"I wanted to be like Vivien Leigh in Gone with the Wind. I wanted to have black hair, green eyes and break hearts."
Theresa Lee Farrell (born November 19, 1963 in Cedar Rapids, Iowa) is an American actress best known for playing Jadzia Dax on Star Trek: Deep Space Nine and Reggie Kostas on Becker (both shows produced by Paramount).
She was married to Brian Baker, with whom she has one son, and to Leonard Nimoy's son Adam. (Leonard had of course played Spock on Star Trek: The Original Series.)
Selected Filmography:
- The Cosby Show, episode "The Other Woman" (1985): Nikki Philips.
- Back to School (1986): Valerie Desmond.
- The Twilight Zone, episode "The After Hours" (1986): Marsha Cole.
- Family Ties, episode "The Big Fix" (1986): Liz Obeck.
- Hellraiser III: Hell on Earth (1992): Joanne "Joey" Summerskill.
- Quantum Leap, episode "A Leap For Lisa" (1992): Lt. Lisa Sherman.
- Star Trek: Deep Space Nine (1993-1998): Jadzia Dax.
- Legion (1998): Major Agatha Doyle.
- Becker (1998-2002): Regina "Reggie" Kostas.
- Tripping the Rift (2000): Six of One (Pilot episode only).
Tropes in her work:
- Action Girl: She earned the on-set nickname "Action Barbie" during her stint on Deep Space Nine for being so game about fight scenes. She lamented that she didn't get a fight scene in her final season.
- Ms. Fanservice: Dax was generally seen as the "sex symbol" of Deep Space Nine thanks to Farrell's considerable beauty. Also, her first scene in her Quantum Leap appearance has her walking naked on a beach and saying, "The ocean makes me feel so sexy!"
- Rubber-Forehead Aliens: Michael Westmore retconned an entire species for this. In their first appearance on TNG, the Trill were much less human-looking, but Kerry McCluggage, the head of Paramount Television at the time, revolted upon seeing Terry Farrell in that getup. So Westmore gave her a halo of spots, just as he had for the similarly stunning Famke Janssen.
- What Could Have Been: She played the Cat in a pilot for an American version of Red Dwarf. The pilot was not picked up. If it had led to a series, Farrell would not have been available to play Dax.
