A member of an elite circle of actors whose celebrity spans both the daytime and nighttime worlds simultaneously, American actress Tamara Tunie was recognized as one of television’s most reliable players. Best known by day as lawyer Jessica Griffin Harris on the long-running soap opera, “As the Word Turns’ (CBS, 1956- ), Tunie assumed her other identity at night – that of Medical Examiner Melinda Warner on the hit drama, “Law & Order: Special Victims Unit” (NBC, 1999- ).Born in McKeesport, PA, on March 14, 1959, Tunie grew up literally surrounded by death. The daughter of an undertaker, Tunie
