Kellie Waymire

After graduating from college, Waymire moved to New York City.[2] She began her television career in the role of "Emily" on the soap opera One Life to Live in 1994.[1]

In 1997, Waymire moved to Los Angeles.[2] She continued her career in a number of primetime television shows, including The Practice, Judging Amy, The X-Files, Wolf Lake, CSI: Crime Scene Investigation, NYPD Blue, and Yes Dear.[5]

Waymire was predominantly cast in offbeat or humorous roles. Two of her highest-profile roles were in recurring roles on Six Feet Under where she played Melissa, a prostitute, and on Star Trek: Enterprise where she played Crewman Elizabeth Cutler.[6] She had previously portrayed the role of "Lanya" in Star Trek: Voyager in the episode "Muse". She guest starred in the Season 9 Seinfeld episode "The Blood", playing a sickly mother who wanted someone to take care of her son in the event of her death.[7]

In 2003, Waymire was cast as a regular in the short lived Fox sitcom The Pitts.[1] The series was canceled after four weeks.[8] Among her final onscreen roles were guest spots on Friends (in the episode "The One Where Ross Is Fine", aired a month before her death), Everwood, and Wonderfalls, the last two of which aired after her death.[6] The latter was dedicated to her memory. She appeared in a number of feature films, including a role as "Jane" in the comedy-drama Playing by Heart (1998).[1]

In addition to film and television work, Waymire was active in regional theater throughout the United States.[1] She played the lead in A.R. Gurney's play Sylvia at San Diego's Old Globe Theatre in 1996. She appeared in a revival of the Noël Coward play Present Laughter at the Pasadena Playhouse in 1998, as well as many other stage productions across the country.[9] At the time of her death, Waymire was starring as "Anne" in the stage adaptation of Kate Crackernuts, at the 24th Street Theatre in Los Angeles.[2]

On November 13, 2003, Waymire died in her home in Venice, Los Angeles, California of cardiac arrest caused by an undiagnosed cardiac arrhythmia, likely related to mitral valve prolapse, a condition with which she had been diagnosed as a teenager. Her funeral was held on November 23, 2003, in West Milton, Ohio.[2]

On December 8, 2003, a public memorial was held at the Ralph Freud Playhouse, Macgowan Hall at UCLA.[6]

The Kellie Waymire Scholarship Fund was established in her honor.[2]