Denise Crosby | |
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Crosby at the 2015 Phoenix Comicon
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Born |
Denise Michelle Crosby November 24, 1957 Hollywood, California, United States |
Nationality | American |
Occupation | Actress, model |
Years active | 1980–present |
Spouse(s) |
Geoffrey Edwards (m. 1983; div. 1990) Ken Sylk (m. 1995) |
Children | 1 |
Website | denisecrosby |
Denise Michelle Crosby (born November 24, 1957) is an American actress and model best known for portraying Security Chief Tasha Yar in season one of Star Trek: The Next Generation as well as Yar's own daughter, the half-Romulan Commander Sela, in subsequent seasons. She is also known for her numerous film and television roles and for starring in and producing the film Trekkies. She is the granddaughter of entertainer Bing Crosby.
Crosby was born in Hollywood, California, as the out of wedlock daughter of Marilyn Scott and actor Dennis Crosby. Her mother pursued a sensational, three-year-long lawsuit against her father, at the conclusion of which he was ordered to pay child support and legal fees. This deeply embarrassed Dennis Crosby and his famous father, the actor and singer Bing Crosby. Although Bing died when his granddaughter was 19, the two never met.
Crosby attended LeConte Junior High School, followed by Hollywood High School and Cabrillo College, where she studied theater. She dropped out of college after she was interviewed by a local paper and revealed her famous family background. "One of the drama teachers used the story to illustrate to the class that this crap is what Hollywood's all about, using people's names to get somewhere. I was very, very hurt by it. So I just checked out." She started modeling and in 1979 posed nude for Playboy magazine, which she called "some kind of rebellion on my part, some way of saying screw you to the family image."
Crosby's first high-profile role was as Lisa Davis on the soap opera Days of Our Lives. She has appeared as Dr. Gretchen Kelly in three episodes of Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman, and as a sheriff on The Adventures of Brisco County, Jr. episode "No Man's Land". In the early 1990s, she played the role of the mayor in the short-lived series Key West. She also appeared in two episodes of the cable television series Red Shoe Diaries, playing a different character in each episode. Crosby had a small recurring role in Aaron Spelling's prime time drama, Models Inc, a spin-off from Melrose Place. She was a guest star on the eighth season of The X-Files for two episodes, in which she plays a doctor who took examinations of Agent Scully's baby. In 1991, she was a guest star in "The Deadly Nightshade", a first season The Flash episode as Dr. Rebecca Frost. In 2006, she was a guest star in Dexter as Dexter's first victim. Crosby had a recurring role in Southland as Detective Dan "Sal" Salinger's wife.