Tricia O’Neil

Tricia O’Neil, born Patricia Lou O’Neil on March 11, 1945, in Shreveport, Louisiana, is an American actress. She is the daughter of James Weldon O’Neil and Mary Jane Marter. During her youth, her family lived in El Paso, Texas, from 1952 to 1959 and again in 1963. O’Neil attended elementary and intermediate schools in El Paso before graduating from McAllen High School. She later attended Baylor University, where she studied with singer Miklos Bencze and graduated in 1968.

While studying at Baylor in 1965, O’Neil began performing on television. On May 14, she was selected as one of 18 performers on the Southwestern Bell-sponsored special Talent '65 on KCEN-TV, hosted by John Hambrick, where she played guitar and performed "Babe, I'm Gonna Leave You." Later that year, on December 24 and 25, she and the Baylor University Religious Hour Choir appeared on the hour-long special Christmas: Old and New, broadcast on WFAA (AM) and KCEN.

After graduating from Baylor, O’Neil spent two years singing in supper clubs across Texas and California. Around this time, she adopted the professional name Tricia instead of Patti after discovering another Patti O'Neil was registered with Actors Equity. In 1970, she made her professional theatrical debut in the Broadway musical Two by Two. Her performance earned her a Theatre World Award, receiving notable praise from critics for her stage presence and singing.

O’Neil made her film debut in the 1972 movie The Legend of Nigger Charley. Throughout the 1970s and 1980s, she appeared in various feature film and television movie productions, including The Gumball Rally, Mary Jane Harper Cried Last Night, Are You in the House Alone?, The Kid from Left Field, Brave New World, and Piranha II: The Spawning. Her later film credits include Ted & Venus and Titanic. In 1991, she filmed scenes for the unreleased movie Genghis Khan.

O’Neil made her television debut in the 1973 television movie Duty Bound. She subsequently appeared in guest roles on numerous television series, including Columbo, The Eddie Capra Mysteries, Hart to Hart, Barney Miller, The Fall Guy, Remington Steele, Murder, She Wrote, Riptide, Airwolf, and Matlock. She was also featured in the miniseries Jacqueline Susann's Valley of the Dolls and appeared in two episodes of The A-Team as Dr. Maggie "Mo" Sullivan.

During the 1980s and 1990s, O’Neil appeared in several popular science fiction television projects. In Star Trek: The Next Generation, she portrayed Captain Rachel Garrett in "Yesterday's Enterprise" and returned as the Klingon Kurak in "Suspicions." She also guest-starred in Star Trek: Deep Space Nine as Korinas, appeared in Babylon 5 as M'ola, and played the Earth Alliance president in the TV movie Babylon 5: In the Beginning. Her final screen role was on JAG in 2001.

On August 6, 1966, O’Neil married opera singer James Irving Van Valkenburg.