Marina Sirtis

Marina Sirtis is 71 years old. She was born on 29 March 1955 in London [1], the daughter of Greek immigrants, and for seven years she played the ship's counselor on the Starship Enterprise [2] [4]. Her path there started with a secret audition for drama school that her parents did not want her to make.

Early life in London

Sirtis was born in London. The Movie Database says the East End, while the Hackney Gazette and TheFamousPeople say Hackney [1] [2] [11]. The Hackney Gazette adds that she grew up in north London and later in Harringay [2]. Her parents were Greek immigrants from a working-class background. TheFamousPeople names them as John and Despina [2] [11]. In a 2008 interview with NEO Magazine she described her father as an East End tailor [3].

She has described a poor childhood in which the family was never hungry, living on cheap staples such as beans and lentils [2]. At 13 she started work as a shampooist in a hair salon in Chalk Farm, after several other teenage jobs [2].

Acting was not the plan her parents had. She told the Hackney Gazette that she secretly auditioned for drama school while still in secondary school, against their wishes [2]. Her mother wanted her to become a lawyer and later suggested a job at the Bank of Cyprus [2]. Her mother's hopes did not fade quickly: in 2008 she told NEO Magazine that her parents had been disappointed by her choice of drama school over university [3].

She trained at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama in London [5] [4].

Stage work and the first screen roles

After Guildhall she started on stage at the Connaught Theatre in West Sussex [5]. Her official biography gives her professional debut as Hamlet at the Worthington Repertory Theatre, followed by Esmeralda in The Hunchback of Notre Dame at Coventry Rep and Magenta in The Rocky Horror Picture Show [4]. NEO Magazine adds that her first job out of drama school was Ophelia in Hamlet, and that she also played Elizabeth in Richard III [3].

Her first screen appearance, according to TV Guide, was a 1977 episode of the series Ruffles [5]. In Britain she then worked in television in Minder and Hazel and starred in the TV film One Last Chance [4]. Her film credits from those years include The Wicked Lady, with Faye Dunaway, Death Wish III, with Charles Bronson, Blind Date, with Bruce Willis, and Richard Donner's The Thief of Baghdad [4].

Casting directors did not always know what to do with her. She told NEO Magazine she was sometimes denied roles because she was seen as "exotic" [3].

The break: Deanna Troi

The break came after a move to Los Angeles. In the NEO interview she said she booked a television role within five days of arriving, a job that lasted about four months [3]. She then auditioned for Star Trek: The Next Generation and was cast as Deanna Troi, the half-Betazoid ship's counselor [3]. She says the exotic look that had cost her parts suited the role, and that the show's guarantee of at least 26 weeks of work gave her security [3].

The series was created by Gene Roddenberry. According to the Hackney Gazette it ran for 178 episodes over seven seasons, while The Movie Database counts 176 episodes for her role, so the figure depends on the source [2] [1]. TheFamousPeople dates her time on the show as 1987 to 1994 [11]. Sirtis says the cast met in 1987 and became lifelong best friends [2].

An episode of the show also echoed her own life. In "Haven", Troi's mother tries to arrange her marriage. Sirtis said her Greek parents had tried the same with her, and she told Roddenberry that the events of the episode had happened to her in real life [9].

Career timeline

• 1977: first screen appearance, an episode of Ruffles [5].
• 1987: begins playing Deanna Troi in Star Trek: The Next Generation [1].
• 1994: Star Trek: Generations, and the voice of Demona in the animated series Gargoyles [1].
• 1996: Star Trek: First Contact [1].
• 1998: Star Trek: Insurrection [1].
• 2002: Star Trek: Nemesis [1].
• 2004: the film Crash, as Shereen [1].
• Later: the series finale of Star Trek: Enterprise [11].
• 2009: The Grudge 3, as Gretchen [1].
• 2019: West End stage debut in Dark Sublime, playing a forgotten sci-fi TV star [2].
• Later: returns as Troi in Star Trek: Picard [10].

Away from the stage and Star Trek, she has voiced Troi in many games and animated projects, and played Matriarch Benezia in the video game Mass Effect [10] [11]. Her American theatre credits include Loot at Hartford Stage and the world premiere of Neil Simon's Hotel Suite at the Walnut Street Theatre in Philadelphia [4].

Best-known work

Year	Title	Role
1987	Star Trek: The Next Generation	Deanna Troi [1]
1994	Star Trek: Generations	Counselor Deanna Troi [1]
1994	Gargoyles	Demona (voice) [1]
1996	Star Trek: First Contact	Counselor Deanna Troi [1]
1998	Star Trek: Insurrection	Counselor Deanna Troi [1]
2002	Star Trek: Nemesis	Counselor Deanna Troi [1]
2004	Crash	Shereen [1]
2009	The Grudge 3	Gretchen [1]

Her television guest roles include NCIS, Grey's Anatomy and Without a Trace, and her films include L.A. Crash and Finders Keepers [10].

Awards

TV Guide's biography lists these honours [5]:

• 2004: Science Fiction Genre Award, Best Actress, at ShockerFest (winner).
• 2018: nomination for a BTVA Television Voice Acting Award, Best Vocal Ensemble in a New Television Series.
• 2021: Jury Prize, Best Ensemble Cast (winner).
• 2024: Lifetime Achievement Award (winner).
• 2024: Festival Award, Best Actress (winner).

The listing does not name the festival for every entry, so we repeat it as given.

Relationships

Sirtis married the rock guitarist Michael Lamper in 1992; TheFamousPeople gives the date as 21 June 1992 [9] [11]. Lamper appeared in one Next Generation episode as an Acamarian Gatherer [8]. As a musician he played with Tommy Shaw, Kevin Cronin, Los Lobos, the Allman Brothers and Quiet Riot, and he sang in a band called Steely Jam [8].

He died in his sleep on Saturday 7 December 2019, aged 61 [8]. By then the couple had been together for 31 years and married for 27 [9]. The sources we cite do not list any children, and we do not speculate.

After his death, Sirtis said it was "too painful to stay in Los Angeles" [9]. She has said that her husband's death and four years of Trump's presidency led her to leave America in March 2021 [2].

Net worth

We found no net worth figure from a reliable outlet, such as a named business publication with a date, so we do not print one.

What she is doing now

Sirtis lives in Twickenham, in London, and says she has not regretted returning to the city "for a nanosecond" [2]. She still calls herself a "proud Cockney" [2].

She remains a regular on the convention circuit. She was announced as the headline guest at Gosport Comic Con on Saturday 28 March 2026 [7], and FedCon in Bonn lists her as a guest [10].

At Star Trek: The Cruise she was blunt about the proposed Star Trek: Legacy sequel series. "First of all, 'Legacy' is never gonna happen," she said, arguing that no studio would build a show around actors over 70 and that ageism was the reason [6]. SlashFilm published her remarks on 26 March 2026 [6].