Template:Realworld Jennifer Morrison (born 12 April 1979; age 45) is the actress who played Winona Kirk, mother of James T. Kirk, in J.J. Abrams' Star Trek. [1] She is best known for her role as Dr. Allison Cameron on the hit television series, House.
Morrison was among the performers present during the first day of shooting on Star Trek. She was spotted by spy photographers who were capturing pictures of the shoot, which took place at a secret location in Southern California. After some guessing, IESB.net confirmed that it was, indeed, Morrison and that she had been cast in the film. [2]
Personal life
Morrison was born in Chicago, Illinois, and raised in Arlington Heights, Illinois. From 1993 through 1997, she attended Prospect High School, where her parents worked as teachers. She went on to major in Theater at Loyola University in Chicago, graduating in 2000. After studying with the Chicago-based, Tony Award-winning Steppenwolf Theatre Company, Morrison moved to Los Angeles to pursue a professional acting career.
Morrison and her House co-star, Jesse Spencer, were engaged to be married in December 2006. In August 2007, however, the engagement was called off.
Career
Early career
Morrison began her career in front of the camera when she was a child, modeling for print advertisements and appearing in commercials. Just before she began attending high school, Morrison made her film debut in the 1994 Paramount Pictures drama Intersection as the daughter of the main characters (played by Richard Gere and Sharon Stone).
Her next film appearance came in John Hughes' remake of Miracle on 34th Street, which also features original Trek series guest star William Windom. A few years later, Morrison returned to film to portray the ghost of a young girl in the 1999 suspense thriller Stir of Echoes.
She had her first starring role in the 2000 horror film Urban Legends: Final Cut. She subsequently worked with Clint Howard in the 2002 independent comedy Girl Fever and in 2004's The Sure Hand of God; the former also featured Jimmie F. Skaggs), while the latter co-starred Gordon Clapp and Daniel Roebuck. She also made two movies with Stephen Root: the 2003 skateboard comedy Grind (co-starring Christopher McDonald) and the 2004 comedy Surviving Christmas.
In addition to her film credits, Morrison made guest appearances on such television shows as Touched by an Angel and Dawson's Creek. She also appeared in an episode of the Lifetime drama Any Day Now along with Star Trek: Deep Space Nine guest actor Geoffrey Blake and Star Trek: The Next Generation guest actress Cristine Rose.
House and concurrent work
In 2004, Morrison was cast as Dr. Cameron on the FOX Network's hit medical drama, House. Executive produced by Bryan Singer (who also directed two episodes of the first season), House premiered in November 2004 and has finished its sixth season. In one episode, her then co-star Kal Penn (best known for playing Kumar to John Cho's Harold) claimed to be a Dahar Master of the Klingon Empire.
Morrison's character on House was written out in 2009; her final episode as a regular cast member featured a guest appearance by Star Trek: Enterprise's Jolene Blalock. Morrison did make a return appearance on House late in the 2009-2010 season. She is also contracted to appear in the following season, but Morrison does not believe she will be returning as a regular cast member.[3]
Outside of House, Morrison appeared in the hit 2005 action film Mr. & Mrs. Smith which, like Star Trek, features costumes designed by Michael Kaplan. She recently co-starred in the Rob Schneider comedy Big Stan, along with Henry Gibson and Richard Riehle.
During the summer of 2006, Morrison worked with her House co-star and one-time fiance Jesse Spencer on the independent film Flourish, which Morrison also produced. She is currently working with Star Trek Nemesis actor Tom Hardy in the mixed martial arts drama Warrior for director Gavin O'Connor. [4]
External links
- Jennifer Morrison at Wikipedia
- Template:IMDb-link