Terry Farrell, best known for her role as Jadzia Dax on Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, turns 48 years old today!

Terry Farrell

At the age of 16, Terry Farrell was summoned to New York City and quickly got herself an exclusive contract with Mademoiselle. After a total of 18 months of modeling, she started to study acting with Kate McGregor Stewart while continuing to model on the side.

Her first major roles were in the short-lived 1983 television series Paper Dolls, playing a model. Later, she appeared in the feature film Back to School together with Rodney Dangerfield. In the spring of 1989, she began to study acting with Stella Adler and appeared in a number of guest-starring roles in series like Quantum Leap and The Cosby Show.

In 1992, she played Cat in a second pilot for an American version of Red Dwarf, which was never picked up. Thank God for that, really. Both because she would never have gotten her next role otherwise, but also because I’m not entirely sure that an American Red Dwarf would have been a good idea.

Soon after she learned that the Red Dwarf pilot hadn’t been picked up, she was offered one of the leads in Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, playing the character of Jadzia Dax, the space station’s Starfleet science officer. Farrell then co-starred on Paramount’s television comedy series Becker. She played Regina “Reggie” Kostas, foil and love interest to Ted Danson‘s John Becker, for four years and 94 episodes, before she was replaced by Nancy Travis.

The asteroid 26734 Terryfarrell, discovered in 2001, was named in her honor by its discoverer, William Kwong Yu Yeung.