This biography contains extracts from
the TFOL biography on Terry Farrell made by Jay
Davis, Australia - site now defunct
Terry Farrell Biography
Birth name: Theresa Lee Farrell Grussendorf
Place of birth: Cedar Rapids, Iowa, USA
Date of birth: 19 November 1963
Height: 180 cm ~ 6'
The Early Years
At age 15 in 1978, Farrell left her hometown in Iowa
for a summer in Mexico City as an exchange student. That time in her life made her fond of
the big cities, so in her junior year in high school she submitted her image to the Elite
Modeling Agency in New York. Shortly after she was summoned to NY and got an exclusive
contract with Mademoiselle Magazine within two days.
After 18 months of modeling, she turned to Kate McGregor Stewart in NY for studying to
become an actor while still modeling on the side. In 1983 she joined the cast of 'Paper
Dolls'. It only aired 13 episodes, but soon after she got a starring role in the movie
'Back to School' with Rodney Dangerfield.
In the spring of 1989 she began studying acting with Stella Adler. During this study she
continued modeling for major advertising campaigns and commercials. 1990 she got the
starring role in 'Hellraiser III', and soon after she nabbed her current role as Jadzia
Dax on 'Star Trek: Deep Space 9'.
Film and TV appearances
Film:
"Off the Wall" (1982), directed by Rick Friedberg, Jensen-Farley Pictures
"Portfolio" (1984) as an Elite Model, directed by Robert Guralnick
"The Deliberate Stranger" (1986) as Katie Hargreaves, directed by Marvin J.
Chomsky, Warner Bros.
"Back to School" (1986) starring as Valerie, directed by Alan Metter,
Orion Pictures
"Beverly Hills Madam" (1986) starring as Julie Taylor, directed by Harvey
Hart
"Off the Mark" (1987) starring as Jenell Johnson, directed by Bill Berry
III
"Hellraiser 3" (1992) starring as Joey Summerskill, directed by Anthony
Hickox, Paramount
"Red Sun Rising" (1993) as Karen Ryder, directed by Francis Megahy, RSR
Productions
Danielle Steel's "Star" (1993) as Elizabeth, directed by Michael Miller,
NBC
"Legion" (1998) as Major Doyle, directed by Jon Hess
TV Series:
"Mimi and Me"
"Paper Dolls" (1984) as Laurie Caswell
"Star Trek: Deep Space 9" (1993-1998) as Jadzia Dax
"Becker" (1998)
Guest Appearances:
"The Cosby Show" (after 1984).
"Family Ties" (1986) as Liz Oberman.
"The New Twilight Zone" (after 1989) in the episode "After Hours".
"Quantum Leap" (05/20/1992) as Lisa Sherman in the episode "A Leap for
Lisa".
"Talk Soup" (1996) as herself.
On Star Trek:DS9
On ST:DS9 Farrel plays the Starfleet science officer Jadzia Dax on
the remote space station DS9. She was assigned to the station in 2369 shortly after
Starfleet took command of the station. Dax is a member of the Trill joined species. A
joined Trill is a symbiotic being, consisting of a symbiont and a host, that is combined
into a new and unique individual. When the host dies either by accident, illness or old
age, the symbiont is transferred to a new and younger host, which creates a new
individual.
The host Jadzia always wanted to become a joined Trill and achieved Premier distinctions
in exobiology, zoology, astrophysics and exoarchaeology before being joined in 2367. Dax's
previous host had been Curzon Dax, a close friend of Benjamin Sisko, the stations
commander. Jadzia Dax often stated that such friendships are difficult to maintain in a
new host - especially if the new host has a different gender, but it seems like she
succeeded with Sisko. Dax has been a mother trice and a father twice, but not very
succesful either way. (Emmissary, The Nagus)
On the show the character Dax has evolved greatly since the
beginning of ST:DS9. She has turned into one of the main characters - one of the reasons
being the good acting skills of Terry Farrell. In the past seasons we have learned a lot
of Dax's personality and social life, which is one of the main reasons for her popularity.
And of course she looks nice as well. Recently she has become envolved with Worf on a
personal basis, which I believe to be a good thing - an opportunity to evolve the
character Dax even further.
And now they got married!!!!
Unfortunately Terry didn't sign up for the 7th and final season of DS9 choosing instead to
pursue other roles - she got a starring role in CBS' new sit-com "Becker" with
Ted Danson. This means she will be leaving the cast of DS9 at the end of season 6, the
final episode being "Tears of the Prophets". In that episode Sisko leads an
invasion force into cardassian territory, while the rest of the bridge crew stay at DS9.
In the meantime Gul Dukat secretely enters the station, detroys one of the Orbs and
mortally wounds Jadzia Dax in the process. She is in the temple to thank the Prophets
after Bashir told her, that she and Worf can have children. Sisko returns shortly
after, but is too late to save Jadzia. The symbiont is removed and sent to Trill, while
Jadzia stays on DS9. Her final words to Worf are "Our baby would have been so
beautiful".
On the way to Trill, the symbiont's condition worsens, and an immediate transfer to a host
is necessary. The only host available is a young female named Ezri (played by Nicole DeBoer). She does not want to join with Dax, but due to the
circumstances the joining is carried out. The new, joined Ezri Dax shows sign of
personality disorder, since the host and the symbiont won't accept eachother. Part of the
time the person Ezri Dax is Dax, but the host Ezri is strong willed, and every now and
then she (i.e. Ezri) takes control of the person - in essence the joining has been
unsuccesful and Ezri Dax is two distinct persons in one body.
Ezri Dax joins the DS9 crew, and Worf is convinced he is still married to Ezri Dax, which
the Dax-part also agrees upon. But the Ezri-part does not want to be married to Worf.
I think it is unfortunate for the show that Terry is leaving. Jadzia Dax was one of the
main characters and certainly one of the most fascinating and interesting. She gave the
show an amount of stability, ironi and humour, which is an invaluable part of the Star
Trek-phenomena. DS9 won't be the same without her.
Regarding Ezri Dax; the idea of a split personality in a Trill sounds interesting, but
complicated. I am curious to see how TPTB pull this off. It can go utterly wrong and be
extremely non-believeable. But it can also work out fine and prove to be a source of good
and fascinating stories. We'll have to wait and see.
I am just sorry it had to be Jadzia, who was sacrificed for this idea.
Of course I will continue watching DS9 even without Jadzia Dax. It will not be the
same, but it will still be worth watching. I just got to see how the war with the Dominion
ends.....
Prior Hosts
These informations are compiled from the episodes aired until the
end of season 5. They may not be 100% accurate, but it's close. Feel free to email me with
additional informations.
Lela Dax: Lela was Dax's first host,
and Lela Dax was one of the first women ever to serve as a council member on Trill. She
had a son named Ahjess. Jadzia Dax's comment on being over 300 years old would put Lela's
joining in the mid-21st century.
Tobin Dax: Tobin Dax was a shy but
intelligent young man, who among other things worked on another proof of Fermat's last
theorem. Jadzia Dax's love of science originates from him. Tobin also enjoyed magic
tricks.
Emony Dax: Emony Dax was a renowned
gymnast and probably conveyed Jadzia Dax's interest and skills in martial art.
Audrid Dax: She was a member of the
Symbiosis Commission and a mother of at least two children. She died in 2284.
Torias Dax: Torias Dax was a test
pilot, who died in 2285 in a shuttle crash after only a brief time as a joined Trill. He
had a wife named Nilani Kahn, who also was a joined Trill.
Joran Dax: Joran Dax was a musician and
a violent criminal, who only hosted Dax for six months in 2285, whereafter the Trill
authorities transferred the symbiont to another host and attempted to erase the memories
of Joran in the symbiont. This was only partial succesful, because it lead to Jadzia Dax
becoming ill in 2369 and having to learn about Joran to avoid permanent damage.
Curzon Dax: Curzon Dax was joined from
2285 until his death in 2367. He was a renowned Federation mediator and diplomat with the
klingons and the tholians as his specialty. As a member of the Symbiosis Commission he
rejected Jadzia as worthy of becoming a host, but later guilt let him to accept her as a
host candidate. It was even later learned, that the reason for his rejection of Jadzia was
him being in love with Jadzia. Curzon was a close friend of Benjamin Sisko and a great
'admirerer' of women. The cause of his death was complications in connection with a heart
attack he suffered on Risa during an act of jamaharon. In 2367 Dax became the next host.
Verad Dax: In 2370 Verad stole the Dax
symbiont for a couple of hours from Jadzia after he had been rejected by the Symbiosis
Commission, but he was persuaded into returning the symbiont to Jadzia. Verad is not
considered a real host when counting the number of hosts.
(Facets, To the Death, Invasive Procedures, Rejoined, Equilibrium, Blood Oath, Playing
Gods, Dax, Let He Who Is Without Sin)
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