Paige Turco

Turco was born May 17, 1965,^[2][3] to Joyce Jean (Jodoin) and David Vincent Turco^[4] in Boston, Massachusetts. At one year old her mother moved them to Springfield, Massachusetts, where she was raised, after the death of her father. She is of Italian, French-Canadian and English ancestry.^[5] She took ballet lessons as a little girl and planned to become a classical ballerina. She attended the Walnut Hill School in Natick, Massachusetts, graduating in 1983^[6] and performed as a soloist at the New England Dance Conservatory, the Amherst Ballet Theatre Company, and the Western Massachusetts Ballet Company. An ankle injury ended the possibility of professional ballet. She remarked later, "I couldn't even go to the ballet anymore. It was too painful." Turco graduated from Bay Path College in Longmeadow, Massachusetts, in 1987 and majored in drama at the University of Connecticut.^[1]

In 1987, Turco made her television acting debut as Dinah Marler in the CBS soap opera Guiding Light (1987–1989),^[7] She appeared as Melanie Cortlandt in the ABC soap opera All My Children (1989–1992).^[7] She played the role of April O'Neil in Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles II: The Secret of the Ooze (1991),^[8] and later in Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles III (1993).^[7]

In 1994, she played Terry Mears co-starring opposite Catherine Hicks in NBC primetime soap, Winnetka Road (1994).^[7] The following year, Turco starred as Gail Emory in another short-lived series, CBS's cult classic American Gothic (1995–1998).^[7] She had recurring role as Officer Abby Sullivan in NYPD Blue (1996–1997),^[7] and again on Party of Five (1997–1998)^[7] as Annie Mott, a single mother who is also a recovering alcoholic. She starred as graphic artist Terri Lowell, in the CBS drama series The Agency (2001–2003).^[7]

In 2006, Turco had a recurring role as science teacher Mrs. Nell Turbody in the third season of Rescue Me (2006), and was a regular cast member in the ABC series Big Shots (2007–2008),^[7] portraying Lisbeth, the ex-wife of Dylan McDermott's character, Duncan Collinsworth, a cosmetics company CEO. Turco co-starred alongside Mark Wahlberg and Greg Kinnear, playing Carol Vermeil, the wife of Dick Vermeil, in the film Invincible (2006).^[7] She worked with Dwayne Johnson in the Walt Disney picture The Game Plan (2007).^[7] She also played the romantic interest of her then real-life husband Jason O'Mara in Episode 15 of Life on Mars (2009).^[7]

She appeared in multiple episodes of Damages (2009),^[7] and guest-starred in The Good Wife (2010),^[7] Blue Bloods (2011),^[7] and Law & Order: Special Victims Unit (2001 & 2011).^[9] She also appeared as Zoe Morgan in a recurring role in Person of Interest (2011–2015).^[7]

In 2014, she was cast as the lead character's wife Linda Pride in CBS's NCIS: New Orleans (2014 & 2020).^[10]

From March 2014, Turco starred as Doctor Abigail Griffin, in the main cast for the first six seasons of The CW post-apocalyptic drama series, The 100, from 2014–2019,^[11] returning in 2020 for the series finale episode. She worked alongside Eliza Taylor who played her daughter Clarke, also Henry Ian Cusick, Marie Avgeropoulos, and Lindsey Morgan.^[11]

Turco is Roman Catholic.^[12] She was married to Irish actor Jason O'Mara from 2003 to 2017. They have one child together,^[1] David (born in February 2004; named after Turco's father, who died when she was an infant).^[13][14]