Claudia Christian facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Claudia Christian
Christian at Phoenix Comicon in 2013
Born	Claudia Ann Coghlan (1965-08-10) August 10, 1965 (age 59) Glendale, California, U.S.
Occupation	Actress singer author
Years active	1984–present
Known for	Babylon 5 Atlantis: The Lost Empire Hexed Berrenger's
Spouse(s)	Gary DeVore ​ ​ (m. 1988; div. 1992)​

Claudia Christian (born Claudia Ann Coghlan, August 10, 1965) is an American actress, singer, and author, known for her roles as Commander Susan Ivanova on Babylon 5, as Captain Maynard on Fox's 9-1-1, and as the voice of Hera on the Netflix series Blood of Zeus. She is also the voice of Lt. Helga Sinclair in Atlantis: The Lost Empire.

Early life

Christian was born in Glendale, California, the only daughter of Hildegard (née Christian), who worked as the director of Giorgio Beverly Hills, and James Michael Coghlan. Her mother is from Germany and her father has Irish ancestry. Christian and her three elder brothers were raised in Connecticut. Her eldest brother was killed while the family lived in Houston, Texas, and the family moved to California when she was 14. She changed her name by deed poll from Coghlan to Christian and moved to Hollywood to begin her acting career.

Career

Her first screen appearance was on Dallas. Further work included television guest appearances on Falcon Crest, Hunter, Quantum Leap, Matlock, Murder, She Wrote, L.A. Law, and It's Garry Shandling's Show, and as a series regular on Berrenger's.

She also appeared in TV movies Lies of the Twins with Isabella Rossellini, Calendar Girl Murders with Sharon Stone, A Masterpiece of Murder with Bob Hope and Don Ameche, Kaleidoscope with Jaclyn Smith and Coleen Dewhurst, and as Faye Dunaway's daughter in Columbo: It's All in the Game.

Christian's film career launched with Never on Tuesday with Andrew Lauer and Peter Berg, The Hidden with Kyle MacLachlan, 20th Century Fox's The Chase with Charlie Sheen, the Columbia comedy Hexed, and Adam Rifkin's The Dark Backward.

From 1994 to 1998, Christian appeared as Commander Susan Ivanova on Babylon 5. She left the science fiction series when contract negotiations for the fifth and final season broke down. Series creator J. Michael Straczynski maintains that she chose to leave of her own accord, while Christian stated that she wished to return for the final season but was released when she requested a reduction in the number of episodes in which she would appear so she could complete another project. Christian did appear in the series finale, reprised her role in Babylon 5: In the Beginning and Babylon 5: Thirdspace, collaborated with cast members on the album The Be Five, and conceived her own interactive fan convention, Claudia Con UK, which took place in the UK.

Following the success of Babylon 5, Christian's guest starred on series including Highlander: The Series, Judd Apatow's Freaks and Geeks, NYPD Blue, Everwood, Nip/Tuck, Grimm, Criminal Minds, Castle, The Mentalist, and NCIS, and voiced the role of Helga in Atlantis: The Lost Empire. In 2004, she returned to Laguna Beach, California, where she attended high school, to star in the American premiere of Michael Weller's play What the Night Is For with Kip Gilman and directed by Richard Stein. She also starred in the British series Starhyke, on Showtime's Look, and in the BBC comedy series Broken News. In addition, Christian played Janine Foster in the Doctor Who audio drama The Reaping and appeared in the films The Garden with Lance Henriksen and Half Past Dead with Steven Seagal.

As of 2020, Christian appears as Captain Elaine Maynard on the Fox series 9-1-1 and as the voice of the goddess Hera in the Netflix series Blood of Zeus. She also plays the title role in the Anne Manx radio series and voices characters in major video games including Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare, The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim, Fallout 4, and Pizza Morgana.

Author

Christian is the author of both fiction and non fiction books. Her non fiction works include her initial memoir, My Life with Geeks and Freaks and a cook book co-authored (with Mark Michel), Snack Hacks.

Her fictional works are The Misadventures of Miss Emma Bradford (aka Emma Bradford and the Mystery of Queen Tut), Wolf's Empire: Gladiator, and The Original: The Trials of Sara Larkin.

Together with Chris McAuley, Christian has also created Dark Legacies, a science-fiction universe. The first of the multimedia projects is a comic-book thriller, funded on Kickstarter in 2022.

Filmography

Film

Television series

Video games

Writing

• My Life with Geeks and Freaks, autobiography, published by Yard Dog Press
• Wolf's Empire: Gladiator, novel, co-written with Morgan Grant Buchanan, 2016

Discography

• Claudia Squared with Claudia Cummings (1996)
• Trying to Forget by The Be Five (1998)
• "Taboo" single (1998, Zard)
• Once upon a Time (2001, Zard)

See also

In Spanish: Claudia Christian para niños