Kathryn Ann "Katee" Sackhoff is an American actress best known for playing Captain Kara
"Starbuck" Thrace on the Sci Fi Channel's television program Battlestar Galactica.
She was nominated for four Saturn Awards for her work on Battlestar Galactica, winning
the award for Best Supporting Actress on Television in 2005.
Sackhoff has also starred in the short-lived TV series The Fearing Mind and The Education
of Max Bickford; had recurring roles in the TV series Bionic Woman, Robot Chicken, Nip/Tuck,
CSI: Crime Scene Investigation and Star Wars: The Clone Wars; and had a lead role in the
eighth season of 24 as Dana Walsh.
She currently stars in the A&E series Longmire as Deputy Sheriff Victoria "Vic" Moretti.
She has also had lead roles in the films Halloween: Resurrection; White Noise: The Light; Batman:
Year One; The Haunting in Connecticut 2: Ghosts of Georgia, Sexy Evil Genius and Riddick,
and had a supporting role in Oculus.
Early life Sackhoff was born in Portland, Oregon, and
grew up in St. Helens, Oregon.
Her mother, Mary, worked as an ESL program coordinator, and her father, Dennis, is a
land developer.
Her brother Erick is co-owner of a vehicle modification shop near Portland.
She graduated from Sunset High School in Beaverton in 1998.
She began swimming at an early age and by high school was planning to pursue a career
in the sport until her right knee was injured.
This led her to begin practicing yoga - which she continues today - and to pursue an interest
in acting.
Career
Her first acting role was in the Lifetime movie Fifteen and Pregnant in which she played
a teenager with a baby.
The movie starred Kirsten Dunst and motivated her to move to Hollywood and pursue a career
in acting after graduating high school.
Sackhoff's first recurring role was Annie in MTV's Undressed, next gaining a supporting
role as Nell Bickford in The Education of Max Bickford.
Katee made her motion picture debut in My First Mister, and next appeared in film as
Jenna "Jen" Danzig in Halloween: Resurrection.
Sackhoff's most notable role is as Kara "Starbuck" Thrace in the miniseries and follow-up TV
series Battlestar Galactica, for which she won a Saturn Award in 2006 for Best Actress
on Television.
The actress's persona led the writers to develop the character of Starbuck as a more volatile
and complex character.
Galactica executive producer Ron Moore described her as having magnetism while producer David
Eick expanded stating: "We saw this whole other side that was all because of Katee:
vulnerability, insecurity, desperation.
We started freeing ourselves up to explore the weakness of the character, because we
knew Katee could express those things without compromising the character's strength."
Sackhoff said her performance was inspired by Linda Hamilton's portrayal of Sarah Connor
in Terminator 2: Judgment Day: "I think that was the one character that I kind of looked
to as far as body image and strength.
I think I looked to her character and said, 'OK, that's kind of what you need to embody.'"
Toward the end of the filming of Battlestar Galactica, Sackhoff began feeling physically
weak.
Soon after filming wrapped, she was diagnosed with thyroid cancer.
After surgery to remove her thyroid, she required no radiation treatments and by February 2009
was in remission.
In 2007, Sackhoff was cast as the evil cyborg Sarah Corvus in the short-lived NBC series
Bionic Woman.
David Eick, executive producer for the show, stated, "She's a very special find.
Those actors who can combine the qualities of strength and vulnerability—they usually
call those people movie stars."
Sackhoff plays the female lead in the action/sci-fi movie The Last Sentinel and the supernatural
thriller White Noise: The Light.
Sackhoff also appears as the main character in the Lifetime Original Movie How I Married
My High School Crush.
She has also made guest appearances in Cold Case, ER, Law & Order, and Robot Chicken.
Sackhoff provided the voice of a female marine in the video game Halo 3 and is also featured
in the viral marketing campaign for Resistance 2.
In 2011, she provided the voice for Black Cat 2099 in Spider-Man: Edge of Time.
She voiced Sarah Essen in the DC Comics animated film, Batman: Year One.
She appears in four episodes of the fifth season of the series Nip/Tuck playing a new
doctor, Dr. Theodora Rowe.
However, for the sixth season Sackhoff was later replaced by Rose McGowan for the role
due to scheduling conflicts.
Sackhoff headlined NBC's Dick Wolf-produced cop drama Lost and Found as Tessa, "an offbeat
female LAPD detective who, after butting heads with the higher-ups, is sent as a punishment
to the basement to work on John Doe and Jane Doe cases."
The pilot was filmed in January 2009.
NBC decided not to pick up the series.
In 2009, she appeared as herself in "The Vengeance Formulation" episode of the CBS situation
comedy The Big Bang Theory.
In the episode, she is fantasized as Howard Wolowitz's dream girl.
She appears again in season 4, in the same role.
Sackhoff appeared as a series regular in the eighth season of the TV series 24, playing
Dana Walsh, a CTU data analyst with a secret.
In February 2010, Sackhoff signed on to play the lead in an ABC crime drama pilot, Boston's
Finest.
ABC decided not to pick up the series.
Sackhoff is set to star in the action-werewolf thriller Growl.
She also made a special appearance in the Futurama episode "Lrrreconcilable Ndndifferences".
In the fall of 2010, Sackhoff joined the cast of CSI: Crime Scene Investigation as Detective
Reed, a smart investigator who does not do well with sensitivity.
In 2011, Sackhoff guest starred in an episode of Workaholics as a homeless drug addict named
Rachel.
Sackhoff co-stars as the lead female role in Longmire, an A&E television series based
on the novels by Craig Johnson.
Sackhoff plays Sheriff's Deputy Vic Moretti.
Sackhoff has been cast as Dahl, a mercenary hired to track down Vin Diesel's Riddick in
Riddick.
In August 2012, Katee became the co-host of the Schmoes Know Movies podcast on The Toadhop
Network.
One of her first shows was with guest Sean Astin.
Personal life Sackhoff is engaged to her boyfriend of seven
years, film producer Scott Niemeyer.
She co-founded the charity web site "Acting Outlaws" with former Battlestar Galactica
co-star Tricia Helfer.
Filmography Film
Television Video Games
Awards/Nominations References
External links Official website
Katee Sackhoff at the Internet Movie Database Katee Sackhoff at TVGuide.com
Tuned in Interview with Ronald D. Moore Katee Sackhoff interview at The Scifi World
Katee Sackhoff interview with AOL Canada