Nana Visitor

Nana Tucker was born July 26, 1957, in New York City,^[2] the daughter of Nenette Charisse, a ballet teacher, and Robert Tucker, a choreographer; she is a niece of actress/dancer Cyd Charisse.^[3]

Visitor began her acting career in the 1970s on the Broadway stage in such productions as My One and Only.^[4] Her film debut (billed by her birth name, Nana Tucker) came in the 1977 horror 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. Upon the suggestion of her older brother Paris, she adopted the stage name "Nana Visitor" in the early 1980s,^[5] and had her name legally changed to "Visitor" some time later.^[6][7]

In 1984, she appeared in a season-two episode of Hunter. In 1985, Visitor made appearances on the television series MacGyver, in the season-one episode "Hellfire" as Laura Farren, and in the season-two episode "DOA: MacGyver" as Carol Varnay. She also made an appearance in the fourth-season Remington Steele episode titled "Steele Blushing" the same year. In 1986, she appeared in "Hills of Fire", a fourth-season episode of Knight Rider, as well as third-season Highway to Heaven episodes "Love at Second Sight" and "Love and Marriage, Part II" as Margaret Swann.

In 1987, Visitor appeared as Ellen Dolan in a failed television pilot for Will Eisner's pulp comic creation The Spirit, starring Sam J. Jones as the title character and Garry Walberg as her father, Commissioner Dolan.

In 1988, she made an appearance on the sitcom Night Court as a mental patient who is obsessed with the movies. That same year, she made an appearance on the television series In the Heat of the Night as the owner of the Sparta newspaper. She also made an appearance that year in an episode of Matlock. In 1989, Visitor appeared in the fifth episode of the television series Doogie Howser, M.D. as Charmagne, a rock star who has a throat nodule removed at Doogie's hospital, and as Miles Drentell's glamorous girlfriend, in "Success", a 1989 episode of Thirtysomething's second season.

In 1990, Visitor co-starred with Sandra Bullock in the short-lived sitcom Working Girl, which was based on the feature film of the same name.

From 1993 to 1999, Visitor appeared on Star Trek: Deep Space Nine as Major (later Colonel) Kira Nerys, a former freedom fighter/terrorist from the planet Bajor, who fought against the occupation of her world by the Cardassians. After the occupation ended, she was appointed as first officer of the series's eponymous space station, built by the Cardassians and turned over to Starfleet. She revisited the character, as a voice actress, in the third season of the animated series Star Trek: Lower Decks.^[8] She was also interested to play the character of Kathryn Janeway in the series Star Trek: Voyager, filmed at the same time.^[9]

After DS9 ended, Visitor had a recurring role as villain Dr. Elizabeth Renfro on the television series Dark Angel. Visitor then starred as Roxie Hart in both the touring and Broadway companies of the musical Chicago,^[10] including starring as Hart as curtains rose again after September 11, 2001. Visitor was then cast as Jean Ritter on the ABC Family series Wildfire, which premiered on June 20, 2005.

In 2008, she appeared as Emily Kowalski, a dying cancer patient in "Faith", an episode of the reimagined Battlestar Galactica's fourth season. Visitor had a small role as Pamela Voorhees in the 2009 version of Friday the 13th. She has also lent her voice in a few appearances on the sitcom 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." In 2011, she had a small part in the Hammer Horror film The Resident, playing the realtor. She appeared in Torchwood: Miracle Day episodes seven ("Immortal Sins") and eight ("End of the Road").^[11] In 2012, she appeared as Dr. Patty Barker, a canine psychotherapist, in "An Embarrassment of Bitches", a season-four episode of ABC's Castle.^[12]

2024 saw the publication of her book, "Star Trek: Open a Channel: A Woman's Trek", a look at the female characters of the Star Trek franchise, and the actors who portrayed them.

Visitor was married to Nick Miscusi from 1989 to 1994.^[13] They have one son together.^[14] Visitor began dating her Star Trek: Deep Space Nine co-star Alexander Siddig and married him in June 1997. They divorced in April 2001.^[15] They also have a son together, and her pregnancy was incorporated into her character and the series storyline, beginning in the 1996 fourth season episode "Body Parts".^[16][17] She gave birth to her son on September 16, 1996, during production of the episode "The Assignment", though her character would remain pregnant until the fifth-season episode "The Begotten".^[18] In early 2002, Visitor became engaged to Matthew Rimmer, previously company manager for the musical Chicago, and from 2017 chief operating officer of The Broad Stage in Santa Monica.^[15][19][20] They married in April 2003.^[15]

Visitor and her Star Trek: Deep Space Nine co-star Terry Farrell were honored in 2001 when William Kwong Yu Yeung named two small Solar System bodies he had discovered after them – asteroid 26733 Nanavisitor and asteroid 26734 Terryfarrell.^[21][22]

• Visitor, Nana (2024). Star Trek: Open a Channel: A Woman's Trek. Insight Editions. ISBN 979-8886633016.