Nana Visitor
 |
Nana Visitor | |
|---|---|
 Visitor at STICCon XVIII, 2004 | |
| Born | Nana Tucker July 26, 1957 |
| Occupation | Actress |
| Years active | 1976 – present |
| Spouse(s) | Alexander Siddig (1997–2001) |
Nana Visitor (born Nana Tucker on July 26, 1957) is an American actress, best known for playing Kira Nerys in the television series Star Trek: Deep Space Nine (DS9) and Jean Ritter in the television series Wildfire.
Early life
Visitor was born in New York City as Nana Tucker, the daughter of Nenette Charisse, a ballet teacher, and Robert Tucker, a choreographer; she is a niece of actress/dancer Cyd Charisse.[1]
Career
Visitor began her acting career in the 1970s on the Broadway stage in such productions as My One and Only. Her film debut (billed as Nana Tucker) came in the 1977 film, The Sentinel. On television, Visitor co-starred in the short-lived 1976 sitcom, Ivan the Terrible and from 1978 to 1982 had short-lived regular roles on three soap operas: Ryan's Hope, The Doctors, and One Life to Live.
In 1984, she appeared in Season 2, Episode 3 of Hunter. In 1985, Visitor made an appearance in the TV series MacGyver, in the season one episode "Hellfire" as Laura Farren, and in the season two episode "DOA: MacGyver" as Carol Varnay. In 1986 she appeared in "Hills of Fire", a fourth season episode of Knight Rider. In 1988 she made a guest appearance on the TV series Night Court as a lost mental patient. That same year she made a guest appearance on the TV series In the Heat of the Night as the owner of the Sparta newspaper. Prior to obtaining the role of Kira on Deep Space 9, Visitor co-starred with Sandra Bullock in a short-lived sitcom Working Girl, which was based on the feature film of the same name, and co-starred in a failed television pilot for a series based upon the comic strip character, The Spirit. After DS9 ended, she had a recurring role as villain Dr. Elizabeth Renfro on the TV series Dark Angel and starred as Roxie Hart in the touring and Broadway companies of the musical Chicago to favorable reviews. Visitor's run as Roxie on Broadway was interrupted by the 9/11 terrorist attacks, but shows resumed on September 15, 2001. Visitor was then cast as Jean Ritter on the ABC Family series Wildfire, which premiered on June 20, 2005. She appeared as a guest star in the Battlestar Galactica episode "Faith" in 2008.
Visitor had a small role as Pamela Voorhees in the 2009 Friday the 13th reboot. She has also lent her voice in a few guest appearances on the show Family Guy, such as Rita in the episode "Brian's Got a Brand New Bag" and as the voice of the Enterprise in "Extra Large Medium".
Visitor appeared as a guest on the fifth episode of the series Doogie Howser, M.D. as Charmagne, a rock star who has a throat nodule removed at Doogie's hospital.
Personal life
Visitor became pregnant by her Deep Space Nine costar Alexander Siddig (formerly Siddig el-Fadil) in 1996, and the pregnancy was incorporated into a DS9 storyline, beginning in the fourth season episode "Body Parts",[2] which premiered in June 1996.[3] She gave birth to her son, Django El Tahir El Siddig, during production of the episode "The Assignment", though her character would remain pregnant until the fifth season episode "The Begotten", which premiered in January 1997.[4] Visitor and Siddig eventually married, but they divorced in 2001.[citation needed]
References
- ^ Nana Visitor biography at Film Reference
- ^ Erdmann, Terry J. and Block, Paula M. Star Trek: Deep Space Nine Companion; Pocket Books; 2000; Pages 351 - 352
- ^ "Body Parts" at startrek.com
- ^ Erdmann and Block; Page 407