Chase Masterson (born Christianne Carafano on February 26, 1963)[1] is an American actress and singer.[2][3]

Chase Masterson
Chase Masterson c. 2012
Born
Christianne Carafano

(1963-02-26) February 26, 1963 (age 61)
Alma materUniversity of Texas at Austin (BFA)
Occupations
Known for
Musical career
GenresJazz, pop
Instrument(s)Vocals
Years active1983–present
LabelsLa-La Land, Helicon Arts Cooperative

Early life edit

Chase Masterson was born Christianne Carafano in Colorado Springs, Colorado. As her father was in the Army,[4] she grew up in several places,[5] among them West Haven, Connecticut[6] and three years in Germany.[4] Her family settled in El Paso, Texas when she was in the sixth grade.[5] Masterson graduated from the University of Texas[6] and has one child.[7]

Career edit

Acting edit

Masterson's first major role came in 1994 as Ivy Lief on General Hospital. She then spent five years portraying the Bajoran Dabo girl Leeta on Star Trek: Deep Space Nine from 1995 to 1999. Her prominent feature film roles include starring as a sultry singer in James Kerwin's sci-fi film noir Yesterday Was a Lie, which she also produced, and voicing Janice Em in the animated film Robotech: The Shadow Chronicles. Her television guest-starring roles include ER and Sliders; in the latter, her role was that of Kelly Welles, the sister of Wade Welles.

Masterson hosted an Entertainment Tonight-style news program for the Sci-Fi Channel in the 1990s called Sci-Fi Entertainment[8][7] and an Internet-based radio talk show for the website The Fandom in 2004–2005.

Since 2010, Masterson has reprised her role as Leeta from Deep Space Nine, both in hologram form and in her "mirror universe" guise, in Cryptic Studios' Star Trek Online.[9] After Masterson appeared in two Doctor Who audio adventures from Big Finish Productions, it was announced on October 19, 2012, that she would star in her own spin-off series, Vienna, as "impossibly glamorous bounty hunter" Vienna Salvatori.[10]

Masterson is voicing the title character "Auto" in monochrom's science fiction comedy film Je Suis Auto (release 2023). The film is a farcical comedy that deals with issues such as AI, politics of labor, and tech culture.[11][12][13]

Singer and live performer edit

 
Masterson at the Star Trek Convention, Las Vegas in 2011

Masterson has released two commercial records: 2011's Yesterday Was a Lie and 2012's Burned With Desire. In addition, she has released several independent jazz CDs: Thrill of the Chase, whose title is a play on her stage name, the follow-up EP AD ASTRA! (Latin for To the Stars!), the limited edition Crystal Anniversary: Songs from the Holosuite in honor of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine's fifteenth anniversary, and the "greatest hits" compilation Jazz Cocktail.

Masterson was special guest star at the 20th anniversary edition of cocktail robot festival Roboexotica in Vienna and performed a live jazz set for "robots and humans".[14][15]

Film producer edit

Masterson was named Best Feature Film Producer of 2008 by the LA Femme Film Festival for her work as producer of the mystery/drama Yesterday Was a Lie.[16]

Advocacy edit

In 2013, Masterson, who experienced bullying herself while in school, co-founded the Pop Culture Hero Coalition, a non-profit organization speaking out against "bullying, racism, misogyny, cyber-bullying, LGBT-bullying, and other forms of hate."[17][5][6]

Public image edit

 
Masterson at the Florida Supercon in 2016

In 2004, as a result of her genre work, Masterson was named one of the world's "50 Sexiest Women" by the men's magazine Femme Fatales,[18] and the "Favorite Science Fiction Actress on Television" in a TV Guide reader's poll.[19] In December 2009, AOL named her one of the "Ten Sexiest Aliens on TV", reporting that Masterson is "regularly voted the most popular guest at Star Trek conventions."[20]

Lawsuit against Matchmaker.com edit

Following a series of stalking incidents instigated by a man in Berlin, Masterson – under her birth name of Christianne Carafano – was the petitioner in Carafano v. Metrosplash.com, an online dating service, formerly Matchmaker.com, on which the man had created a fictitious dating profile that contained Masterson's home address, telephone number, four photographs of her, and a description of her that characterized her as licentious. As a result, she received a series of unwanted communications, including obscene telephone calls. When the matter was brought to the attention of Matchmaker.com, that service refused to remove the profile. Masterson then sued Matchmaker.com for defamation, invasion of privacy, misappropriation of the right of publicity and negligence. The United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit ruled against Masterson, deciding the man who created the profile was responsible for it, and not Matchmaker.com. The court cited Communications Decency Act, which states that "No provider or user of an interactive computer service shall be treated as the publisher or speaker of any information provided by another information content provider."[21]

Discography edit

Filmography edit

Television
Year Title Role Notes
1994 General Hospital Ivy Lief Unknown episodes
1995-1999 Star Trek: Deep Space Nine Leeta Recurring character; 17 episodes
1995 ER Mrs. Phillips 1 episode, "Hell and High Water"
Live Shot Sheila Rydell 3 episodes
1996 Sliders Kelly Welles 1 episode
1999 Acapulco H.E.A.T. Gwen 1 episode
2002 Presidio Med Caroline Franklin 1 episode
2015 The Flash Sherry 1 episode
2019 Pandora Computer (Voice) 9 episodes
Films
Year Title Role Notes
1984 Songwriter Girl in bed credited as Christie Carafano
1985 Confessions of a Serial Killer Prostitute
1993 Robin Hood: Men in Tights Giggling Court Lady
1995 Digital Man Susie
1997 Ballerina Finale Lori
1998 Sometimes They Come Back... for More Major Callie O’Grady
1999 Sammyville Miranda Clark
2000 The Specials Moira Murphy
2001 Lightning: Fire from the Sky Anna
2002 Terminal Invasion Cathy Garrett
2004 Comic Book: The Movie Herself
Creature Unknown Kat
2005 Take Out Nicole Blu
2006 Manticore Ashley Pierce
Chastity Madam
2007 Through Your Eyes Herself
2008 Yesterday Was a Lie Singer
2008 Star Trek: Of Gods and Men Xela
2011 The Truth Is Out There Herself
2013 The Search for Simon The Publisher
R.U.R.: Genesis Sulla
2016 Star Trek: Captain Pike Lieutenant Susan Kelly
2019 Manipulated Karen Jones
2020 Unbelievable!!!!! Captain Connie Garrison / Natasha
2021 Skipping Stones Mrs. McDowell Post-production
TBA Je Suis Auto Auto
Tempest: An Angels Wrath Dr. Angel Conch
The Inspector Chronicles Annabelle Wagner Announced
Voice Artist
Year Title Role
2007 Robotech: The Shadow Chronicles Janice (animated feature film)
2009 Fist of the North Star: The Shin Saga Mamiya (animated direct-to-video movie)
2009-2010 Starship Farragut – The Animated Episodes Carmen Renata / Sheila Johnson / Medical Assistant
2010 Star Trek Online Leeta/Empress Leeta (MMORPG)
2011 Lun Lun the Flower Girl Various Characters (anime TV movie)
Lun Lun the Flower Girl 2
Fist of the North Star: The Ray Saga Mamiya (animated direct-to-video movie)
Fist of the North Star: The Souther Saga
Fist of the North Star: The Toki Saga
Starzinger Queen Lacet (anime TV series)
2012 Doctor Who: The Shadow Heart[22] Vienna Salvatori (audio drama)
Doctor Who: Night of the Stormcrow[23] Peggy Brooks (audio drama)
2013–2017 Vienna Vienna Salvatori (audio drama series)
2014–2015 Survivors Maddie Price (audio drama)
2015 The Worlds of Big Finish[24] Vienna Salvatori (audio drama)
2021 Master![25]
2023 Star Trek: Lower Decks [26] Leeta (voice)

Source:[citation needed]

References edit

  1. ^ "DS9 Things You Should Know About Chase Masterson:Age". Retrieved April 28, 2019.
  2. ^ "Chase Masterson Filmography". Fandango. Retrieved September 27, 2017.
  3. ^ Riggs, Thomas (ed.) Contemporary Theatre, Film and Television vol. 93 Gale Group, July 1, 2009
  4. ^ a b Trek Stars Open Destination Star Trek Germany. startrek.com, April 27, 2018
  5. ^ a b c Tramel, Jimmie (October 11, 2017). "All dressed up, somewhere to go: Actress Chase Masterson talks 'Star Trek,' antibullying ahead of Tulsa stop". Tulsa World. Archived from the original on October 11, 2017.
  6. ^ a b c "'Star Trek' actress to return home to West Haven to talk about bullying". New Haven Register. January 8, 2016.
  7. ^ a b Ruteshouser, E. Cristy (March 22, 1998). "An Interview with Chase Masterson". Activate!. Archived from the original on May 14, 2019. Retrieved May 24, 2021.
  8. ^ "About Chase". chasemasterson.com. Retrieved September 30, 2013.
  9. ^ "Chase Masterson Features In Star Trek Online". Star Trek Online. July 29, 2010.
  10. ^ "Star Trek: Deep Space Nine Star Gets Her Own Audio Series!". Big Finish Productions.
  11. ^ Dax, Patrick (November 20, 2018). "Star Trek Schauspielerin in Wien". Futurezone. Retrieved November 23, 2018.
  12. ^ "Je Suis Auto". Retrieved November 23, 2018.
  13. ^ "FM4 Morning Show of November 24, 2018". FM4. ORF. Archived from the original on November 26, 2018. Retrieved November 26, 2018.
  14. ^ "Cocktail". vienna.at. November 20, 2018. Retrieved November 23, 2018.
  15. ^ Sagan, Sonja. "OTS0037, Roboexotica 2018 - Das Festival für Cocktailrobotik mit Star Trek Ehrengast Chase Masterson". ots.at. Retrieved November 23, 2018.
  16. ^ "2008 LA FEMME FILMMAKER AWARDS". "Filmmaker Winners 2012-2005". La Femme Film Festival. Retrieved September 30, 2013.
  17. ^ Wickline, Dan. "Chase Masterson Stands Up To Bullying And Hate – Brings Message To New Jersey Comic Expo" Bleeding Cool. November 19, 2015. Retrieved November 27, 2015.
  18. ^ "50 Sexiest Women of the Year". Femme Fatales. 12. January 2004.
  19. ^ UT Austin guest lecturer biography Archived 2010-06-20 at the Wayback Machine
  20. ^ "Ten Sexiest Aliens on TV". AOL Television. Archived from the original on July 24, 2011. Retrieved October 27, 2010.
  21. ^ "Christianne Carafano v. Metrosplash.com, Inc., et al." 339 F.3d 1119 (United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit). August 13, 2003. Internet Law Library. Retrieved September 27, 2017.
  22. ^ "167. The Shadow Heart - Doctor Who". Big Finish Productions.
  23. ^ "XI. Night of the Stormcrow - Doctor Who". Big Finish Productions.
  24. ^ "The Worlds of Big Finish - Big Finish Special Releases - Big Finish". www.bigfinish.com. Retrieved August 11, 2020.
  25. ^ "Master! - The Worlds of Doctor Who - Special Releases - Big Finish". www.bigfinish.com. Retrieved August 11, 2020.
  26. ^ Robertson, Iain. "Early Review: 'Star Trek: Lower Decks' Season 4 Levels Up But Keeps The Laughs". TrekMovie.com. Retrieved September 1, 2023.

External links edit