Jane Daly

Jane Daly is the actress who portrayed Varria in the Star Trek: The Next Generation episode. Since 1972, she has appeared in eight feature films and nine made-for-TV movies and has guest-starred on over 30 different television series. She also held regular roles on two television shows and starred in six TV pilots.

She was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and began modeling and appearing in commercials when she was 14 years old. At 15, she participated in the 1963 Miss Teenage America Pageant. She paid her way through college by appearing in over 100 commercials, earning her degree in Theatre from the University of Miami in Florida.

Daly made her feature film debut in 's 1972 horror comedy Children Shouldn't Play with Dead Things (aka Revenge of the Living Dead and Things from the Dead). Later that year, she reunited with Clark for another horror movie, Dead of Night, which was released in 1974. Both of these productions were filmed in Florida. Afterward, Daly moved to New York, where she starred in a national tour of the musical play Godspell as well as productions of Sweet Charity and Fiddler on the Roof. She then moved to California to work in Hollywood.

Her first Hollywood film was the thriller Airport '77, which also featured DS9 and ENT guest star Robert Foxworth, 's Robert Hooks, DS9 guest actor Monte Markham, and TOS/TNG guest star Michael Pataki. Daly's next movie (and her first credited film appearance) was the football comedy North Dallas Forty, distributed by Paramount Pictures in 1979. actor Jim Boeke also appeared in this movie.

The following year, Daly appeared in the romantic comedy film The Black Marble, which starred the aforementioned Robert Foxworth as well as TOS alum Barbara Babcock, and fellow TNG veterans John Hancock and Herta Ware. Christopher Lloyd also had a role in this movie. Daly made her next film appearance with an uncredited role in 1982's Missing, starring David Clennon, Jerry Hardin, and Keith Szarabajka.

In addition to her movie roles, Daly starred in a TV pilot for CBS in 1979 called Heaven on Earth, directed by Lou Antonio, but it was not picked up by the network. She starred in two more sitcom pilots for CBS the following year, including Pottsville, which co-starred Hamilton Camp, James Cromwell, and George O'Hanlon, Jr. In 1981, she starred with future Star Trek: Enterprise guest actor John Rubinstein in a pilot for ABC called I Love Her Anyway!

In 1982, Daly landed a regular role on the CBS soap opera Capitol, portraying prostitute Shelley Granger (aka Kelly Harper). TOS veterans Victor Brandt and Julie Parrish were also part of the cast during Daly's tenure on the show. It was while working on this series that Daly met actor Duncan Gamble, whom she would marry just seven weeks later. Both Daly and Gamble left Capitol after the first season, with Daly's role being replaced by actress Jess Walton.

After Capitol, Daly appeared in the 1983 NBC TV movie Murder One, Dancer 0 (aka Joe Dancer), directed by Reza Badiyi, and guest-starred on the short-lived NBC series Bay City Blues, starring Bernie Casey and Michael Nouri. She returned to television in 1987 with guest appearances on the hit NBC shows St. Elsewhere (starring Ed Begley, Jr., Bruce Greenwood, Norman Lloyd and Gimme a Break! (starring John Hoyt). For the former, she appeared in the episode "Schwarzwald" with Harry Groener and Cyril O'Reilly; for the latter, she appeared in the episode "Joey's Hero" with Paul Williams. Both of these episodes aired on the same night (11 February 1987).

Also in 1987, Daly starred in the short-lived NBC series Roomies, appeared with Jack Blessing and Terry O'Quinn in an episode of Moonlighting, and guest-starred on Michael Landon's series, Highway to Heaven. Throughout the remainder of the 1980s, she made guest appearances on such shows as Who's the Boss? (in an episode with Matt Roe and Gwen Van Dam), Family Ties (with Brian Bonsall), and L.A. Law (with Corbin Bernsen, Larry Drake, David Rappaport, and Lorinne Vozoff). She also appeared in the 1989 drama film Gross Anatomy, along with Bruce Beatty, Gordon Clapp, Steven Culp, Clyde Kusatsu, Kay E. Kuter, J. Patrick McNamara, and Jack Murdock.

The 1990s saw Daly guest-star on such television series as Lifestories (with Dwight Schultz), Matlock (with Andrew J. Robinson), Melrose Place (with Cecily Adams and Vanessa Williams), Picket Fences (with Michael Reilly Burke, Leigh Taylor-Young, and Ray Walston), Sisters (directed by James Contner), ER (with Bruce Beatty, Lily Mariye, and Jim O'Heir), Pensacola: Wings of Gold (with Kristanna Loken and Joel Polis), and Time of Your Life (with Bonita Friedericy). She also starred in a pilot for ABC called Bermuda Triangle, working with Michael Reilly Burke, Jerry Hardin, and Susanna Thompson.

In addition, Daly played the recurring role of Dr. Molly "The Malibu Mystic" Campbell on the drama series Beverly Hils, 90210. She appeared in four episodes of this series in 1995, including one directed by Les Landau and another by Chip Chalmers. In 1999, she had a recurring role on the NBC/Paramount Television series JAG, appearing in two episodes with Scott Haven and Joan Pringle. The first of those episodes, "Nobody's Child", also featured David Q. Combs, Javier Grajeda, and Vyto Ruginis).

Also during the 1990s, Daly starred in several TV movies: 1990's Miracle Landing (with Jeff Allin, James Cromwell, Jack Murdock, George O'Hanlon, Jr., Armin Shimerman, and Herta Ware) and In the Line of Duty: A Cop for the Killing (co-starring Bruce French, Clyde Kusatsu, Tony Plana, and Steven Weber), 1991's Runaway Father (with Janet MacLachlan and Frank Novak), 1993's Star (with Albert Hall and Patrick Massett), 1994's And Then There Was One (co-starring Jennifer Hetrick), 1997's Two Small Voices (with Vaughn Armstrong and Casey Biggs), and 1998's Little Girl Fly Away (with Bruce Bohne, Bruce Davison, Anne Haney, and Clayton Rohner).

Since the turn of the century, Daly has guest-starred on such series as The X-Files (with Michael Welch), Judging Amy (with John Rubinstein and Chris Sarandon), Nip/Tuck (with Ruth Williamson), Joan of Arcadia (again working with Michael Welch), and Without a Trace (starring Enrique Murciano, in an episode with John de Lancie and Tracy Middendorf). She also had a brief recurring role on the UPN series Girlfriends, starring Enterprise guest actress Golden Brooks, and appeared in the as-yet-unaired pilot for NBC's The Singles Table, starring John Cho.

In 2006, Daly made her first appearance in a feature film since 1989, playing Michelle Monaghan's mother in the 2006 Paramount Pictures release Mission: Impossible III (or M:i:III). This film was directed by J.J. Abrams, who also directed 's. (Daly had previously appeared on Abrams' Felicity.) The cast of M:i:III included Simon Pegg, who stars in Abrams' Star Trek. Many other production staff members who worked on M:i:III worked on Star Trek, as well.