantosaur | Velma Dinkley | Direct-to-video film |
| 2012 | Scooby-Doo! Music of the Vampire | Velma Dinkley | Direct-to-video film |
| 2012 | Scooby-Doo! Spooky Games | Velma Dinkley | Direct-to-video short |
| 2012 | Big Top Scooby-Doo! | Velma Dinkley | Direct-to-video film |
| 2012 | Scooby-Doo! Haunted Holidays | Velma Dinkley | Direct-to-video short |
| 2013 | Scooby-Doo! Mask of the Blue Falcon | Velma Dinkley | Direct-to-video film |
| 2013 | Scooby-Doo! Stage Fright | Velma Dinkley | Direct-to-video film |
| 2013 | Scooby-Doo! and the Spooky Scarecrow | Velma Dinkley | Direct-to-video short |
| 2013 | Scooby-Doo! Mecha Mutt Menace | Velma Dinkley | Direct-to-video short |
| 2014 | Scooby-Doo! WrestleMania Mystery | Velma Dinkley | Direct-to-video film |
| 2014 | Scooby-Doo! Ghastly Goals | Velma Dinkley | Direct-to-video short |
| 2014 | Scooby-Doo! Frankencreepy | Velma Dinkley | Direct-to-video film |
| 2015 | Scooby-Doo! Moon Monster Madness | Velma Dinkley | Direct-to-video film |
| 2015 | Scooby-Doo! and the Beach Beastie | Velma Dinkley | Direct-to-video short |
| 2015 | Scooby-Doo! and Kiss: Rock and Roll Mystery | Velma Dinkley | Direct-to-video film |
| 2022–23 | Around the Sun | Aunt Nora / Molly | Audio drama (3 episodes) |

### Video games

| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
| 2002 | Scooby-Doo! The Glowing Bug Man | Velma Dinkley | Voice role |
| 2003 | Scooby-Doo! The Scary Stone Dragon | Velma Dinkley | Voice role |
| 2003 | Scooby-Doo! Mystery Mayhem | Velma Dinkley | Voice role |
| 2005 | Scooby-Doo! Unmasked | Velma Dinkley | Voice role |
| 2006 | Scooby-Doo! Who's Watching Who? | Velma Dinkley | Voice role |
| 2006 | Scooby-Doo! Frights Camera Mystery | Velma Dinkley | Voice role |
| 2009 | Scooby-Doo! First Frights | Velma Dinkley | Voice role |
| 2010 | Scooby-Doo! and the Spooky Swamp | Velma Dinkley | Voice role |
| 2014 | Scooby-Doo and Looney Tunes Cartoon Universe: Adventure | Velma Dinkley | Voice role |
| 2015 | Lego Dimensions | Velma Dinkley | Voice role |

## Accolades

In 2003 Cohn was nominated for a Daytime Emmy Award for her work on the TV show What's New, Scooby-Doo?, for which she provided the voice of Velma Dinkley. She reprised her role of Velma on Scooby-Doo! Mystery Incorporated and in several other Scooby-Doo movies.
Cohn received a positive notice from Variety for her role in the 2007 Daniel Waters comedy film Sex and Death 101. In 2023, she received an Indie Series Award for her voice acting roles in season 2 of Around the Sun.