Marina Sirtis
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Marina Sirtis | |
 Marina Sirtis in 2008 |
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| Born | March 29, 1955 London, England |
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| Spouse(s) | Michael Lamper (1992-present) |
| Official website | |
Marina Sirtis (born March 29, 1955[1]) is an English actress of Greek descent, 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.
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[edit] Background
Sirtis was born in London, to Greek parents. She is now a naturalized U.S. citizen. She has been married to rock guitarist Michael Lamper since 21 June 1992.[2] Her younger brother, Steve, plays football (soccer) 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
Sirtis started her career as a member of the repertory company at the Connaught Theatre, Worthing, West Sussex in 1976. Directed by Nic Young, she appeared in Joe Orton's What the Butler Saw and as Ophelia in Hamlet.[3]
Before her role in Star Trek, Sirtis was featured in provocative, sexually-themed supporting roles in several movies. In the Faye Dunaway film The Wicked Lady, she engaged in a topless whip fight with Dunaway. In the Charles Bronson sequel Death Wish 3, Sirtis's character is a rape victim. In the film Blind Date, she appears in a topless scene as a prostitute who is murdered by a madman.
She has an established CV of British television work, appearing in Minder as Stella in Series 1 episode Aces High – and Sometimes Very Low, Raffles, and The Return of Sherlock Holmes among other things. She played the stewardess in the famous Cinzano Bianco television commercial starring 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.[4] Sirtis and Denise Crosby initially tried out for the other's eventual role on The Next Generation. Sirtis's 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.
Deanna Troi was a half-human, half-Betazoid. Her Betazoid abilities allowed her to read the emotions of others. Her position on the Enterprise-D was ship's counsellor, looking after the crew's well-being and a trusted advisor to Captain Picard with a position seated next to him on the Bridge.
Originally the writers found it tough to write for Troi and even left her out of four of the first season episodes. Sirtis felt her job was in jeopardy after the first season but was overjoyed when Gene Roddenberry took her aside at Jonathan Frakes' wedding and told her the season two premiere episode, "The Child," would center around Deanna Troi.[5]
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.
She has stated her favourite episode is season six's "Face of the Enemy" when Troi is kidnapped and surgically altered to pose as a Romulan, as it was a turning point for her character. Simply getting Troi into a regulation uniform that season (in "Chain of Command") changed the character as she could carry her tricorder and phaser to go on away missions and Sirtis has joked saying you can't have cleavage and brains in Hollywood. [6]
Major episodes that focus on Deanna Troi:
| Episode Name | Season and Number | Description |
|---|---|---|
| "Haven" | 1.10 | Troi is expected to enter into an arranged marriage. This is the first of 6 appearances by Majel Barrett-Roddenberry as Lwaxana Troi. |
| "The Child" | 2.1 | An alien presence invades Troi's body and she gives birth to a son. |
| "The Price" | 3.8 | Troi begins a romance with a mysterious negotiator who holds a secret. |
| "Ménage à Troi" | 3.24 | Deanna, Will Riker and Lwaxana are kidnapped by the Ferengi after a trip to Betazed (the only time we see Troi's home planet). |
| "The Loss" | 4.10 | Troi loses her empathic abilities when the Enterprise encounters two-dimensional beings. |
| "Disaster" | 5.5 | In a disaster movie style episode, Troi is the senior officer on the Bridge and must take command. |
| "The Masterpiece Society" | 5.13 | When a genetically modified society reluctantly accepts the Enterprise's help, Troi has an ill-advised romance. |
| "Power Play" | 5.15 | Spirits from a prison colony invade Troi, Data and O'Brien on an away mission. |
| "Man of the People" | 6.3 | An Ambassador takes advantage of Troi, transmitting all his negative emotion towards her causing her to behave very differently and age rapidly. |
| "Face of the Enemy" | 6.14 | Troi is kidnapped and surgically altered to pose as a Romulan |
| "Second Chances" | 6.24 | When a duplicate of Will Riker is discovered, Troi is put in a difficult position and revisits her romance with him. |
| "Dark Page" | 7.7 | When Lwaxana slips into a deep coma, Deanna must enter her mind to discover secrets of the past. |
| "Thine Own Self" | 7.16 | As the secondary plot of this episode, Troi decides to take the bridge officer's test to become a full Commander. |
| "Eye of the Beholder" | 7.18 | Troi experiences a few days events in a few seconds, in which she has a romance with and kills Worf. |
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 (Lieutenant Worf, also an on-screen love interest) and Brent Spiner. Cast members Spiner and Dorn were groomsmen at her wedding. [7]
She usually wore hair-pieces for her role as Deanna Troi in Star Trek: The Next Generation. Sirtis's real hair was slightly shorter, and although curly, was not as bouffant as her character's. However, Sirtis'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. She was also asked to create an accent (described as a mixture of Eastern European and Hebrew) for her character, although her natural accent is British. Over time the accent was adjusted and became more americanised.
Sirtis has also reprised her character of Deanna Troi in the feature films, Star Trek: Generations (1994), Star Trek: First Contact (1996), Star Trek: Insurrection (1999) and Star Trek: Nemesis (2002). She also appeared in Star Trek: Voyager for three episodes towards the end of the series (1999 and 2000) and also in the series finale of Star Trek: Enterprise (2005).
Sirtis was delighted to get the chance to do some comedy in Star Trek: First Contact and Star Trek: Insurrection. Her biggest role was in Star Trek: Nemesis and she stated "I sort of had an inkling that I was going to have a good part in this movie because John Logan was such a big fan of the character. So I knew that he would do her some justice."[8] Troi and Riker finally get married but Troi has to endure being telepathically violated. She gets her revenge by using her Betazoid senses to target the cloaked enemy ship.
[edit] Other work
After the end of Star Trek: The Next Generation in 1994, Sirtis continued to work regularly. She provided the voice of Demona in the Disney animated television series Gargoyles, (1994-1996 and two one off specials). She voiced the character again for an episode of the unmade Animated Series Team Atlantis.
Sirtis popularly appeared in episodes of other science fiction television shows; The Outer Limits, Stargate SG-1 and Earth: Final Conflict. Her other guest starring roles include Diagnosis: Murder, Threat Matrix (playing a Bio-weapons scientist from Iraq), The Closer, a three episode recurring role on Girlfriends and Without a Trace.
She has also starred in many independent, made for tv movies and theatrical movies including Gadgetman, Paradise Lost, Terminal Error, Net Games, Spectres, Grendel, Inalienable, Oranges, Fist of the Warrior, The Grudge 3 and Green Street 2.
In the UK she made a highly publicized guest appearance on the BBC hospital drama series Casualty in 2001. In 2008, she made a guest appearance in an episode of Casualty's sister show, Holby City.
Sirtis has expanded her career branching out into production, being associate producer for Spectres and The Deep Below.
In 2004, Sirtis had a minor role in the Academy Award-winning ensemble movie Crash as the wife of the Persian shopkeeper.
She also has done voice work for computer games, as the character Matriarch Benezia for the critically acclaimed RPG Mass Effect, as well as Deanna Troi in Star Trek: The Next Generation – A Final Unity and Star Trek Generations PC Games.
Sirtis has read a few audio books including Powers That Be, by Anne McCaffrey and Elizabeth Anne Scarborough.
In 2009, Sirtis appeared as a guest on the show Family Guy playing herself along with the rest of the cast of Star Trek: TNG. She has provided her voice for an episode of The Cleveland Show premiering in September. She has filmed her part in a sci-fi channel movie entitled Doomsday that will air in the fall. She is soon to commence filming for Shadows in the Sky.
[edit] Personal life
Sirtis's spouse is Michael Lamper, a rock guitarist (21 June 1992 - present).[9][10]
[edit] Notes
- ^ "Marina Sirtis". Nndb.com. http://www.nndb.com/people/796/000025721/. Retrieved on 2009-05-17.
- ^ a b Marina Sirtis - Biography
- ^ Full Circle by John Willmer, pub. Optimus Books 1999
- ^ Nemeck, Larry (2003). Star Trek: The Next Generation Companion. Pocket Books. ISBN 0-7434-5798-6.
- ^ "Empathetic Marina Sirtis". Littlereview.com. http://www.littlereview.com/getcritical/trektalk/sirtis.htm. Retrieved on 2009-05-17.
- ^ "BBC Online - Cult - Star Trek - Marina Sirtis - Cleavage or Brains?". Bbc.co.uk. http://www.bbc.co.uk/cult/st/interviews/sirtis/page26.shtml. Retrieved on 2009-05-17.
- ^ "24". Marinasirtis.tv. http://www.marinasirtis.tv/gallery/personal/pages/24.htm. Retrieved on 2009-05-17.
- ^ http://www.sfrevu.com/ISSUES/2002/0212/Film%20-%20Star%20Trek%20Nemesis/Film%20Review.htm
- ^ "Marina Sirtis The Official Site". Marinasirtis.tv. http://www.marinasirtis.tv/sub/home.htm. Retrieved on 2009-05-17.
- ^ "Marina Sirtis Biography". TV.com. http://www.tv.com/marina-sirtis/person/14509/biography.html. Retrieved on 2009-05-17.
[edit] References
- Dillard, JM (1994), Star Trek: A History in Pictures, New York: Pocket Books, ISBN 978-067151149-4
[edit] External links
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Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Marina Sirtis |
- Marina Sirtis' official website
- Marina Sirtis at the Internet Movie Database
- Marina Sirtis at Memory Alpha (a Star Trek wiki)
- Marina Sirtis at TV.com
- Marina Sirtis:UK
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