Tracy Middendorf

{{real world}}
[[File:Tora Ziyal, For the Cause.jpg|thumb|...as Tora Ziyal]]
'''Tracy Middendorf''' {{born|26|January|1970}} was the second actress to play [[Tora Ziyal]]. She appeared in the {{s|DS9}} episode {{e|For the Cause}}. As revealed in ''[[Cinefantastique]]'' (Vol. 28, No. 4/5, p. 63), Middendorf also auditioned for the role of [[Mardah]], prior to portraying Ziyal.

Born in Miami Beach, Florida, Middendorf was in her senior year at Pickens High School in Jasper, Georgia when, in 1987, she left to enter a performing arts school in Miami. She later attended the State University of New York (SUNY) at Purchase. 

In 1992, she won the role of Carrie Brady (another character who has been played by three actresses) on the long-running soap opera ''Days of Our Lives, ''which had also starred [[John de Lancie]]. The following year, she began playing the recurring role of Laura Kingman during the fourth season of ''Beverly Hills, 90210''. In 1994, she made her film debut with a supporting role in Wes Craven's ''New Nightmare'', co-starring [[Fran Bennett]], [[Cully Fredricksen]], and [[Matt Winston]].

In the first ten years of her career, she was seen in such television dramas as ''Murder, She Wrote'' (in a 1996 episode with fellow DS9 guest-stars [[Richard Beymer]], [[Meg Foster]], and [[Richard Libertini]]), ''Touched by an Angel'' (in a 1997 episode written by [[Ken LaZebnik]] and co-starring [[Clive Revill]]), ''L.A. Doctors'' (in a 1998 episode with [[John Billingsley]]), ''Ally McBeal'' (two 1999 episodes, including one with [[Albert Hall]] and [[Ray Walston]]), ''Family Law'' (with [[Scott MacDonald]], [[Christopher McDonald]], and [[Julie Warner]]), ''Six Feet Under'' (with [[Ed Begley, Jr.]]), ''JAG'' (with [[Zach Grenier]], [[Scott Lawrence]], and [[Terry O'Quinn]]), and ''Any Day Now'' (with [[Daniel Dae Kim]] and [[Tom Wright]]). She also had a recurring role on ''The Practice'', working with [[Bruce Davison]], [[Bruce French]], [[John Larroquette]], [[Richard McGonagle]], [[Lawrence Pressman]], and [[Steve Rankin]].

Middendorf's subsequent science fiction credits following her appearance on DS9 include an episode of ''Perversions of Science'' with [[Chris Sarandon]], the first episode of {{wt|Angel (1999 TV series)|Angel}}, in which she played (along with [[Vyto Ruginis]]) the very first "damsel in distress" the good vampire tried to save in the series, and a 2000 episode of [[x-files:The X-Files|''The X-Files'']] with [[Randy Oglesby]]. Her more recent TV work include four episodes of [[w:c:24|''24'']] (co-starring [[Michelle Forbes]], [[Timothy Carhart]], [[Jude Ciccolella]], and fellow DS9 guest star [[Billy Burke]] as her abusive husband) and guest spots on ''CSI'', ''Cold Case'' (with [[Michael Nouri]]), ''Medical Investigation'' (starring [[Neal McDonough]]), ''House M.D.'' (with [[Jennifer Morrison]]), ''Without a Trace'' (co-starring [[Enrique Murciano]] and [[John de Lancie]]), ''Shark'' (starring [[Jeri Ryan]], [[William O. Campbell]], and [[Ivar Brogger]]), and ''[[lawandorder:Law & Order: Special Victims Unit|Law & Order: Special Victims Unit]]'' (with [[Steven Weber]]). 

Middendorf has worked several times with [[J.J. Abrams]] over the years. She appeared in two episodes of Abrams' hit series ''Alias'' in 2003, with [[Terry O'Quinn]] and [[Greg Grunberg]] in the first, [[William Dennis Hunt]] in the second, and [[Christian Slater]] in both. The first of those were written by [[Alex Kurtzman]] and [[Roberto Orci]] and directed by the latter. Three years later, Middendorf appeared in Abrams' feature film directorial debut, [[Paramount Pictures|Paramount]]'s ''Mission: Impossible III'' (also co-written by Kurtzman and Orci and co-starring [[Simon Pegg]] and Greg Grunberg). Most recently, Middendorf appeared in two episodes of [[w:c:lostpedia|''Lost'']], the hit ABC series co-created by Abrams and [[Damon Lindelof]] and starring Daniel Dae Kim, Terry O'Quinn, and [[Sam Anderson]].

Middendorf has subsequently guest starred in ''Boardwalk Empire'', ''Scream'', and ''The Last Ship''.

==External links==
* {{wikipedia}}
* {{imdb|name/nm0585429||external}}

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[[Category:Performers]]
[[Category:DS9 performers]]