Beata Pozniak

Beata Poźniak Daniels
Beata Poźniak Daniels
Born	(1960-04-30) 30 April 1960 (age 56) Gdańsk, Poland
Education	Master's Degree (High Honors)
Alma mater	National Film School in Łódź PWSFTViT - Państwowa Wyższa Szkoła Filmowa, Telewizyjna i Teatralna
Occupation	Actress, director, producer, writer, artist, activist

Beata Poźniak Daniels (Polish pronunciation: [bɛˈat̪a pɔʑˈɲak]; born April 30, 1960) is an actress, film director, painter, writer and activist.

Poźniak was born in Gdańsk, Poland. Her mother was born in Wilno, Poland (now Lithuania). Her early childhood found Pozniak in England where she went to school. She passed her entrance exam to the National Film School in Łódź PWSFTViT with the highest score in the country, and received a master's degree with High Honors at age 22. Her very first film role was as an extra in the Academy Award winning film The Tin Drum which happened to be filming near her home. She later made many film appearances and worked as a fashion model and was the calendar girl for Poland's national soccer team. For many years she worked under the name Beata Pozniak. After birth of her son, she changed it officially to Beata Pozniak Daniels.

Pozniak was discovered by the U.S. audiences when Oliver Stone cast her in JFK as Marina Oswald. This memorable role in an Academy Award-nominated film was her U.S. feature debut and it led to her appearances in over 30 film and TV projects worldwide. She soon became known for playing intense, edgy characters like the first female President of the World, Earth Alliance President Susanna Luchenko in “Babylon 5”, a fiery young revolutionary in George Lucas’ “The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles”, as well as a sharp scientist Ludmilla in “Dark Skies” and as Eva in “Pensacola”. Other “gutsy” roles have included Paramount’s "JAG" where she appeared as an exotic Israeli spy, a double agent working for the Mossad and CIA. In the television series "Melrose Place" she created a ground-breaking character, Dr. Katya Fielding, a "straight" woman and mother who decides to marry a gay man - the role that is still very much talked about, making Pozniak one of the show's most popular former cast members. Her other diverse roles include Masha in "Mad About You", Raisa on “The Drew Carey Show” and Tambor, the Japanese nanny in Oliver Stone's "Wild Palms" miniseries. In the CBS movie of the week "A Mother's Gift" she was seen as a character that aged thirty years, whereas in a World War II drama entitled “Miriam” she played a Catholic woman who risks her life to save a Jewish girl from the Nazis. She also stars as Laina in the interactive movie/video game Psychic Detective, released in 1995.