Marina Sirtis

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Marina Sirtis

Born March 29, 1955 (age 52)
Flag of United Kingdom London, England
Official site http://www.marinasirtis.tv
Notable roles "Deanna Troi" in
Star Trek: The Next Generation
"Demona" in
Gargoyles

Marina Sirtis (born March 29, 1955[1]) is a British-American actress who is most noted for playing the half-human half-Betazoid Counselor Deanna Troi on the television and film series Star Trek: The Next Generation. She also provided the voice of Demona in the animated series, Gargoyles. She is also noted for appearing in the oscar winning movie Crash as well as a semi regular on Girlfriends.

Contents

[edit] Background

Sirtis was born in London, England. She is a naturalized U.S. citizen of Greek descent. Marina Sirtis has been married to Michael Lamper since June 21, 1992.[2] Her younger brother, Steve, plays soccer in Greece[3] and played for Columbia University in the early 1980s when he was both Ivy League Rookie of the Year and later Player of the Year in 1982 and 1983. She auditioned for drama school against her parents wishes. She attended the Guildhall School of Music & Drama.

[edit] Career

Before her role in Star Trek, Sirtis had appeared in several movies, including the Faye Dunaway film The Wicked Lady, the Charles Bronson sequel Death Wish 3, and film Blind Date. She appeared topless in the first and nude in the latter two which, once she became famous on Star Trek, caused a legion of youth to seek out stills of those scenes on the early Internet. She did have an established CV of British television work, appearing in Minder and The Return of Sherlock Holmes amongst other things. She played the stewardess in the famous Cinzano Bianco television commercial staring Leonard Rossiter and Joan Collins, in which Collins was splattered with drink.

[edit] Star Trek: The Next Generation

Gene Roddenberry was inspired to ask the exotic-looking Sirtis to audition for a role after seeing the film Aliens with Bob Justman, which featured the prominent Latina character 'Vasquez', played by Jenette Goldstein.[citation needed] Sirtis and Denise Crosby initially tried out for the other's eventual role on The Next Generation. Sirtis' character was going to be named Lt. Macha Hernandez, the Security Chief. Gene Roddenberry decided to switch them, and Macha Hernandez became Natasha Yar. Sirtis recalls that on the day she received a call offering her the role of Deanna Troi, she was actually packing to return to England, because her six-month visa had ended.

Sirtis appeared in all seven seasons of Star Trek: The Next Generation, and her character was developed from a more passive therapist to tougher Starfleet officer, much to Sirtis's relish. Initially, Sirtis's character was proposed to be the brains of the ship, but the producers decided to add a little more sex appeal, so Troi developed a more revealing costume.

During her time on the show, she became close friends with her co-stars Jonathan Frakes, who played her on off lover Commander Riker, Michael Dorn and Brent Spiner. In fact, cast members Spiner and Dorn were groomsmen at her wedding.

Sirtis has also reprised her character of Deanna Troi in Star Trek: Voyager on several occasions, not to mention in all of the Next Generation feature films and also in the series finale of Star Trek: Enterprise. She is one of only six actors to play the same character on three different 'Star Trek' series.

Sirtis is most popular with Star Trek fans, appearing at conventions and meeting fans. She is known for her wit and humour at conventions.

[edit] Other Work

After the end of Star Trek: The Next Generation in 1994 Sirtis continued to work regularly. She gained experience as a voice actress from the 1994 Disney animated television series Gargoyles, where she provided her voice for the antagonistic character Demona. She voiced the character again for an episode of the unmade Animated Series, Team Atlantis.

She appeared in other genre televsion shows such as Stargate SG-1 playing the Russian Dr. Svetlana Markov and as Sister Margaret in Earth: Final Conflict. as well as independent movies including Paradise Lost . In 1998, she had a guest role in an episode of the Dick Van Dyke CBS series, Diagnosis: Murder. In 2001, she made a highly publicized guest appearance on the BBC hospital drama series Casualty.

[edit] Producing

Sirtis has expanded her career branching out into production, most recently producing The Deep Below.

[edit] Crash

In 2004, Sirtis had a role in the Academy Award winning ensemble movie Crash as the wife of an Iranian shopkeeper. For this role, she did not need to audition and was given the part immediately.

[edit] Recent work

Sirtis continues to work and is still recognizable on US television and in films. Recent appearances include a controversial appearance in The Closer, a recurring comedy role as Gina Richards in Girlfriends, and a guest starring role in Without a Trace as Alexa Soros. In 2007 she appeared as The Queen in the movie Grendel. She has several films in production including Oranges and Trade Routes.

[edit] Trivia

Sirtis:

  • Supports animal-rights causes
  • Speaks fluent Greek
  • Wore black colored contact lenses throughout Star Trek's seven year run and the films because her character had black eyes. In reality her eyes are green.
  • Usually wore hair-pieces for her role as Deanna Troi in Star Trek The Next Generation. Marina's real hair was slightly shorter, and although curly, was not as bouffant as her character's. However, Marina's real hair was used in the pilot episode,and also in the first six episodes of season six, in which Troi sported a more natural looking pony-tailed style.
  • Has several action figures modeled after her likeness and her character, Deanna Troi, from Star Trek: The Next Generation.

[edit] References

  1. ^ http://www.nndb.com/people/796/000025721/
  2. ^ http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000642/bio
  3. ^ http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000642/bio
  • Dillard, JM. Star Trek: A History in Pictures. Paramount and Pocket Books, 1994. New York.

[edit] External links

Major Cast Members of Star Trek: The Next Generation
Patrick Stewart | Jonathan Frakes | Brent Spiner | LeVar Burton | Michael Dorn | Gates McFadden | Marina Sirtis | Wil Wheaton | Denise Crosby | Diana Muldaur
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