Melinda Culea - The female member of the A-Team

Melinda Culea as Amy Allen on The A-Team.

Recently been watching The A-Team. And while I may have been young when the show was on the air, I still had no memory of there being a girl on the team. 

But clearly, as I watched the first season, there was, Melinda Culea.

So, even though I didn't remember I just chalked it up to it being on a long time ago.

Then, when I got to the second season, she was gone.

Just, -- here's a new girl who can use "computers" and the backstory that Amy got a job in Central America? So clearly I wasn't out of my mind that I don't remember her.

But now had to find out why. So I looked it up and found this:

A-Team Resource Page - Melinda Culea's Departure: "former model Melinda Culea, 28, the token woman on the Team.

She was dumped after she taped the first 10 shows of the Team's second season and was replaced this month by Maria Heasley, 25. "Melinda was very unhappy about the size and importance of her role," says Peppard. "She came on the set frustrated, angry, a terribly discontented woman."

He said she wanted more time on camera and wanted to join in the fight scenes with a few karate chops.

Mr. T says she wanted more money, Culea reportedly made $15,000 per show at first and later about $20,000 (versus T's $40,000 or so--which, though not as much as the veteran Peppard's salary, still adds up to about $1 million a year)."

She did have a career in commercials before the show: