Mary Crosby

Mary Frances Crosby, usually credited as Mary Crosby, is the American actress who played Natima Lang in the Star Trek: Deep Space Nine episode. She is the daughter of legendary singer and actress Kathryn Crosby. She is also the aunt of Star Trek: The Next Generation actress Denise Crosby (Tasha Yar).

Early life and career
Crosby was born in Los Angeles, California. She began acting when she was six years old, appearing in a Bay Area stage production of Peter Pan with her mother. She made her television debut when she was eight years old, appearing with her father and Joan Collins in an episode of The Danny Thomas Hour. She continued appearing with her father and other family members on a number of Christmas television specials throughout the 1970s.

She graduated from high school at the age of 15 and enrolled at the University of Texas at Austin, but dropped out before graduating. She then auditioned for San Francisco's American Conservatory Theatre (ACT), becoming the youngest person to be accepted by the repertory at the time. It was while at ACT rehearsing for a production of Julius Caesar that, on 14 October 1977, Crosby learned of her famous father's death of a heart attack at the age of 74. 

Crosby began acting on television professionally in 1978, appearing on the hit action/crime dramas Starsky and Hutch (which starred David Soul, in an episode directed by Reza Badiyi) and CHiPs (starring Robert Pine). She also played Patricia North in the 1978 mini-series Pearl, which detailed life in Pearl Harbor leading up to its attack by the Japanese and its aftermath. Gregg Henry played her husband, Lt. Col. Doug North; Charles Lucia and Allan Miller also had roles.

In early 1979, Crosby was a regular on the short-lived NBC series Brothers and Sisters. On this series, Crosby played Suzi Cooper, was a member of the Gamma Iota sorority at Larry Krandall College. The college is founded and run by its namesake, played by William Windom. Larry Anderson was also part of the cast. After Brothers and Sisters bombed, Crosby found some difficulty in finding another acting job on television.

Dallas
Crosby is perhaps best remembered for playing the scheming Kristin Shepard on the CBS primetime soap opera Dallas. She joined the series in 1979 and remained through 1981. It was her character who shot J.R. Ewing in the cliffhanger ending of the 1979-1980 season; this revelation came in the November 1980 episode "Who Done It?", which was the highest-rated program in television history at the time and remains the second most-watched television episode in the United States.

During her time on Dallas, Crosby worked with many other Star Trek alumni, including Barbara Babcock, Michael Bell, Ellen Bry, Nicolas Coster, Walter Edmiston, Stefan Gierasch, Susan Howard, Leigh J. McCloskey, William Smithers, Paul Sorensen, and Morgan Woodward. Crosby also played Kristin in a 1980 episode of the Dallas spin-off, Knots Landing.

She returned to the role of Kristin for Dallas' series finale in 1991, appearing in a "dream" sequence in which J.R. sees what life would be like if he had never been born. The "dream" was presented by an "angel" played by Star Trek: Voyager guest star Joel Grey, who ultimately coerced J.R. to (apparently) commit suicide by shooting himself. As such, two characters played by Star Trek veterans were responsible for J.R. getting shot.

After Dallas
After leaving Dallas, Crosby appeared in a pilot for ABC called Golden Gate, in which Crosby, Jean Simmons, and Richard Kiley played members of the Kingsley family. Jason Evers, Don Keefer, Warren Munson, and Voyager's Robert Picardo also appeared in the movie.

Crosby made her film debut in the 1983 war thriller Last Plane Out, for which she reunited with her Brothers and Sisters co-star, William Windom. She also appeared with Windom in an episode of Automan that same year, along with Robert Lansing, who was a regular on that series.

Perhaps Crosby's best-known film role is that of Prince Karina in the cult science fiction adventure The Ice Pirates. Ron Perlman, Robert Symonds, and Ian Abercrombie had roles in this film, as well. In 1988, Crosby starred in another cult film, the comedy Tapeheads, which also featured Lee Arenberg.

Crosby portrayed Isabel Hazard in the epic 1986 mini-series North and South, Book II. Her character was the wife of Stanley Hazard, played by Star Trek: The Next Generation' Jonathan Frakes; her character's sister-in-law, Virgilia, was played by actress Kirstie Alley, and her brother-in-law, George, was played by Voyager guest actor James Read. Other Star Trek alumni who worked on this production include Michael Champion, Jim Metzler, Bumper Robinson, William Schallert, the aforementioned Jean Simmons, Kurtwood Smith, David Ogden Stiers, and Anthony Zerbe.

Throughout the 1980s, Crosby made multiple appearances on the television series The Fall Guy, The Love Boat, and Hotel. She also appeared on Finder of Lost Loves with Michelle Phillips in 1984, starred with Joanna Cassidy in the 1985 mini-series Hollywood Wives, and appeared with Merritt Butrick in the 1986 TV movie Stagecoach. In 1987, she guest-starred in the series premiere of The New Adventures of Beans Baxter, which starred Elinor Donahue and the aforementioned Kurtwood Smith.

Crosby continued acting on stage, as well. She played Juliet in a 1985 Los Angeles production of William Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet, for which she acted alongside James Cromwell. She returned to the role for another LA production of the play in 1988, earning praise and a Drama-Logue Award for her performance. She then performed in the Los Angeles Theater Company's production of The Seagull, which ran from 1988 through 1989.

In 1989, Crosby filmed two appearances on the horror anthology series Freddy's Nightmares (one of which aired in January 1990). In the first episode, "Lucky Stiff", Crosby and David L. Lander played a married couple; after Lander's character dies, Crosby realizes he purchased a winning lottery ticket, but it may have been buried with him. Tracey Walter played a grave digger who resorts to blackmail to win the woman of his dreams. In the follow-up episode, "Easy Come, Easy Go", Crosby and Walter's characters are married, with Crosby planning to murder Walter.

1990-2005
Crosby appeared in several films during the 1990s. She was seen in four films in 1990 alone, three of which co-starred other Star Trek performers: Deadly Innocents with John Anderson, Body Chemistry with David Kagen, and Corporate Affairs with Richard Herd. In 1992, she worked with Stephen Davies in the action film The Berlin Conspiracy. She then starred with Brian Bonsall in the 1993 thriller film Distant Cousins.

On television, Crosby appeared in two episodes of Murder, She Wrote, the first of which was directed by Vincent McEveety and co-starred Gary Lockwood. The second episode again saw Crosby acting with William Windom. They worked together one last time in a 1995 episode of Burke's Law, along with Michael Nouri and Deep Space Nine regular Nana Visitor.

Crosby also guest-starred on such television series as Paradise (with David Graf), Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman (with Roy Brocksmith, K Callan, Teri Hatcher, Tony Jay, and Tracy Scoggins), and Orleans (with Michael Reilly Burke, Jerry Hardin, and J. Patrick McNamara). In addition, she played the recurring role of Claudia Van Eyck on the series Beverly Hills, 90210, working with Stanley Kamel.

In the 1997 horror film Cupid, Crosby and Zach Galligan play two murderous, incestuous siblings. In 2000, Crosby worked with Lawrence Monoson in the TV movie Sharing the Secret. Crosby's most recent screen credit was in the 2005 film The Legend of Zorro, in which she plays Governor Riley's wife. This film was written by Roberto Orci and Alex Kurtzman, who later wrote 's.