Overview (3)

Mini Bio (1)

Marina Sirtis was born in London, England, to Greek parents, Despina (Yianniri), a tailor's assistant, and John Sirtis. Her parents did not want her to become an actress. As soon as Marina completed high school, she secretly applied to the Guildhall School of Music and Drama. After her graduation, she worked in musical theater, repertory and television. In 1986, she moved to Los Angeles, California to boost her career. For six months, she auditioned for roles but was unsuccessful. Just before she planned to go back home, she got the role of Counselor Deanna Troi on Raumschiff Enterprise - Das nächste Jahrhundert (1987). After the series ended, she reprised her role for a string of successful Star Trek films: Star Trek: Treffen der Generationen (1994), Star Trek: Der erste Kontakt (1996), Star Trek: Der Aufstand (1998), and Star Trek: Nemesis (2002). In 1992, Sirtis married rock guitarist Michael Lamper. She occasionally attends Star Trek conventions so that her loving fans can meet her, and she can meet the fans.

- IMDb Mini Biography By: Patrick Ceuppens

Spouse (1)

Michael Lamper (21 June 1992 - 8 December 2019) ( his death)

Trade Mark (5)

Seductive deep voice



Natural brunette hair



Voluptuous figure



Trivia (28)

Is a huge soccer fan because her little brother Steve plays this sport in Greece.





After her audition for Raumschiff Enterprise - Das nächste Jahrhundert (1987), Marina felt her audition was unsuccessful and was just about to jump on a flight home to London. Only minutes before she did so, they called back and told her she had gotten the role of Counselor Deanna Troi.



Has played the stewardess in the now classic and famous Cinzano Bianco advert starring Leonard Rossiter and Joan Collins . You may remember the end where Rossiter pats the arm of Joan Collins' seat causing it to suddenly recline and she ends up throwing the drink on her own face. "Ah, getting your head down. Good idea," he says.



Through the Fire (2002) was a sitcom pilot episode written by Marina's best friend, Michael Dorn , and featured her as a cast member. This was never sold to a network.



Wore black-colored contact lenses during the seven-year run of Raumschiff Enterprise - Das nächste Jahrhundert (1987) and the subsequent films because her character had black eyes. Marina's eyes are light brown.

Has attended Star Trek conventions in Alberta, Canada, at least four times as of June 2004. She has visited Calgary, Alberta; Edmonton, Alberta; and Vulcan, Alberta.



Her last name is pronounced SIR-tiss.



Occasionally attends Star Trek conventions so that her loving fans can meet her, and she can meet the fans.





Sometimes wore hairpieces for her role as Deanna Troi on Raumschiff Enterprise - Das nächste Jahrhundert (1987). Marina's real hair was slightly shorter, and although curly, was not as bouffant as her character's. However, Marina's real hair was used in the first two seasons, and also in the first six episodes of season six, in which Troi sported a pony-tailed style.

Her character Counselor Deanna Troi and Commander William T. Riker are the only characters to appear in four of the "Star Trek" series and the four films.



Attended and graduated from the Guildhall School of Music and Drama in London, England (1976).





Has several action figures modeled after her likeness and her character, Counselor Deanna Troi from Raumschiff Enterprise - Das nächste Jahrhundert (1987).



After Gene Roddenberry 's death, she explained how his death reminded her of her own father's. She mourned along with Majel Barrett and admitted she felt as close to a real-life daughter to Majel as the on-screen daughter she played.



Was one of the Next Generation cast members to attend Star Trek conventions while still filming the last episodes of season seven (to begin pre-production of Star Trek: Treffen der Generationen (1994)). One of which was her 1994 appearance in Tulsa, Oklahoma, at the Mariott Southern Hills. She signed the popular Peter David -penned novel "Imzadi" (1992) about young Riker and Troi, as well as speaking about the series finale and the movie to fans.

When Marina came to the United States to pursue a career as an actress and got the role on Star Trek, Marina's mother did not believe her and thought that she was making this up as an excuse to stay in the States. This was not until season four of Star Trek that her mother really started to believe her. She saw a Deanna Troi trading card from Star Trek.



Did repertory work at the Connaught Theatre in Worthing, West Sussex.





Flew to the United States to attend the funeral of Majel Barrett

Speaks Greek fluently.



An avid supporter of London football team Tottenham Hotspur F.C.



Personal Quotes (20)

I was originally cast to be the brains of the Enterprise. Somehow, I became The Chick. There's a little ugly girl inside of me going "Yay! I'm a sex symbol!".





On her character Deanna Troi on Raumschiff Enterprise - Das nächste Jahrhundert (1987): We knew that she ate chocolates and that she worked out, but that was really boring. I wanted to know what she did when she went on the holodeck. We basically never saw her off-duty or going on holiday. We knew she was a psychologist -- and a pretty good one -- but that was all we knew about her.

On being typecast after Star Trek: I've been getting a lot of science fiction scripts which contained variations on my Star Trek character and I've been turning them down. I strongly feel that the next role I do, I should not be wearing spandex.



On the Star Trek uniforms: We hate our uniforms. We've said it a gazillion times. It's like a chant that we have to say every day. They're hot, they're uncomfortable, and we can't wait to get out of them. But even when we get to wear something else, it's usually something hot. So I'm in a nice leather jacket in the mountains, on a day when the temperature turns out to be ninety degrees! (1998)





On her scene in Star Trek: Treffen der Generationen (1994) where she's piloting the Enterprise: It was a fascinating sequence. What was funny was that my chair caught fire and burned my bottom. When we did the next take, I stopped in the middle of all the confusion and made sure there was nothing burning on my seat before I sat on it again. I think they had to cut that take out of the movie. (1994)

On Star Trek conventions: I have the best time. My stand-up material is pretty well-set now. The traveling part gets me down, but the actual convention part I still love. I come home after a weekend at a convention, and you have to scrape me off the ceiling. I'm so up and high and full of self-confidence, and I thank the fans for making me feel that way. Sometimes, I think I should be paying the fans money to let me be there. I bet they would like that, too. I probably get more out of it than they do. (1994)





Besides Raumschiff Enterprise - Das nächste Jahrhundert (1987), I would have to say that most of my other favorite things that I've done have been theater projects. Playing Ophelia in "Hamlet" is one of my favorites. Esmeralda in "The Hunchback of Notre Dame" and Magenta in "Rocky Horror" are my other favorite stage roles. (1994)



I wasn't a Raumschiff Enterprise (1966) fan, yet I knew who all the characters were. That goes to show what an impact the show had - not just in entertainment but in life. I knew who Chekov was and I knew who Kirk and Spock were, although I probably had never seen the show. I don't know about the others, but I was a little scared, not so much when we were filming but when it came time for the first show to go on the air. We were being scrutinized so closely, especially by the press, and by the fans who were not happy about there being a new show at all. They were quite happy watching their reruns of the original Star Trek and were quite miffed that we were trying to replace their idols. So I felt like I was jumping into an abyss sometimes.



What they told us about Raumschiff Enterprise - Das nächste Jahrhundert (1987) when we first started was that we were guaranteed 26 episodes, so that was the longest job I've ever had. And that was basically it - we didn't know what the premise of the show was going to be and we waited, week by week, to see a script. We knew that we weren't going to be taking over from the original cast, that it was going to be a whole new entity, but that was it. I remember I went to see Gene Roddenberry to ask him about my character, about her background and things like that. I'd done a history for her; her likes, dislikes, upbringing, things like that. And he just said, "Yeah, yeah, that's fine." I don't know if it was that he wasn't interested or whether I'd hit the nail on the head, but that was it. I don't think they told us much about it at all.



On her role in L.A. Crash (2004): I don't want to get any letters or postings on my website about how bad I look in this movie.



On her role in Spectres (2004): It was the first time really that I got to be a mom, and I thought it was about time, really, because I really am old enough to be someone's mom. It was just a little bit of a shock going from never having been a mom to being a mom of a teenager. There was no kind of toddler stage for me, you know, mom of toddler, or mom of baby. (2004 interview, Spectres DVD)

On the sets of Star Trek: When we ever had problems with potentially dangerous or unhealthy conditions on the set, Patrick (Stewart) was the first to complain. He went to SAG and made sure people came out and tested for toxins when the smoke machine was used. (2003)





Her thoughts on why Star Trek: Nemesis (2002) failed at the box office: I think the fans want to see the whole team in action, while that was very much Picard taking center stage. Also, I didn't think Tom [Hardy] was at all convincing as a young Patrick [Stewart]. Don't get me wrong - he's a great, great actor and a really lovely guy, but he didn't look a bit like Patrick at all. They should have cast James Marsters . They auditioned him, you know. I think, physically, he was much more suitable for the part. (SFX magazine, September 2006)



I'd be happy if I was still playing her [Troi] now. No, really. Being on Raumschiff Enterprise - Das nächste Jahrhundert (1987) was the best experience of my life. (SFX magazine, September 2006)



Her thoughts on how fans hated the series finale of Star Trek: Enterprise (2001): It wasn't so much the fans as the cast. They were all lovely to work with on the set. Although I did hear they weren't at all happy with their show ending with what was essentially an episode of The Next Generation. (SFX magazine, September 2006)



On Gene Roddenberry and Majel Barrett : And personally - really the Roddenberrys kind of adopted me when I came to the States. I mean I was literally fresh of the boat when I got Raumschiff Enterprise - Das nächste Jahrhundert (1987), and they made sure that I had somewhere to go on the holidays, and that I wasn't sitting on my own in my apartment at Christmas. So... I actually used to call her "Mom". And when my own mother died, and I saw Majel soon after, I said to her "You know, you have to take care of yourself, because you're the only mom I've got left now..." So, it was very sad when I lost my other mom, too.



On remembering Majel Barrett after her death: Well, Majel was amazing. When we first found out that she was going to be my mom on the show, we were all a little nervous, because we were very, very badly behaved on the set. We had way too much fun. And the boss' wife was coming, you know? But we soon found out that she was nuttier than the rest of us, really! And she really fit in with this madcap atmosphere on the set. She was a delight. And actually what really made me happy was that as she did more and more episodes, especially toward the end of Next Gen and when she went on to DS9, they gave her episodes where you could really see what a great actress she was. She wasn't just the Auntie Mame of the galaxy, you know? She really was a gifted actress, and I was so happy that she got the opportunity to show that.