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Jeri Lynn Ryan (born February 22, 1968) is an American actress, known primarily for her roles in movies and television. She came to fame as the ex-Borg Seven of Nine on Star Trek: Voyager. Ryan currently plays Jessica Devlin on CBS's Shark. Stunning and statuesque (6' 2" in heels), Jeri Ryan became a series regular for the last seven episodes of NBC's short-lived series "Dark Skies" (1997) before exploding into national consciousness later that year as a sexy member of the Borg collective in "Star Trek: Voyager" (UPN) in the series' third season. Actually a human assimilated by the Borg at an early age, Ryan's tightly corseted and catsuited character Seven of Nine boarded the starship for good after being cut off from her people, providing countless new storylines--and a potent dose of sex appeal--as the rest of the crew helped her rediscover her humanity. Ryan was born Jeri Lynn Zimmermann in Munich, Germany, the daughter of Gerhard Florian "Jerry" Zimmermann, a master sergeant in the United States Army, and his wife Sharon, a social worker. She has one older brother, Mark. As a military brat, Ryan grew up on army bases in Kansas, Maryland, Hawaii, Georgia, and Texas. When she was eleven, her father retired from the Army and the family settled in Paducah, Kentucky. She graduated from high school in 1986 (as a National Merit Scholar), and then attended Northwestern University, where she was a member of the Alpha Phi sorority. In 1989, Ryan was chosen Miss Illinois. She was the third runner-up in the 1990 Miss America Pageant, winning the preliminary swimsuit competition. She graduated from Northwestern in 1990 with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Theatre. After college, she pursued acting full-time in Los Angeles. She made her acting debut in Who's the Boss? and followed that with guest-starring roles in TV shows like Melrose Place, Matlock, and The Sentinel as well as TV movies such as Co-Ed Call Girl. Her big break came when she won a regular role as an extraterrestrial investigator named Juliet Stuart on the TV show Dark Skies. The show was cancelled after one season, but the role had drawn the attention of the science-fiction community. In 1997, Ryan was cast to play Seven of Nine, a Borg drone freed from the collective on the science fiction series Star Trek: Voyager. The role drew her instant fame and her tight-fitting uniform made her a sci-fi sex symbol. Seven of Nine quickly became the focal character of a large number of episodes. Ryan's addition to the cast also coincided with higher ratings and positive critical reviews of Voyager. "Dark Skies" advanced her career a step farther, but "Voyager" put her solidly in the public eye and turned her into a sexy icon for sci-fi fans, lithe and sensual in an ultra-tight suit that accentuated her considerable curves. Seven's emotional growth allowed Ryan to gradually expand the character's initially cool and taciturn demeanor by the time the series ended in 2001, and her acting range quickly earned her a second TV series role, joining the cast of Fox's high school drama "Boston Public," created by David E. Kelley, in its second season, playing teacher Ronnie Cooke until the show's swansong in 2004. In addition to her series credits, Ryan has also occasionally appeared in theatrical films such as "Dracula 2000" (2000) and "Down With Love" (2003), as well as telepics such as "In the Line of Duty: Ambush in Waco" (1993) and "Coed Call Girl" (1996). After Voyager ended in 2001, Ryan joined the cast of Boston Public in the role of Ronnie Cooke, a frustrated lawyer who quits to become a high school teacher. The show's producer, David E. Kelley, wrote the role specifically for her. The show was cancelled in 2004. Ryan has recently appeared in films, such as Down With Love. Ryan played Lydia in the independent film Men Cry Bullets, with a rave review for her performance from Roger Ebert. Jeri then starred in her first film lead in the indie comedy "The Last Man", playing the last woman on Earth, released by Lion's Gate. She also had a recurring role as Charlotte Morgan on The O.C. in the fall of 2005 and guest-starred on David E. Kelley's Boston Legal in 2006. Ryan stars in the new CBS legal drama Shark, playing Los Angeles District Attorney Jessica Devlin opposite James Woods. In 1990, while dealing blackjack at a charity event, Jeri met investment banker and future political candidate Jack Ryan. The couple married on June 15, 1991 and had a son, Alex, on August 15, 1994. Throughout the marriage, Ryan and her husband took turns commuting between Los Angeles and Chicago for their careers, but finally divorced on August 27, 1999. Although Ryan mentioned (in an interview for Star Trek) that the frequent separations had been difficult for the marriage, the reasons for the divorce were kept sealed at their mutual request. Five years later, when Jack Ryan's Senate campaign began, the Chicago Tribune newspaper and WLS-TV, the local ABC affiliate, sought to have the records released. Both Jeri and Jack agreed to make their divorce records public, but not the custody records, claiming that their release could be harmful to their son. On June 22, 2004, Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Robert Schnider agreed to release the custody files; the decision generated much controversy because it went against both parents' direct request and because it generally reversed the early decision to seal the papers in the best interest of the child. It was revealed that, six years previously, Jeri had accused Jack Ryan of asking her to perform sexual acts with him in public, and in adult clubs in New York, New Orleans, and Paris. Jeri Ryan described one as "a bizarre club with cages, whips and other apparatus hanging from the ceiling." Jack Ryan denied these allegations. Although Jeri Ryan refused to comment on the matter during the campaign, the document disclosure led Jack Ryan to withdraw his Republican candidacy for an open United States Senate seat in Illinois (which was eventually won by Barack Obama). Ryan's avocation, according to statements she has made in interviews, is gourmet cooking. While starring in Boston Public she moonlighted on weekends in the kitchen of the Los Angeles restaurant The House. In 2003, Ryan met French chef Christophe Émé at a chef's charity event. The two would eventually begin a relationship, and Émé moved in with Ryan and her son Alex in their San Fernando Valley home. In February 2005, Ryan, a "lifelong Francophile", opened in partnership with Émé the restaurant Ortolan. Located on Third Street in Los Angeles, California, the restaurant serves French food with a modern interpretation. Ryan married Émé in the Loire Valley, France on June 16, 2007. On September 7, 2007, Ryan announced that she and Émé were expecting their first child together, a daughter, in March 2008. On March 2, 2008, Ryan gave birth to daughter Gisele Eme in Los Angeles, California. |
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