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Ami Dolenz

Ami Dolenz has a screen career that moves easily between soap opera drama, teen comedy, horror and television. Born in Burbank, California, on January 8, 1969, she grew up in a show-business family: her father is Micky Dolenz of The Monkees, her mother is British television presenter Samantha Juste, and her paternal grandparents were film actors George Dolenz and Janelle Johnson. After winning a junior talent contest at 15, Dolenz decided to pursue acting. Early work included the television movie The Children of Times Square, two episodes of Growing Pains and a small part in the 1987 comedy Can’t Buy Me Love. Her role as Melissa McKee on General Hospital brought wider attention, along with Young Artist Award nominations in 1988 and 1989. Dolenz left General Hospital in 1989 and co-starred opposite Tony Danza in She’s Out of Control. She then played Sloane Peterson in Ferris Bueller, the short-lived television sitcom based on Ferris Bueller’s Day Off. The series ran for 13 episodes before its cancellation in 1991. Her subsequent work shows the range of projects that shaped her career. Dolenz starred in Children of the Night and took the lead in the 1992 fantasy comedy Miracle Beach. During the 1990s, she appeared in films including Witchboard 2: The Devil’s Doorway, Pumpkinhead II: Blood Wings and Demolition University, while continuing to work on television in Murder, She Wrote, Saved by the Bell: The College Years, Pacific Blue and Teen Angel. She also provided a voice for the children’s series The Secret Files of the Spy Dogs in 1998. Following a four-year break from acting, Dolenz returned in the independent film Mr. Id, co-starring with Steve Parlavecchio. In 2007, she appeared in and produced the film Even If. Taken together, her work reflects a career built across formats and genres, with a particular place in the comedies, horror films and television of the late 1980s and 1990s.