Marina Sirtis
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Marina Sirtis | |
|---|---|
| Image:Marina Sirtis 02.jpg Marina Sirtis in 2007 | |
| Born | March 29 1955 London, England |
| Official site | http://www.marinasirtis.tv |
Marina Sirtis (born March 29 1955[1]) is a British actress who is most noted for playing the half-human half-Betazoid Counselor/Commander 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 and as a semi-regular on Girlfriends.
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[edit] Background
Sirtis was born in London, England, and is a naturalized U.S. citizen of Greek descent. She has been married to Michael Lamper since June 21, 1992.[2] Her younger brother, Steve, plays football in Greece[2] and played for Columbia University in the early 1980s. She auditioned for drama school against her parents' wishes, ultimately being accepted to the Guildhall School of Music & Drama.
[edit] Career
Before her role in Star Trek, Sirtis had provocative, sexually-themed roles in several movies. In the Faye Dunaway film The Wicked Lady, she engaged in a topless whip fight with Ms. Dunaway. In the Charles Bronson sequel Death Wish 3, Sirtis' character is brutally raped by street thugs. In the film Blind Date, she appeared as a prostitute who is murdered by a madman. Sirtis appeared nude extensively in all three films. As a result, when she later achieved fame through Star Trek-The Next Generation, her earlier movies generated considerable nude stills traffic/internet buzz among Star Trek's predominantly young, male fan base. She also appeared in the 1979 movie Caligula as an extra in one of the orgy scenes. She did have an established CV of British television work, appearing in Minder, Raffles and The Return of Sherlock Holmes among 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.[3] 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 approval. Fortunately, throughout the series Troi remained a strong female character. It should be noted that Sirtis' buxom figure has garnered an extensive fan base that continues today. Sirtis' character was critical to the success of the series. Initially, Sirtis's character was proposed to be the brains of the ship.[citation needed]
During her time on the show, she became close friends with her co-stars Jonathan Frakes (who played her on-again/off-again 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, and 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 also has several action figures modeled after her likeness and her character, Deanna Troi, from Star Trek: The Next Generation.
She usually wore hair-pieces for her role as Deanna Troi in Star Trek: The Next Generation. Sirtis' real hair was slightly shorter, and although curly, was not as bouffant as her character's. However, Sirtis' 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.[citation needed] She also created an accent (described as a mixture of Eastern European and Hebrew) for her character, although her natural accent is British.
[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 television 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.
Sirtis has expanded her career branching out into production, most recently producing The Deep Below.
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 2004, Sirtis had a minor 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. In 2007 she appeared as The Queen in the movie Grendel. She has several films in production including Oranges and Trade Routes. She also has done voice work, as the character Matriach Benezia, for the Xbox360 exclusive RPG called Mass Effect.
[edit] References
- ^ http://www.nndb.com/people/796/000025721/
- ^ a b http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000642/bio
- ^ Nemeck, Larry (2003). Star Trek: The Next Generation Companion. Pocket Books. ISBN 0-7434-5798-6.
- Dillard, JM. Star Trek: A History in Pictures. Paramount and Pocket Books, 1994. New York.
[edit] External links
- Marina Sirtis article at Memory Alpha, a Star Trek wiki
- Marina Sirtis at TV.com
Major Cast Members of Star Trek: The Next Generation |
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LeVar Burton • Denise Crosby • Michael Dorn • Jonathan Frakes • Gates McFadden • Diana Muldaur • Marina Sirtis • Brent Spiner • Patrick Stewart • Wil Wheaton |
cs:Marina Sirtis de:Marina Sirtis fr:Marina Sirtis it:Marina Sirtis nl:Marina Sirtis pl:Marina Sirtis pt:Marina Sirtis ru:Марина Сиртис sr:Марина Сиртис sv:Marina Sirtis
Categories: All articles with unsourced statements | Articles with unsourced statements since November 2007 | Articles with unsourced statements since June 2007 | 1955 births | English film actors | English television actors | British Greeks | Living people | English Americans | Greek-Americans | Naturalized citizens of the United States
