Claudia Lee Black (born 11 October 1972) is an Australian actress, best known for her portrayals of

Aeryn Sun The television series '' Farscape'' features an extensive cast of characters created by Rockne S. O'Bannon. The series is set aboard a living spacecraft named Moya of the Leviathan race. The physical, racial and species-specific cultural charact ...

in ''

Farscape ''Farscape'' is an Australian-American science fiction television series, produced originally for the Nine Network. It premiered in the US on Sci-Fi Channel's SciFi Friday, 19 March 1999, at 8:00 pm EST as their anchor series. The series was ...

'',

Vala Mal Doran Vala Mal Doran is a fictional character in the American military science fiction television series ''Stargate SG-1'', a science fiction show about a military team exploring the galaxy via a network of alien transportation devices. Played by forme ...

in ''

Stargate SG-1 ''Stargate SG-1'' (often stylized in all caps, or abbreviated ''SG-1'') is a military science fiction adventure television series within Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer's ''Stargate'' franchise. The show, created by Brad Wright and Jonathan Glassner, ...

'' and Sharon "Shazza" Montgomery in the film '' Pitch Black''. She has had prominent roles in video games, such as Chloe Frazer in ''

Uncharted ''Uncharted'' is an action-adventure video game franchise published by Sony Interactive Entertainment and developed by Naughty Dog. Created by Amy Hennig, the ''Uncharted'' franchise follows a group of treasure hunters who travel across th ...

'', Morrigan in ''

Dragon Age ''Dragon Age'' is a media franchise centered on a series of fantasy role-playing video games created and developed by BioWare, which have seen releases on the Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, Microsoft Windows, OS X, PlayStation 4, and Xbox One. The fr ...

'', Admiral Daro'Xen and Matriarch Aethyta in ''

Mass Effect ''Mass Effect'' is a military science fiction media franchise created by Casey Hudson, Drew Karpyshyn and Preston Watamaniuk. The franchise depicts a distant future where humanity and several alien civilizations have colonized the known unive ...

'' and Tess Everis in ''

Destiny Destiny, sometimes referred to as fate (from Latin ''fatum'' "decree, prediction, destiny, fate"), is a predetermined course of events. It may be conceived as a predetermined future, whether in general or of an individual. Fate Although often ...

'' and Samantha Byrne in ''

Gears of War 3 ''Gears of War 3'' is a third-person shooter video game developed by Epic Games and published by Xbox Game Studios, Microsoft Studios for the Xbox 360. It is the third installment of the Gears of War, ''Gears of War'' series. Originally due for re ...

'', '' Gears of War 4'', and '' Gears 5''. She also had a recurring role as Dahlia in '' The Originals'' and starred as Dr. Sabine Lommers in

The CW ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the ...

's ''

Containment Containment was a geopolitical strategic foreign policy pursued by the United States during the Cold War to prevent the spread of communism after the end of World War II. The name was loosely related to the term '' cordon sanitaire'', which ...

''.

Early life

Black was born and raised in a

Jewish Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...

family in

Sydney Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Sydney Harbour and extends about towards the Blue Mounta ...

New South Wales ) , nickname = , image_map = New South Wales in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of New South Wales in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , es ...

. She studied at the Anglican Kambala School in Sydney.Claudia Black Online: Biography.
Retrieved on 7 January 2013. She has lived in Australia, New Zealand, Spain, the United Kingdom, Canada and the United States. Her parents are medical academics based in Australia, Jules and Judy Black.

Career

Black has acted in Australia and New Zealand in television and movies. She portrayed a

transgender A transgender (often abbreviated as trans) person is someone whose gender identity or gender expression does not correspond with their sex assigned at birth. Many transgender people experience dysphoria, which they seek to alleviate through ...

woman named Jill Mayhew in the Australian television series ''

Good Guys, Bad Guys ''Good Guys, Bad Guys'' was an Australian comedy/drama TV series that screened on the Nine Network between 1997 and 1998, with a telemovie and twenty-six episodes produced. The crime-themed show was set in Melbourne. The program and its lead c ...

''. She had a leading role in the New Zealand soap opera '' City Life'' playing the role of Greek lawyer Angela Kostapas. Black gained international recognition for her role in ''

'', and was nominated for a

Saturn Award The Saturn Awards are American awards presented annually by the Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy and Horror Films. The awards were created to honor science fiction, fantasy, and horror in film, but have since grown to reward other films be ...

in the Best Actress category in 2001, 2002 and 2005, winning in the latter. She has appeared in the feature films ''

Queen of the Damned ''Queen of the Damned'' is a 2002 vampire film directed by Michael Rymer, loosely based on the third novel of Anne Rice's '' The Vampire Chronicles'' series, ''The Queen of the Damned'' (1988), although the film contains many plot elements from t ...

'' and '' Pitch Black''. After ''Farscape'' ended, Black appeared as

in the ''

'' episode " Prometheus Unbound"; her performance was well-received and she was invited to reprise her role in the show's ninth season when series regular

Amanda Tapping Amanda Tapping (born 28 August 1965) is a British-Canadian actress and director. She is best known for portraying Samantha Carter in the Canadian–American military science fiction television series ''Stargate SG-1,'' ''Stargate Atlantis,'' an ...

went on maternity leave. Black returned to the series as a regular cast member for the tenth and final season, and also starred in '' Stargate: The Ark of Truth'' and '' Stargate: Continuum'', films which wrapped up the series' story lines. Black co-starred with

Ben Browder Robert Benedict Browder (born December 11, 1962) is an American actor, writer and film director, known for his roles as John Crichton in ''Farscape'' and Cameron Mitchell in '' Stargate SG-1''. Early life Born in Memphis, Tennessee, Browder ...

in both series. In the NBC TV show ''

Life Life is a quality that distinguishes matter that has biological processes, such as signaling and self-sustaining processes, from that which does not, and is defined by the capacity for growth, reaction to stimuli, metabolism, energy ...

'' (2007), Black was cast in the supporting role of Jennifer Conover for the initial pilot. Due to Black's second pregnancy, the part was recast and the role was given to the actress Jennifer Siebel when the series was bought by the TV network. NBC still used footage of Black, and none of Siebel, when promoting the TV series' debut. Popular at science fiction conventions, Black showed her talent at singing and playing the guitar at the ''

'' conventions, and in 2007 sang on the debut album of musician and fellow ''Farscape'' actor Paul Goddard. Black has also performed in theater. She played

Portia Portia may refer to: Biology * ''Portia'' (spider), a genus of jumping spiders *'' Anaea troglodyta'' or Portia, a brush-footed butterfly *Portia tree, a plant native to Polynesia Medication A form of birth control made of ethinylestradiol/lev ...

in a tour of the '' Merchant of Venice''. She has had parts in ''Spotlight on Women'', ''

The Picture of Dorian Gray ''The Picture of Dorian Gray'' is a philosophical novel by Irish writer Oscar Wilde. A shorter novella-length version was published in the July 1890 issue of the American periodical '' Lippincott's Monthly Magazine''.''The Picture of Dorian G ...

'', ''Loose Ends'' and ''Pick Ups'' for the

Belvoir street theatre Belvoir is an Australian theatre company based at the Belvoir St Theatre in Sydney, Australia, originally known as Company B. Since 2016 and its artistic director is Eamon Flack. The theatre contains a 330-seat Upstairs Theatre and a 80-seat ...

; ''

Little Women ''Little Women'' is a coming-of-age novel written by American novelist Louisa May Alcott (1832–1888). Alcott wrote the book, originally published in two volumes in 1868 and 1869, at the request of her publisher. The story follows the live ...

'' and ''The World Knot'' for the Bicentennial Opera. Claudia Black, Ben Browder

Since 2007, Black has been a prolific video game voice actress. She has gained particular attention for her work with BioWare's ''

'' and ''

'' series. Her son Odin Black voiced her ''Dragon Age'' character's son in ''Dragon Age: Inquisition''. She also played Chloe Frazer in the ''

'' series. In 2008, she narrated the audiobook " Swallowing Darkness" by Laurell K. Hamilton. In 2014, Black had a voice-over role in ''

Rick and Morty , creator = Justin Roiland and Dan Harmon , developer = , voices = {{plainlist, * Justin Roiland * Chris Parnell * Spencer Grammer * Sarah Chalke * Kari Wahlgren , composer = Ryan Elder , count ...

'' as Ma-Sha in the episode "Raising Gazorpazorp". In 2016, she appeared in '' Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare'' as Engineer Audrey "Mac" MaCallum.

Filmography

Film

Television

Video games

Awards

* 2009 – The Constellation Awards, Best Female Performance in a 2008 Science Fiction Film, TV Movie, or Mini-Series: '' Stargate: Continuum'' * 2007 – The Constellation Awards, Best Female Performance in a 2006 Science Fiction Television Episode: ''

'': "

Memento Mori ''Memento mori'' (Latin for 'remember that you ave todie'Farscape: The Peacekeeper Wars''

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Black, Claudia 1972 births Living people Actresses from Sydney Australian film actresses Australian television actresses Australian video game actresses Australian voice actresses Jewish Australian actresses 20th-century Australian actresses 21st-century Australian actresses People educated at Kambala School