Jean Paige Turco (born May 17, 1965) is an American actress, who portrayed April O'Neil in Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles II: The Secret of the Ooze and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles III.[4] Other roles include Dinah Marler on daytime’s Guiding Light on CBS, Melanie Cortlandt on the ABC soap opera All My Children, Terri Lowell in the CBS series The Agency, Gail Emory in the CBS series American Gothic and appearances in NYPD Blue, Party of Five and Person of Interest. From 2014 to 2019 she starred as Abigail Griffin in the post-apocalyptic drama series, The 100.

Paige Turco
Born
Jean Paige Turco[1]

(1965-05-17) May 17, 1965 (age 59)[2][3]
OccupationActress
Years active1987–present
Spouse
(m. 2003; div. 2017)
Children1

Early life

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Turco was born to Joyce Jean (Jodoin) and David Vincent Turco[5] in Boston, Massachusetts. At one year old her mother moved them to Springfield, Massachusetts where she was raised, after the death of her father. She is of Italian, French-Canadian and English ancestry.[6] She took ballet lessons as a little girl and planned to become a classical ballerina. She attended the Walnut Hill School in Natick, Massachusetts graduating in 1983[7] and performed as a soloist at the New England Dance Conservatory, the Amherst Ballet Theatre Company, and the Western Massachusetts Ballet Company. An ankle injury ended the possibility of professional ballet. She remarked later, "I couldn't even go to the ballet anymore. It was too painful." Turco graduated from Bay Path College in Longmeadow, Massachusetts (1987) and majored in drama at the University of Connecticut.[1]

Career

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Turco made her television acting debut in 1987, on the CBS soap opera Guiding Light as Dinah Marler, and appeared on the soap opera All My Children as Melanie Cortlandt. She replaced Judith Hoag in the role of April O'Neil in Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles II: The Secret of the Ooze (1991) and later in Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles III (1993).[1] She then starred in a number of small films and returned to TV with a role in the short-lived 1994 NBC primetime soap, Winnetka Road, opposite Catherine Hicks. The following season, Turco starred in another short-lived series, CBS's cult classic American Gothic. She later had recurring roles in NYPD Blue as Officer Abby Sullivan and on Party of Five as Annie Mott, a single mother who is also a recovering alcoholic. She also played the romantic interest of real-life husband Jason O'Mara in Episode 15 of Life on Mars.

Turco starred in the CBS drama series The Agency as graphic artist Terri Lowell, from 2001 to 2003. She had a recurring role in the third season of Rescue Me as science teacher Mrs. Nell Turbody, and in 2007 was a regular cast member in the ABC series Big Shots, portraying Lisbeth, the ex-wife of Dylan McDermott's character, Duncan Collinsworth, a cosmetics company CEO. Turco also appeared in the 2006 film Invincible, playing Carol Vermeil, the wife of Dick Vermeil, and also costarred in the Walt Disney picture The Game Plan (2007). She appeared in multiple episodes of Damages, and guest-starred on The Good Wife, Blue Bloods, and Law & Order: Special Victims Unit.[8] She also appeared in a recurring role on Person of Interest as Zoe Morgan.

In March 2014, Turco began starring as a series regular in The CW post-apocalyptic drama series, The 100.[9] In the same year, she also was cast as the lead character's wife in CBS's NCIS: New Orleans.[10]

Personal life

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Turco is Roman Catholic.[11] She married Irish actor Jason O'Mara in 2003 and they have one child together,[1] David (born in February 2004; named in honor of Turco's father, who died when she was an infant). On June 19, 2017, the couple announced that they had separated on May 1, 2017, and that Turco had filed for divorce.[12] [13]

Filmography

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Film

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Year Title Role Notes
1991 Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles II: The Secret of the Ooze April O'Neil
1993 Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles III April O'Neil
1994 Dead Funny Louise
1995 The Feminine Touch Jennifer Barron Direct-to-video
The Pompatus of Love Gina
1996 Vibrations Lisa Direct-to-video
1998 Dark Tides Sara
1999 Claire Makes It Big Bronwyn Short film
2000 R2PC: Road to Park City Herself
Urbania Cassandra
Astoria Elena
2001 Dead Dog Perri
2003 Rhinoceros Eyes Fran
2006 Waltzing Anna Barbara Rhoades
Invincible Carol Vermeil
2007 The Game Plan Karen Kelly
The Favor Caroline
2009 The Stepfather Jackie Kerns
2010 The Secrets of the Mountain Dana James
2020 Books of Blood Nicole

Television

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Year Title Role Notes
1987–1989 Guiding Light Dinah Chamberlain Regular role; 36 Episodes
1989–1991 All My Children Melanie 'Lanie' Cortlandt Rampal Regular role; 80 Episodes
1994 Winnetka Road Terry Mears Main role; 6 Episodes
1995–1996 American Gothic Gail Emory Main role; 19 Episodes
1996–1997 NYPD Blue Officer Abby Sullivan Recurring role (season 4,5); 10 episodes
1997–1998 Party of Five Annie Mott Recurring role (season 4); 18 episodes
2000 Runaway Virus Jenny Blanchard Television film
The Fugitive Laura Chereaux Episode: "Pilot"
2001 Law & Order: Special Victims Unit Pam Adler Episode: "Ridicule"
2001–2003 The Agency Terri Lowell Main role; 45 Episodes
2006 Women in Law Carolyn Fordham Episode: "Pilot"
Rescue Me Nell Turbody 4 episodes
2007–2008 Big Shots Lisbeth Hill Main role; 11 Episodes
2009 Taking Chance Stacey Strobl Television film
Life on Mars Colleen McManus Episode: "All the Young Dudes"
Damages Christine Purcell Recurring role; 6 episodes
2010 Secrets of the Mountain Dana James Television film
The Good Wife Caroline Wilder Episode: "Unplugged"
2011 Blue Bloods Detective Ryan Episode: "My Funny Valentine"
Law & Order: Special Victims Unit Kathleen Raines Episode: "Blood Brothers"
2011–2016 Person of Interest Zoe Morgan Recurring role; 9 episodes
2014–2019 The 100 Dr. Abigail Griffin / Simone Lightbourne VII / The Judge Main role (seasons 1–6); special appearance (season 7); 64 episodes
2014 NCIS Linda Pride Episode: "Crescent City"
2014–2020 NCIS: New Orleans Linda Pride 2 episodes
2018 Separated at Birth Elizabeth Marshall Television film

References

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  1. ^ a b c d "Paige Turco Biography". TV Guide. Retrieved March 1, 2014.
  2. ^ Rose, Mike (May 17, 2019). "Today's famous birthdays list for May 17, 2019 includes celebrity Bob Saget". cleveland.com. Retrieved April 25, 2024.
  3. ^ Legge, Lisa (May 17, 2016). "Famous birthdays May 17; 'We Live Here, You Don't' (aka '90210') ends". Pioneer Press. Retrieved April 25, 2024.
  4. ^ King, Susan (March 30, 1991). "Paige Turco Moves From a Soap to Become the Ninja Turtles' Friend". The Los Angeles Times. Retrieved April 19, 2022.
  5. ^ "Miss Joyce Jean Jodoin Is Bride of David V. Turco". The Boston Globe, August 9, 1964
  6. ^ "BIOGRAPHY". Retrieved January 1, 2017.
  7. ^ "Walnuts in the World - Walnut Hill School for the Arts". www.walnuthillarts.org. Archived from the original on March 19, 2016. Retrieved August 9, 2022.
  8. ^ "Paige Turco to Guest-Star on Blue Bloods". TV Guide. Retrieved April 19, 2022.
  9. ^ Mitovich, Matt Webb (March 8, 2013). "Pilot News: Paige Turco, Once Princess, Oz Alum and Leslie Bibb Among the Latest Castings". TVLine. Retrieved March 1, 2014.
  10. ^ Andreeva, Nellie (February 18, 2014). "Malcolm Barrett, Jonathan Slavin In 'Mission Control'; Paige Turco In 'NCIS' Spinoff". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved April 19, 2022.
  11. ^ Matranga, Stuart. "Paige Turco Interview from Stuff Magazine 2003". Stuff Magazine. Retrieved March 21, 2007.
  12. ^ "Paige Turco filed for divorce from Jason O'Mara". Celebretainment. June 19, 2017. Retrieved July 26, 2017.
  13. ^ "Paige Turco files for divorce from Jason O'Mara". Brampton Guardian. June 19, 2017.
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