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Daphne Lee Ashbrook (born 30 January 1963; age 61) played Melora Pazlar in the Star Trek: Deep Space Nine episode "Melora". She is perhaps better known as the Eighth Doctor's companion Dr. Grace Holloway in the 1996 television film Doctor Who.
Ashbrook was born in Long Beach, California to parents, D'Ann Paton and late actor/director Buddy Ashbrook. She is the sister of Twin Peaks actor Dana Ashbrook and director/ producer Taylor Ashbrook. Her daughter, Paton Ashbrook, was born in 1988 to actor Lorenzo Lamas though her current partner is producer and musician, David Vito Gregoli.
She is one of the few actors to have speaking roles in both the Star Trek and Doctor Who franchises, appearing the 1996 Doctor Who TV movie. Of these, she is the only woman and the only credited American (Gregg Palmer, who is also American, appeared in both franchises, but his role in Star Trek went uncredited).
Prior to Deep Space Nine, Ashbrook had guest roles in the television series Knight Rider, Fame, The A Team (with Dwight Schultz), and Murder, She Wrote. After playing Melora, she appeared in two episodes of Sisters and one episode of Diagnosis Murder. She also portrayed different characters in two further episodes of Murder, She Wrote, with Casey Biggs, John Rhys-Davies and Rosalind Chao. Between 1995 and 1998, Ashbrook had a recurring role as Annie Pendry on the long running series JAG, appearing alongside Norman Large, Steven Culp, Paul Collins and Gregory Itzin. She later starred in Profiler, Cupid and Judging Amy, before gaining the recurring role of Dawn Atwood in The OC (working with Melinda Clarke and again, Rosalind Chao). In 2005, Ashbrook starred in Crossing Jordan and CSI: Crime Scene Investigation (with Jessica Collins), before going on to appear in Cold Case, Ghost Whisperer and Without a Trace. Her most recent television appearance is that of Jodi Morris in the 2010 Law & Order: Los Angeles episode "Playa Vista."
Asbrook has also appeared in numerous television movies including Brothers-in-Law (1985), That Secret Sunday (1986), Carly's Web (1987) and Perry Mason: The Case of the Murdered Madam (1987), before going onto appear alongside future Deep Space Nine actors Rene Auberjonois and Andrew Robinson in the movies Longarm (1988) and Rock Hudson (1990) respecively. She later starred in Daughters of Privilege (1991, with Kate Vernon), Intruders (1992, again with Rosalind Chao), Dead Man's Revenge (1994) and The Love Letter (1998).
Asbrook's big screen debut came in 1984, when she was cast as Phoebe Willis in the cheerleading comedy film Gimme an 'F'. Since then, she has starred in the movies Quiet Cool (1986), Sunset Heat (1992, with Tony Todd), Automatic (1995), Dumbarton Bridge (1999) and Delia's Song (2000). Her latest film role, albeit a minor one, was in the 2009 movie The Lodger.
Aside from her acting career, Ashbrook also enjoys singing, citing "music runs thru the viens [sic] of my family like theatre does." In November 2010, she released her first album entitled Grace Notes, featuring covers of her favourite songs by Joni Mitchell, Shawn Colvin and Patty Griffin, among others. The album was produced by her long-time partner and musician, David Vito Gregoli. [1]
In February, UK publishing company "Hirst Publishing" announced it will be releasing Ashbrook's autobiography, entitled Dead Woman Laughing, at the end of 2011. [2]
External links
- DaphneAshbrook.net - official site
- Daphne Ashbrook at Wikipedia
- Template:IMDb-link