Cynthia Gouw (born 30 May 1963; age 61) is the Chinese-American actress and model who played Caithlin Dar in Star Trek V: The Final Frontier.
Before becoming an actress, Gouw studied law, receiving a BA in Political Science/International Relations from UCLA and a JD from UCLA's Graduate School of Law. After law school, she received offers from several top Hollywood law firms, but ultimately decided to represent Hollywood on film rather than in the court room.
Aside from her role on Star Trek V, she appeared in two other films in 1989: the comedy Big Man on Campus, which also featured fellow Star Trek alumni Armin Shimerman, Gerrit Graham, and Mary Kohnert; and the thriller Kinjite: Forbidden Subject, starring Perry Lopez. In addition, she made a guest appearance on Matlock (in an episode with Michael Durrell) and China Beach. This latter series starred Star Trek: Voyager performers Robert Picardo, Jeff Kober, and Concetta Tomei.
Gouw also won a number of beauty contests, including Miss Los Angeles Chinatown 1983 and Miss Chinatown USA 1984. She later became the first Asian-American to be named the "$100-Thousand Dollar Spokesmodel Grand Champion" on the popular talent show Star Search.
Since her acting days, Gouw has become an Emmy Award-winning reporter for various TV news stations, including KXTV News10 in Sacramento, California, and KPIX Channel 5 Eyewitness News in San Francisco. Her journalistic career also included a stint as host on E! Entertainment Television. She also reported and produced for KQED's Pacific Time radio program.
Gouw has been married since 2004. She shares homes with her husband in Philadelphia and San Francisco.