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UPN
United Paramount Network

Type	Defunct broadcast television network
Country	United States
Availability	United States, Canada
Founded	by United Television & Paramount Pictures
Owner	Chris-Craft Television (1995-1996) Chris-Craft Television/Viacom (1996-2000) Viacom (2000-2006) CBS Corporation (2006)
Launch date	January 16, 1995 (1995-01-16)
Dissolved	August 31, 2006 (2006-08-31) (current myNetworkTV affiliates) September 15, 2006 (2006-09-15) (current CW affiliates)

United Paramount Network (UPN) was a television network that was broadcast in over 200 markets in the United States from 1995 to 2006. UPN was originally owned by Viacom/Paramount and Chris-Craft Industries, the former of which, through the Paramount Television Group, produced most of the network's series. It was later owned by CBS Corporation. Its first night of broadcasting was on January 16, 1995. UPN shut down on September 15, 2006, and merged with The WB, which was shut down two days later, to form The CW Television Network.

History[link]

Origins (1949–1993)[link]

Paramount Pictures (the "P" in UPN) has played a pivotal role in the development of network television; it was a partner in the DuMont Television Network, and the Paramount Theaters chain, spun off from the corporate/studio parent, was an early, important component of the ABC television network's survival in the 1950s. The Paramount Television Network was launched in 1949, but dissolved in the 1950s.

In the wake of the successful Universal Studios ad hoc syndicated package Operation Prime Time, which featured first a miniseries adaptation of John Jakes' novel The Bastard and went on to several more productions, Paramount had earlier contemplated its own television network with the Paramount Television Service. Set to launch in early 1978, its programming would have consisted of only one night a week. Thirty "Movies of the Week" would have followed Star Trek: Phase II on Saturday nights. Plans for the new network were scrapped when sufficient advertising slots could not be sold, though Paramount would contribute some programs to Operation Prime Time, such as the mini-series A Woman Called Golda, and the weekly pop music program, Solid Gold. Star Trek: Phase II went into production as Star Trek: The Motion Picture, absorbing the costs already incurred of the aborted television series.

Paramount, and its eventual parent Viacom, did not try to forget about the possibility. Independent stations, even more than network affiliates, were feeling the growing pressure of audience erosion to cable television in the 1980s and 1990s, and there were unaffiliated commercial stations in most of the major markets, at least, even after the foundation of Fox in 1986. Meanwhile, Paramount, long successful in syndication with repeats of Star Trek, found itself with several first-run syndicated series by the turn of the 1990s, in Entertainment Tonight, The Arsenio Hall Show, Friday the 13th: The Series, War of the Worlds, Star Trek: The Next Generation, and Star Trek: Deep Space Nine.

In 1993, Warner Bros. and Chris-Craft Industries went into a joint venture to distribute programming via a prime time programming block, which grew into its own network, the Prime Time Entertainment Network (PTEN). PTEN can be seen as the ancestor of what would become UPN and The WB, since Chris-Craft later became a partner in UPN, while Warner Bros. launched The WB, at roughly the same time (which slowly eroded PTEN into a mere programming block that was eventually cancelled in 1997), before both merged to form The CW Television Network in September 2006.

Launch (1994–2000)[link]

The UPN colorful shapes logo, used from 1995 to 1998, and in various versions from 1998 to 2002 (though the "primary colors" variant continued on affiliates and print until 2002).

Paramount had formed Paramount Stations Group when it purchased the TVX Group, which owned several independent stations in major markets. This was not unlike of the purchase of the Metromedia stations by News Corporation 10 years earlier, which were used as the nuclei for Fox. In another parallel, 20th Century Fox had long been a powerhouse in television syndication. All indicators suggested that Paramount was about to launch a network of its own. In late 1994, Paramount announced formation of the United Paramount Network. The new network was a joint venture between Paramount and Chris-Craft Industries. The "U" in UPN came from United Television, a Chris-Craft subsidiary. Both companies owned independent stations in several large cities in the United States. The new network launched on January 16, 1995; less than a year earlier, Paramount had been bought by Viacom.

The first telecast, the two-hour pilot of Star Trek: Voyager, was an auspiciously widely viewed start; however, Voyager would never achieve such viewership levels again, nor would any of the series debuting on UPN's second night of broadcasting survive the season. In contrast, The WB debuted one week earlier, on January 11, with four series, only one of which, Muscle, would not survive its first season. The first comedy shows to debut were Platypus Man, starring Richard Jeni, and Pig Sty, with both shows airing Monday nights in the 9:00 PM hour. Both received mixed reviews and neither lasted long. Other early UPN programs included the action show Nowhere Man starring Bruce Greenwood, the action show Marker starring Richard Grieco, the comic western Legend starring Richard Dean Anderson (a veteran of Paramount's MacGyver), the science-fiction themed action show, The Sentinel, and Moesha, a sitcom starring Brandy Norwood. Of the network's early offerings, only Star Trek: Voyager, Moesha, and The Sentinel would last longer than one season.

Viacom era and decline (2000–2006)[link]

In 2000, Viacom bought Chris-Craft's share stake to gain 100 percent control of the venture. Shortly afterward, Viacom dropped the "United" name for its new network, opting to change the official corporate name to the three-letter initials, "UPN". Viacom also aimed to relaunch UPN as Paramount Network, using a logo based on the famous Paramount Pictures mountain logo and the "P" triangle of the UPN logo, which already stood for Paramount, as the new network logo. This idea was abandoned after many affiliates protested, citing that the new branding might cause confusion and erode viewership. A few months before, Viacom bought CBS, thus creating CBS-UPN duopolies in Philadelphia (KYW-TV and WPSG), Boston (WBZ-TV and WSBK-TV), Miami (WFOR-TV and WBFS-TV), Dallas/Fort Worth (KTVT and KTXA), Detroit (WWJ-TV and WKBD-TV), and Pittsburgh (KDKA-TV and WNPA). It is said that Viacom's purchase of CBS was the "death knell" for the FCC's "no duopolies at all rule". Further transactions added San Francisco (KPIX-TV and KBHK), which was traded to Viacom/CBS by Fox, and Sacramento (KOVR and KMAX-TV) to the mix.

At the time of UPN's launch, the network's flagship station was WWOR-TV in New York City, owned by Chris-Craft. Even after Chris-Craft sold its share of the network to Viacom, WWOR was still commonly regarded as the flagship station since it had long been common practice to accord this status to a network's New York station. For this reason, some cast doubt on UPN's future after Fox bought most of Chris-Craft's television holdings. Several UPN stations were part of the deal, including WWOR and West Coast flagship KCOP-TV in Los Angeles. Fox later bought the third-largest UPN affiliate, WPWR-TV in Chicago. After Chris-Craft sold its stake in UPN, the network's largest owned-and-operated station was WPSG in Philadelphia.

In 2001, UPN acquired Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Roswell for their final seasons from network rival The WB in a public bidding war between the two with producing studio 20th Century Fox Television. UPN eventually outbid The WB for the shows and aired them together on Tuesday nights until Roswell ended its run in 2002 and Buffy the following year in 2003. New shows began to breathe life into the network starting in fall 2003 with America's Next Top Model and Will Smith's All of Us, in fall 2004 with Veronica Mars, and in fall 2005 with Chris Rock's Everybody Hates Chris.

When Viacom split into two companies at the end of 2005, its over-the-air broadcasting interests, including UPN, became part of CBS Corporation.

The logo of the CW, which took over UPN in September of 2006.

On January 24, 2006, UPN parent CBS Corporation and Time Warner announced that they were to create a new broadcast network, The CW Television Network which launched on September 18, 2006. UPN quietly went off the air on September 15 which was three days prior to the launch of The CW; WWE SmackDown was the last official program (although some affiliates aired the optional weekend encore block), ending its existence after 11 years. However, UPN affiliates owned by Fox Television Stations Group ended all ties to the network on August 31, 2006. Before that, within days of the new network's announcement, Fox-owned UPN affiliates stopped using the UPN branding and dropped all advertisement for UPN. As a result UPN did not air its last two weeks of programming in New York City, Los Angeles, Chicago and six other media markets in which Fox owned the UPN station, also due in part to then upstart Fox owned MyNetworkTV, which was set to debut September 5, 2006 on those stations. With the exception of WWE SmackDown, all programming during the final three months were reruns. SmackDown!, however, was aired in those markets on WB stations owned by Tribune, which have since become CW stations.

After the network's official closure, UPN's website was redirected to The CW website, and then CBS's website.

Executive management[link]

• Lucie Salhany was the first CEO, from the network's launch in 1995 until 1997.
• Michael Sullivan was the first President, Entertainment from 1994 to 1997
• Dean Valentine was CEO from 1997 to 2001.
• Tom Nunan was President, Entertainment from 1997 to 2001.^[1]
• Adam Ware was Chief Operating Officer from 1999 to 2002.
• Dawn Ostroff was President, Entertainment from 2002 to 2006.^[1]

Availability[link]

Although it was considered a major network by the Nielsen ratings, UPN was not available in all areas of the United States. In some areas, UPN programming was shown off-pattern by affiliates of other networks or by otherwise independent stations, such as in the case of KIKU-TV in Honolulu, Hawaii. Some affiliates were also known to extensively preempt network programming in order to broadcast local sporting events. These factors led to the network struggling in the ratings over the past few years, with its most recent Star Trek franchise, Star Trek: Enterprise, perhaps suffering the most and ultimately being cancelled by the network in a controversial decision in February 2005. The most consistent ratings performer for the network was WWE SmackDown. In the 2004-2005 season, the network was getting consistently better ratings than The WB, much of this thanks to WWE.^[2]

It was estimated in 2003 that UPN was viewable by 85.98% of all households, reaching 91,689,290 houses in the United States. In contrast, The WB was viewable in 91.66% of homes. This is mainly because The WB had The WB 100+ Station Group, of group of cable-only stations in markets below the top 100, and UPN did not have such a service. Despite this, WNFM-TV in Southwest Florida became a UPN affiliate in 1998. UPN had approximately 143 full-power owned-and-operated or primary affiliate stations in the U.S. and another 65 stations aired some UPN programming as secondary affiliates.

Programming[link]

Most of UPN's programming through the years was produced by Paramount Television or a sister company (such as Viacom Productions, Spelling Television, or CBS Productions).

The first official UPN network programming was the series Star Trek: Voyager. The first comedy shows to debut were Platypus Man, starring Richard Jeni, and Pig Sty, with both shows airing Monday nights in the 9 PM hour. Both received mixed reviews and neither lasted long. Other early UPN programs included the action show Nowhere Man starring Bruce Greenwood, the action show Marker starring Richard Grieco, The Watcher featuring Sir Mix-a-Lot as an omniscient narrator, the comic western Legend starring Richard Dean Anderson, the science-fiction themed action show, The Sentinel, and Moesha, a sitcom starring Brandy Norwood. Of the network's first few seasons, only Star Trek: Voyager, Moesha, and The Sentinel would last longer than one season.

UPN bought Buffy the Vampire Slayer from 20th Century Fox in 2001 when The WB chose not to renew it when the license fees skyrocketed. Buffy continued on UPN for two more seasons.^[3]

UPN also bought the rights to broadcast television shows Clueless (formerly on ABC), The Hughleys (formerly on ABC), and Roswell (formerly on The WB). The former show was produced by Paramount Television, while the latter two were produced by 20th Century Fox Television.

After Voyager's 7-season run came to an end, UPN began broadcasting the newest Star Trek spin-off, Star Trek: Enterprise.

The network also produced some special programs, including the Iron Chef USA program during Christmas 2001. UPN also showed WWE's SmackDown! show, America's Next Top Model, Girlfriends, The Parkers (a spin-off from Moesha), Veronica Mars, and Everybody Hates Chris. In the summer of 2005, UPN aired R U the Girl, in which R&B group TLC searched for a woman to join them on a new song.

In its later years, as part of the network's desire to maintain its own unique identity with its own unique shows, UPN had a policy of "not picking up other networks' scraps", which was a strong argument when fan pressure was generated in 2004 for them to pick up Angel, the spin-off of Buffy the Vampire Slayer which had been dropped from The WB.

UPN aired only one regular network sports event program: the much-hyped XFL in 2001, as part of a package from co-creator Vince McMahon which also included what was then WWF SmackDown! UPN had planned to air a second season of XFL in 2002, but it also demanded a reduction in the airtime of SmackDown! by 30 minutes. McMahon did not agree to the change and the XFL folded just after that.

Like The WB, UPN never aired a national newscast.

Children's programming[link]

In its last three seasons, UPN was one of only two of the major broadcast networks (Pax TV (now Ion Television) was the other) not to air a children's programming block on weekend mornings. When UPN launched in 1995, the station aired cartoons on weekends; the lineup was known as UPN Kids. In 1998, UPN went a different way with its children's program block by airing reruns of the syndicated Sweet Valley High, The Berenstain Bears and a new series, Breaker High on weekdays and weekends aiming the programs at teenagers. As opposed to ABC, NBC, CBS, Fox and WB stations, some UPN affiliates aired the weekend children's program block on Sunday mornings instead of Saturdays.

In 1999, UPN made a deal with Disney to air select programming from ABC's Disney's One Saturday Morning block (later ABC Kids) in place of the teen series. The new lineup would be called Disney's One Too. Recess and Sabrina, the Animated Series were among the programming on the original lineup. Many UPN affiliates were already airing the syndicated Disney Afternoon block anyway. The Disney cartoons therefore were no longer syndicated but now aired on UPN stations. The block was reinstated to two hours. In some markets it ran weekday mornings, while in other markets it aired weekday afternoons. In 2002, Digimon: Digital Monsters moved to the lineup from Fox Kids. This was due to Disney's acquisition of Fox's children's programming department (then known as Jetix until 2009, now known as Disney XD) as well as the Fox Family Channel, now renamed ABC Family.

After eight years of airing children's programming, UPN dropped out of the kids program business in September 2003 when Disney's contract with UPN came to an end. Reasons included U.S. Federal Communications Commission (FCC) restrictions on quantity of advertising on children's programs, the content of such advertising, the fact syndicators were moving their most popular product to cable only, and the growth of cable channels directed at children (which have fewer advertising restrictions). As of January 2006, UPN had no plans of returning kids programming to the network, but it became a moot point due to its merger with The WB creating The CW. When The CW launched, they carried over the Kids' WB (now Toonzai) Saturday morning lineup from The WB.

Some Fox stations decided to carry over Fox's 4kids.tv block to a UPN, WB, or independent station, so the Fox affiliate could air general entertainment or local news programming on Saturday mornings. WFLD Fox 32 in Chicago, for example, moved the 4Kids TV schedule to co-owned UPN (now MyNetworkTV) affiliate WPWR-TV Channel 50, while Channel 32 airs news and different children's programming in place of the shows. Also, some UPN stations aired a block of cartoon programming from DIC Entertainment (such as Trollz and Sherlock Holmes in the 22nd Century) which was designed to meet the minimal three hours of E/I programming required by the FCC, and usually airs either six days a week for a half-hour each day, or in three hour-long blocks throughout the week.

Television movies[link]

During the late 1990s, UPN produced a number of television movies branded "Blockbuster Shockwave Cinema," in conjunction with sponsor (and sister company) Blockbuster Video. Almost all were science fiction films.

From UPN's inception until 2000, the network also offered a hosted movie series called the UPN Movie Trailer to their stations. The show featured mostly older Hollywood action and comedy films, often those made by Paramount Pictures. Movie Trailer was discontinued in 2000 to give stations that opted for them room for a second weekend run of Star Trek: Enterprise and America's Next Top Model (and later, Veronica Mars). There were also three Paramount-branded blocks on the company's owned-and-operated stations ("O&Os") only: Paramount Teleplex as the main brand for movies at any given timeslot, Paramount Prime Movie for primetime features, and the Paramount Late Movie on late nights. such as The Partridge Family.

Shows that almost aired on UPN[link]

• According to Simon Cowell's biography and Bill Carter's book Desperate Networks, UPN was offered American Idol before FOX and turned it down.
• As part of the contract for picking up Buffy the Vampire Slayer, UPN was obligated to pick up Angel if it was cancelled by The WB while UPN was still airing Buffy. However, Angel was axed by The WB the year after Buffy went off UPN. Despite a large fan campaign, UPN declined to pick up the show.
• Firefly was offered to UPN after being cancelled, but was declined.^[4]
• Malcolm in the Middle was originally developed for UPN before being picked up by FOX.^[5]
• Talkshow with Spike Feresten was reportedly to air on UPN; it debuted on FOX one day after UPN's closure.
• According to The TV IV, nine new scripts for the third season of The Critic were written for UPN.^[6][7]

Station standardization[link]

When it was launched, UPN began having most of its stations branded as "UPN" or "Paramount," then the channel number, with the call signs nearby.Also, the on air IDs in the mid 1990s were the UPN shapes evolving into the next shape then the full logo followed by a blue bar appearing, which has 2 variants. The first was on the right side with the channel number,call signs and city, then the second was the blue bar and the call letters only By the late 1990s, the call signs were minimized to be just barely readable to meet FCC requirements, and the stations were simply known as "UPN", then channel number or city (e.g., WPWR-TV in Chicago had been referred to as "UPN Chicago" and WWOR-TV in New York was referred to as "UPN 9" until The CW merger was announced in late January 2006). But most UPN O&Os under CBS branded it by network and city according to the CBS Mandate. For example, KBCW in San Francisco was branded "UPN Bay Area," WKBD in Detroit was branded "UPN Detroit" and WUPL in New Orleans was branded "UPN New Orleans."

However, that didn't always apply, as WSBK-TV in Boston was branded "UPN 38" and KMAX-TV in Sacramento was branded "UPN 31," for example. WPCW Channel 19 in Pittsburgh (formerly WNPA) originally branded itself as "UPN 19", but changed over to "UPN Pittsburgh" soon after the UPN logo change, making it one of the few that had carried both standardization styles. Many non-O&O UPN affiliates followed the same branding scheme; for example KFVE in Honolulu, during its UPN affiliation, used the brand "UPN Hawaii".

This would be a continuation of the trend for networks to do such naming schemes, originated at Fox (and even earlier at CBC in Canada), especially at CBS, who uses the CBS Mandate on almost all of their O&O stations. The WB, NBC and ABC also do similar naming schemes, but not to that extreme.

However, while the traditional "Big Three" don't require their affiliates to have such naming schemes (though some affiliates choose to adopt it anyway) and only on their O&O's is the style required, UPN mandated it on all stations (as Fox currently does), though The WB did not. In one case, though, WCGV in Milwaukee branded as Channel 24 from 1998-2001 with no UPN imagery. The station had disaffiliated from the network in 1998 for eight months (previously it was "UPN 24") in a compensation dispute.

See also[link]

• The CW Television Network
• List of programs broadcast by UPN
• List of United States over-the-air television networks
• List of former UPN affiliates
• Weekday cartoon
• 2006 United States broadcast TV realignment
• UPN Kids

Notes[link]

External links[link]

• Archive copy at the Wayback Machine
• The Evolution of UPN, WB, Fox, PBS, and PAX
• An ad promoting UPN on RetroJunk.com

James Gregory Vaughan, Jr (born June 15, 1973) is an American actor.

Personal life[link]

Vaughan is the son of James Gregory Vaughan, Sr., and Barbara Ann Alt. Greg has Greek & Native American ancestry.^{[citation needed]}

Vaughan was born in Dallas, Texas, and grew up in Mesquite, Texas. His grandparents were also a big part of his life, and lived in the small town of Fredericksburg, Texas, just outside of Austin. He spent summers in the country, and worked at his grandparents' restaurant, bussing tables.^{[citation needed]}

Vaughan married Dutch model and actressTouriya Haoud on June 4, 2006. On May 4, 2007, Touriya gave birth to a son named Jathan James Vaughan. On January 19, 2010, Touriya gave birth to their second son, Cavan Thomas Vaughan. On Aug 24, 2011 they announced they are expecting their third child in March 2012. On March 6, 2012 Touriya give birth to their third son, Landan Reid.^[1][2]

Career[link]

The actor and former male fashion model has starred in soap operas such as The Young and the Restless and General Hospital. His best known role to date is that of the adult Lucky Spencer in the latter, whom he played from 2003 to October, 2009.

At age 16, while getting a haircut he learned of a "Back to School" modeling competition, and sent in some snapshots. He was selected as a finalist but did not win. However, the winner encouraged Vaughan to pursue modeling, and Vaughan signed up with a modeling agency.^[3]

Shortly after graduating from Mesquite High School, he was invited to Milan, Italy, where he modeled for designer Giorgio Armani for two and a half months. More campaigns soon followed, with designers such as Gianni Versace, Tommy Hilfiger, Banana Republic, and Ralph Lauren.

While modeling in Miami, Vaughan started to become dissatisfied with the modeling life, and decided to relocate and pursue his dream of becoming an actor, in which he then moved to Los Angeles. His first role was on Baywatch, as well as on the pilot for a 1996 Aaron Spelling series, Malibu Shores, that lead to his future appearances on Beverly Hills, 90210 and was a cast regular for the second season of Charmed.^[3]

His next major role was from 2002 to 2003 as Diego Guittierez in the daytime drama The Young and the Restless. When the character was written off the show, Vaughan then got a call from the producers for General Hospital, who were seeking a new actor for the popular character of Lucky Spencer, son of the famous soap opera couple Luke and Laura. Vaughan was the first actor to portray Lucky as a full-fledged adult, the part being previously played by Jonathan Jackson and Jacob Young.

On June 7, 2006, Vaughan won the role of the new spokesperson for I Can't Believe It's Not Butter in a ceremony in New York. The contest was created to replace Fabio.

In 2007, Vaughan appeared on Tyra Banks' talk show to help Tyra through "soap opera school."^[4]

Vaughn announced on September 28, 2009 that he wouldn't be playing the role of Lucky Spencer on General Hospital any longer. On October 27, 2009, Jonathan Jackson reprised his role he left in 1999. ^[5]

Filmography[link]

References[link]

External links[link]

• Greg Vaughan at the Internet Movie Database

Kate Mulgrew
at the 2009 Metropolitan Opera premiere
Born	Katherine Kiernan Maria Mulgrew (1955-04-29) April 29, 1955 (age 57) Dubuque, Iowa, U.S.
Occupation	Actress
Years active	1974–present
Spouse	Robert H. Egan (1982–1993) Tim Hagan (1999–present)
Website
http://www.totallykate.com

Katherine Kiernan Maria "Kate" Mulgrew (born April 29, 1955) is an American actress, most noted for her roles on Star Trek: Voyager as Captain Kathryn Janeway and Ryan's Hope as Mary Ryan. She has performed in many television shows, theater productions and movies, earning a variety of awards for her acting, including an Obie Award, a Golden Satellite Award and a Saturn Award. She has also been nominated for a Golden Globe Award.

Mulgrew is an active member of the Alzheimer's Association National Advisory Council and the voice of Cleveland's MetroHealth System.

Early life[link]

Mulgrew was born in 1955 in Dubuque, Iowa, into an Irish Catholic family,^[1] to Thomas James "T.J." Mulgrew II, a contractor, and Joan Virginia Mulgrew (née Kiernan), an artist and painter. She attended Wahlert High School in Dubuque.

Aged 17, she was accepted at the Stella Adler Conservatory of Acting in conjunction with New York University in New York City. Mulgrew left NYU after one year.^[2] During this time, to earn money while in New York Mulgrew was employed as a waitress at Friar Tuck, a now defunct restaurant previously at 914 Third Avenue^[3].

Career[link]

Her early career included portraying Mary Ryan for two years on the ABC soap Ryan's Hope (1975) She became a fan favorite and is still associated with the show long after its cancellation. Mulgrew remains friends with former co-star Ilene Kristen and presented a special Soap Opera Digest Award to Ryan's Hope creator Claire Labine in 1995. While in Ryan's Hope she also played the role of "Emily" in the American Shakespeare Theatre production of Our Town in Stratford, Connecticut. In 1979, she began playing Kate Columbo in Mrs. Columbo, a series created specifically for her. In 1986, she appeared on Cheers as Janet Eldridge. In 1993, Mulgrew separated from her husband, Robert H. Egan, to whom she had been married for 12 years. In 1995, the divorce became final, and she was on the verge of selling her house and moving into an less-expensive apartment in Westwood when she received a call to take the part of Captain Kathryn Janeway in Star Trek: Voyager. Mulgrew made history in the Star Trek franchise when she became the first female captain as a series regular in a leading role. Voyager was the first show broadcast on the new UPN channel, the only series renewed after the channel's first programming season, and its only show to run for seven seasons, making it the UPN's longest running. Mulgrew won the Saturn Award for "Best TV Actress" in 1998 for her performances as Janeway. Mulgrew also voiced the character of Janeway in the PS2 and PC game Star Trek: Voyager - Elite Force and Star Trek: Voyager - Elite Force 2. In recent years, Mulgrew kept active in doing voice-over work for video games, her latest roles were of Flemeth in the Dragon Age video game series.

During Voyager she also played the role of Titania in the animated series, Gargoyles and Victoria Riddler in Riddler's Moon, a made for TV movie. Mulgrew is also one of six Star Trek actors to lend their voice to Star Trek: Captain's Chair, reprising her role as Captain Kathryn Janeway. The other five actors were Jonathan Frakes, Michael Dorn, George Takei, Avery Brooks and Majel Barrett.

[edit] Star Trek: Voyager

Mulgrew auditioned for the role of the captain, named Elizabeth Janeway, when producers announced casting for Star Trek: Voyager. She initially submitted a videotaped audition, which she made in New York City in August 1994. However she was unhappy with this audition and auditioned in person a few weeks later. That day, film actress Geneviève Bujold was selected to play Janeway, but left the role after only two days of filming, due to the demanding production schedule required for a television show.^[4]

About her years on Voyager, Mulgrew said:

I'm proud of it. It was difficult; it was hard work. I'm proud of the work because I think I made some little difference in women in science. I grew to really love Star Trek: Voyager, and out of a cast of nine, I've made three great friends, I managed to raise two children. I think, "It's good. I used myself well." Speaking about the best and worst part about playing a Star Trek captain, she said: "The best thing was simply the privilege and the challenge of being able to take a shot at the first female captain, transcending stereotypes that I was very familiar with. I was able to do that in front of millions of viewers. That was a remarkable experience – and it continues to resonate. The downside of that is also that it continues to resonate, and threatens to eclipse all else in one's long career if one does not up the ante and stay at it, in a way that may not ordinarily be necessary. I have to work at changing and constantly reinventing myself in a way that probably would not have happened had Star Trek not come along. I knew that going in, and I think that all of the perks attached to this journey have been really inexpressively great. So the negatives are small.^[5]

[edit] Post-Star Trek

After Voyager came to the end of the full seven seasons, Mulgrew returned to theater and starred in a one-woman play called Tea at Five, a monologue reminiscence based on Katharine Hepburn's memoir Me: Stories of My Life. Tea at Five was a critical success and Mulgrew received two awards, one from Carbonell (Best actress) and the other from Broadway.com (Audience Award for Favorite Solo Performance). In 2006, Mulgrew performed in The Exonerated at the Riverside Studios located in London, England. In the spring of 2007, she appeared in the NBC television series The Black Donnellys as Helen Donnelly which lasted for 1 season. She also performed the lead role in an Off-Broadway production called Our Leading Lady written by Charles Busch in which she earned a nomination from the Drama League for her performance.^[6]

In 2007, Mulgrew played Clytemnestra in New York for Charles L. Mee's Iphigenia 2.0. She won the Obie Award for outstanding performance. In June 2008, Mulgrew appeared in Equus on Broadway, playing Hesther Saloman, a public official who is empathetic toward the play's central character. The play opened on September 5, 2008 for a strictly limited 22-week engagement through February 8, 2009.^[7]

Also in 2008, Mulgrew filmed the 30-minute courtroom drama The Response which is based on actual transcripts of the Guantanamo Bay tribunals. It was researched and fully vetted in conjunction with the University of Maryland School of Law and was shot in three days. Mulgrew portrays Colonel Sims and she, the other cast members and crew agreed to defer their salaries to cover the production costs. The film has been screened at a number of sites and is available on DVD.^[8]

In 2009, Mulgrew returned to television in the NBC medical series, Mercy playing the recurring role of Jeannie Flanagan (the mother of the show's lead, Veronica).^[9] Due for release in 2010 is the film The Best and the Brightest, a comedy based in the world of New York City's elite private kindergartens. Mulgrew will play The Player's wife. Also in development is the film The Incredible Story of Joyce McKinney and the Manacled Mormon.

In a message to her fans on her official website she said, "I am looking for a play and hope that it will come to me before I become irritated. But I realize, even in this wish, that I have been a little spoiled as an actress and that in the waiting there is a kind of lovely discipline."

In 2010, Kate Mulgrew starred as Cleopatra in William Shakepeare's Antony and Cleopatra at Hartford Stage. As of July 2011, she has appeared in the Adult Swim series NTSF:SD:SUV::. Also in 2011, Mulgrew appeared in the feature length documentary The Captains. The film, written and directed by William Shatner, follows Shatner as he interviews each of the other actors who played a Starfleet captain within the Star Trek franchise.^[10] During that same year, she guest starred on the third season of the series Warehouse 13. Her character, Jane Lattimer, is part of a four episode story arc.

Personal life[link]

From her first marriage, to Robert H. Egan, Mulgrew has two sons, Ian and Alec. For a time, Mulgrew dated Star Trek director Winrich Kolbe.^[11]

Mulgrew has been married since 1999 to politician Tim Hagan, a former Ohio gubernatorial candidate and a former commissioner of Cuyahoga County, Ohio. Mulgrew's mother Joan introduced them, and he proposed to Mulgrew on the set of Star Trek: Voyager.

Mulgrew is also a member of the National Advisory Committee of the Alzheimer's Association. Mulgrew's mother, Joan Mulgrew, died on July 27, 2006, after a long battle with the disease.^[12] According to a Women's Health TV show report in 2002, Kate Mulgrew had raised over $2 million for the Association.^{[citation needed]}

Mulgrew is also an opponent of abortion and capital punishment. She received an award from Feminists for Life, a pro-life feminist group. She is quoted as saying "Execution as punishment is barbaric and unnecessary", "Life is sacred to me on all levels" and "Abortion does not compute with my philosophy."^[13] More recently Mulgrew has become the voice of MetroHealth in Cleveland, Ohio.

Filmography[link]

Television programs[link]

Films[link]

Theater[link]

Video games[link]

Awards and honors[link]

References[link]

Notes

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Kate Mulgrew

• Official website
• Kate Mulgrew at the Internet Movie Database
• Kate Mulgrew at AllRovi
• Kate Mulgrew at Memory Alpha (a Star Trek wiki)
• UFragTV Interview At Big Apple Comic Con 2009 on YouTube October 18, 2009
• Scifinews-TV LIVE! - Complete Panel with Kate Mulgew (17.09.2011 - Prague)

Nana Visitor
Visitor at STICCon XVIII, 2004
Born	Nana Tucker (1957-07-26) July 26, 1957 (age 54) New York City, New York, U.S.
Occupation	Actress
Years active	1976 – present
Spouse	Nick Miscusi (m. 1989–1994) «start: (1989)–end+1: (1995)»"Marriage: Nick Miscusi to Nana Visitor" Location: (linkback:http://en-wiki.pop.wn.com/index.php/Nana_Visitor)[1] Alexander Siddig (m. 1997–2001) «start: (1997)–end+1: (2002)»"Marriage: Alexander Siddig to Nana Visitor" Location: (linkback:http://en-wiki.pop.wn.com/index.php/Nana_Visitor) Matthew Rimmer (m. 2003) «start: (2003)»"Marriage: Matthew Rimmer to Nana Visitor" Location: (linkback:http://en-wiki.pop.wn.com/index.php/Nana_Visitor)[2]

Nana Visitor (born July 26, 1957), born Nana Tucker, is an American actress, best known for playing Kira Nerys in the television series Star Trek: Deep Space Nine and Jean Ritter in the television series Wildfire.

Early life[link]

Nana Tucker was born July 26, 1957 in New York City,^[3] the daughter of Nenette Charisse, a ballet teacher, and Robert Tucker, a choreographer; she is a niece of actress/dancer Cyd Charisse.^[4]

Career[link]

Visitor began her acting career in the 1970s on the Broadway stage in such productions as My One and Only. Her film debut (billed as Nana Tucker) came in the 1977 horror film The Sentinel. On television, Visitor co-starred in the short-lived 1976 sitcom Ivan the Terrible, and from 1978 to 1982 had short-lived regular roles on three soap operas: Ryan's Hope, The Doctors and One Life to Live.

In 1984, she appeared in Season 2, Episode 3 of Hunter. In 1985, Visitor made an appearance in the television series MacGyver, in the season one episode "Hellfire" as Laura Farren, and in the season two episode "DOA: MacGyver" as Carol Varnay. In 1986, she appeared in "Hills of Fire", a fourth season episode of Knight Rider.

In 1987, Visitor appeared as Ellen Dolan in a failed television pilot for Will Eisner's pulp comic creation The Spirit starring Sam J. Jones as the title character and Garry Walberg as her father, Commissioner Dolan.

Visitor with Star Trek: Deep Space Nine co-star René Auberjonois at a 2011 Star Trek convention in Las Vegas

In 1988, she made a guest appearance on the sitcom Night Court as a mental patient who is obsessed with the movies. That same year, she made a guest appearance on the television series In the Heat of the Night as the owner of the Sparta newspaper. In 1989, Visitor appeared as a guest on the fifth episode of the television series Doogie Howser, M.D. as Charmagne, a rock star who has a throat nodule removed at Doogie's hospital, and as Miles Drentell's glamorous girlfriend, in "Success", a 1989 episode of Thirtysomething's second season.

In 1990, Visitor co-starred with Sandra Bullock in the short-lived sitcom Working Girl, which was based on the feature film of the same name.

From 1993–1999, Visitor appeared on Star Trek: Deep Space Nine as Major (later Colonel, and eventually, Commander) Kira Nerys, a former freedom fighter/terrorist for the planet Bajor, who worked to drive off the alien occupiers, the Cardassians, from her homeworld, now forced to work with the Starfleet contingent brought in by her government to administrate the titular space station built in orbit around her planet during the occupation.

After DS9 ended, Visitor had a recurring role as villain Dr. Elizabeth Renfro on the television series Dark Angel and starred as Roxie Hart in the touring and Broadway companies of the musical Chicago. Visitor was then cast as Jean Ritter on the ABC Family series Wildfire, which premiered on June 20, 2005.

In 2008, she appeared as Emily Kowalski, a dying cancer patient in "Faith", an episode of the re-imagined Battlestar Galactica's fourth season. Visitor had a small role as Pamela Voorhees in the 2009 Friday the 13th remake. She has also lent her voice in a few guest appearances on the sitcom Family Guy, such as Rita in the episode "Brian's Got a Brand New Bag" and as the voice of the Enterprise in "Extra Large Medium". In 2011, she had a small part in the Hammer Horror film The Resident playing the realtor. She appeared in Torchwood: Miracle Day episodes 7 ("Immortal Sins") and 8 ("End of the Road").^[5] In 2012, she appeared as Dr. Patty Barker, a canine psychotherapist, in "An Embarrassment of Bitches", a season four episode of ABC's Castle.^[6]

Personal life[link]

Visitor became pregnant by her Deep Space Nine co-star Alexander Siddig (formerly Siddig el-Fadil) in 1996, and the pregnancy was incorporated into a DS9 storyline, beginning in the fourth season episode "Body Parts",^[7] which premiered in June 1996.^[8] She gave birth to her son, Django El Tahir El Siddig, during production of the episode "The Assignment", though her character would remain pregnant until the fifth season episode "The Begotten", which premiered in January 1997.^[9] Visitor and Siddig eventually married, but they divorced in 2001.^[2]

References[link]

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Nana Visitor

• Nana Visitor at the Internet Movie Database
• Nana Visitor at AllRovi
• Nana Visitor at Memory Alpha (a Star Trek wiki)