Tricia O'Neil (born Patricia Lou O'Neil;[1][2][3] March 11, 1945[4]) is an American actress.
Born in Shreveport, Louisiana,[5] she is the daughter of James Weldon O'Neil and Mary Jane Marter.[6] The family lived in El Paso, Texas, from 1952 to 1959 and in 1963. O'Neil attended elementary and intermediate schools in El Paso and graduated from McAllen High School. In 1968, she graduated from Baylor University,[5] where she studied with singer Miklos Bencze.[7]
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In 1965, while attending Baylor, O'Neil performed on two locally produced TV specials, both of them airing on KCEN-TV. First, on May 14, she was one of 18—and one of three Baylor students—selected to appear on Talent '65. Sponsored by Southwestern Bell and produced by KHOU-TV for the purpose of showcasing statewide talent, it was hosted by John Hambrick.[8] Accompanying herself on guitar, O'Neil performed Babe, I'm Gonna Leave You"[9] (Anne Bredon's composition, popularized in 1962 by Joan Baez).[10] On December 24 and 25, she and the Baylor University Religious Hour Choir were featured on Christmas: Old and New, an hour-long special which was heard in Dallas on WFAA (AM) on Christmas Eve and seen on KCEN on Christmas Day.[11]
Following her graduation from Baylor, O'Neil sang in supper clubs in Texas and California for two years before an opportunity to act on Broadway arose.[5][12][13][14] By that time, O'Neil had already dropped "Patti" in favor of "Tricia",[15] after discovering there was already a Patti O'Neil registered at Actors Equity.[5][16]
In 1970, O'Neil made her professional theatrical debut in the Broadway musical Two by Two.[5] Although the show received mixed reviews,[17] O'Neil earned a Theatre World Award for her performance.[18] Newsweek's Jack Kroll, in particular, singles out O'Neil, amidst his otherwise blistering critique of the show itself:
There is only one delight in 'Two by Two'—Tricia O'Neil as Rachel, Noah's daughter-in-law who marries the wrong son. Miss O'Neil is a stunning girl with a full sweet voice and the grace of an Assyrian lioness. She is the only Biblical thing in the show, bearing the wheat of Zion in her hair, the loyalty of Ruth in her eyes, the determination of Judith in her arms, the sensuality of the Song of Solomon in her throat and the curve of her thigh.[19]
O'Neil made her film debut in the 1972 film The Legend of Nigger Charley (1972). Other film appearances include The Gumball Rally (1976), Mary Jane Harper Cried Last Night (1977), Are You in the House Alone? (1978), The Kid from Left Field (1979), Brave New World (1980), Piranha II: The Spawning (1982), Ted & Venus (1991) and Titanic (1997).
O'Neil made her television debut in the 1973 television movie Duty Bound. She appeared in a number of guest roles on various television series, including a dog trainer in a 1978 episode of Columbo titled "How to Dial a Murder",[20] nightclub singer Julie Heller in the episode "Murder! Murder!" of The Eddie Capra Mysteries (1978), as Dorothy Fulton in Hart to Hart (1979), as a police photographer in back-to-back episodes of Barney Miller (1980), as female stunt woman "Charlie" in the episode of the same name in the first season of The Fall Guy (1981), in Remington Steele (1982), as conniving "other woman" Ashley Vickers in the pilot episode of Murder, She Wrote (1984), as a pushy reporter in the second-season episode "Catch of the Day" in Riptide (1984), as the owner of a travelling Wild West rodeo show in the third-season Airwolf episode "Annie Oakley" (1985), and separate roles in three episodes of Matlock from 1989 to 1994. She appeared in the television miniseries Jacqueline Susann's Valley of the Dolls (1981) and in two episodes of The A-Team, playing Dr. Maggie "Mo" Sullivan in the season one episode "Black Day at Bad Rock" and the season two episode "Deadly Maneuvers".[20]
O'Neil made a number of appearances in popular science fiction television series during the 1980s and 1990s. She portrayed Captain Rachel Garrett of the U.S.S. Enterprise (NCC-1701-C) in the Star Trek: The Next Generation episode "Yesterday's Enterprise", returning to that series with a role as the Klingon Kurak in the episode "Suspicions".[20] Later she guest-starred on Star Trek: Deep Space Nine as Cardassian Korinas in the episode "Defiant".[20][21] O'Neil guest-starred in the Babylon 5 season-one episode "Believers" (1994) as "M'ola". Later, she played the Earth Alliance president in the Babylon 5 TV movie Babylon 5: In the Beginning (1998).
In 1991, O'Neil filmed her scenes in the role of Hoelun for the never-released film Genghis Khan. Efforts in 2010 to repackage the material as a miniseries, tentatively named Genghis Khan: The Story of a Lifetime, never came to fruition.
O'Neil's last screen appearance was on the television series JAG, playing Dr. Beth Salluci in the 2001 episode "Redemption".
On August 6, 1966, O'Neil married opera singer James Irving Van Valkenburg.[22][23][2]
Media mogul Rupert Murdoch is 92. Former ABC News correspondent Sam Donaldson is 89. Musician Flaco Jimenez (FLAH'-koh hee-MEH'-nez) is 84. Actor Tricia O'Neil is 78. Actor Mark Metcalf is 77. Rock singer-musician Mark Stein (Vanilla Fudge) is 76. Singer Bobby McFerrin is 73.See also:
media mogul Rupert Murdoch, 72; ABC News correspondent Sam Donaldson, 69; U.S. Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia, 67; musician Flaco Jimenez, 64; actress Tricia O'Neil, 58; singer Bobby McFerrin, 53;
I liked 'Two by Two.' Really, I did. [...] It's just that the whole thing hangs on a framework as casual as that which forms the ark, and all the emotions it touches are the automatic reaction we have to well done melodrama (or bedtime stories). In the end, it is only a very small show with very small aspirations. With the ingredients it has, I wish it had been more.See also: