Tricia Helfer Bio

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Tricia Helfer Pictures

Tricia Janine Helfer (born April 11, 1974) is a Canadian model and actress. She is best known for playing the humanoid Cylon Number Six in the re-imagined Battlestar Galactica television series. She has also been actively involved in different charity events, from animal rescue to the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico.

Tricia Helfer: Early life

Helfer was born in the rural community of Donalda in Stettler County, Alberta. She was raised by Dennis and Elaine Helfer on the family's grain farm with her sister Tammy, and was discovered by modeling agency scout Kelly Streit at age 17 while standing in line at a local movie theatre. Helfer is of German, English, Swedish, and Norwegian descent.

Tricia Helfer: Career

Tricia Helfer - Fashion modeling

In 1992, she won Ford Models' Supermodel of the World Contest and was subsequently signed to the Elite Model Management and later to Trump Model Management. Tricia retired from fashion modeling in 2002 and states that all her shoots since then are related to projects or product endorsements. She has appeared in ad campaigns for Ralph Lauren, Versace, Chanel, and Giorgio Armani. Helfer has walked for top fashion shows such as Carolina Herrera, Christian Dior, Claude Montana, Givenchy, John Galliano, and Dolce & Gabbana. Helfer has graced the covers of Flare, Amica, ELLE, Cosmopolitan, Marie Claire, and Vogue, among others. She also regularly appeared in photo shoots by Maxim magazine, was the magazine's wall calendar girl for 2005, and was ranked #57 on the Maxim's Hot 100 Women of 2007. She also posed topless for the February 2007 issue of Playboy.

Tricia Helfer - Acting

Helfer arriving at the gala showing of her film Walk All Over Me at the 2007 Calgary International Film Festival

Helfer hosted a Canadian television fashion program Canada's Next Top Model (Cycle 1). She relocated to Los Angeles in 2002 to pursue a full-time film career. Her first acting assignment was a co-starring role as Sarah on the television series Jeremiah. Thereafter, she played the role of a model, Ashleigh James, in the May 16, 2002 episode "The Hunger Artist" on CSI: Crime Scene Investigation. In 2002, Helfer played the female lead, Eva, in the independent film White Rush. In 2003, Helfer was chosen to play Number Six on Battlestar Galactica (see section below).

In 2004, Helfer played Farrah Fawcett in the NBC telemovie The Unauthorized Story of 'Charlie's Angels'. Concurrent with her role in Battlestar Galactica, Helfer began producing and hosting Canada's Next Top Model on May 31, 2006. In 2006, Helfer appeared in the motion pictures Spiral and The Green Chain.

In October 2006, it was announced that Helfer would not return to host the second season of Canada's Next Top Model so she could concentrate on Battlestar Galactica. Helfer also played a major role in Electronic Arts Command & Conquer 3: Tiberium Wars, as the high-level Nod general Kilian Qatar, along with her Battlestar Galactica co-star, Grace Park. She also starred in the episode "Roadkill" on the second season of the American paranormal drama TV series Supernatural.

Helfer had a recurring role on CBS' Two and a Half Men. She played Gail, best friend of Charlie's (Charlie Sheen) fiancé Chelsea (Jennifer Bini Taylor). When Chelsea finds out that her friend is recovering from a breakup, she says she should do so at Charlie's house. Shortly after Chelsea and Charlie begin a trial separation, Gail begins a sexual relationship with Charlie.

Battlestar Galactica

In 2003, the television series Battlestar Galactica was used as the basis for a three hour miniseries on the Sci Fi channel. The project was written and produced by Ronald D. Moore and directed by Michael Rymer. Helfer played the role of Number Six, a humanoid Cylon operative. She continued that role as a regular cast member in the TV series, which completed its fourth and final season on March 20, 2009. Due to the unique nature of the Number Six character - there are many "copies" of Number Six with distinct personalities - Helfer has, in effect, played numerous roles on the series. In 2009, she reprised her role as Number Six in Battlestar Galactica: The Plan - a television movie that tells the story of the series from the Cylons' point of view.

Awards:

Nominations:

Other appearances

Helfer at the 2010 Toronto International Film Festival

In August 2008, Helfer appeared on the stage of NVISION 08, an event sponsored by NVIDIA, where she discussed her role in Battlestar Galactica as well as the use of computer graphics on the show.

Helfer appeared as Chuck's Season 2 secret agent "handler" in the NBC series Chuck, and as Michael Westen's Season 2 nemesis in the USA Network series Burn Notice as "Carla."

Helfer appears as herself in Old 97's music video for "Dance with Me". In the video, she is sought through an exclusive nightclub, via fantasy, by an imaginative fan.

She guest starred in "Resonance," the second episode of Warehouse 13 as FBI Agent Bonnie Belski on Syfy. She appeared as a special guest star in the pilot episode of Fox's 2009 mid-season series "Human Target," in which she plays the key female role.

She has played several prominent video game roles in recent years; including Kilian Quatar in Command & Conquer 3: Tiberium Wars, Veronica Dare in Halo 3: ODST and EDI, the ship-borne artificial intelligence aboard the Normandy SR-2 in Mass Effect 2 and Mass Effect 3. She also voices Sarah Kerrigan in StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty, as well as its expansion sets, Heart of the Swarm and Legacy of the Void. Helfer plays the voice of Black Cat in The Spectacular Spider-Man. She reprises her role as Black Cat in Spider-Man: Web of Shadows.

Helfer has joined the cast of Jerry Bruckheimer's TNT drama, Dark Blue as FBI Special Agent Alex Rice. The show was cancelled in November 2010 because of its very low ratings

In October 2010, she made a guest appearance on Lie to Me.

In 2011, she starred in The Black Keys' music video for "Howlin' for You."

She also made a guest appearance as a villain in No Ordinary Family (2011), and a scheming law partner in Franklin and Bash (2011).

In 2011, Helfer stars as Morgana, a necromancer, in the TV series 17th Precinct from Ron Moore with Galactica's co-stars James Callis and Jamie Bamber.

In November 2011, she appeared in the Hallmark TV Movie Mistletoe Over Manhattan.

For 2012, she signed for the recurring role of Alex Clark in the new NBC TV Series The Firm, based on the John Grisham novel. In October 2011 she got the lead role in the TV Pilot "Scent of the Missing" playing Susannah, a K-9 Search and Rescue Volunteer.

Tricia Helfer: Personal life

She is married to Johnathan Marshall, a lawyer whom she met at a mutual friend's birthday party.

She has four artificial discs in her back and two in her neck, resulting from an incident in which a piece of luggage was dropped on her head while sitting on a commercial airliner, and two in her lower back from mishaps while doing her own stunts.

She co-founded the charity web site "Acting Outlaws" with Katee Sackhoff, which is open for donations for different causes and charity events.