TMNT's April

Background:

"You need to talk about sex with a sense of humor, especially because sex is a sensitive area for a lot of people. The other thing is that you may not want to tell the world everything you do in bed." Paige Turco.

A trained classical ballerina, Paige Turco switched to acting and got her first big break as TV news reporter April O'Neil in “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles II: The Secret of the Ooze” (1991) and “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles III” (1993). She has appeared in such shows as "The Guiding Light," "All My Children," "American Gothic," "NYPD Blue," "Party of Five," "The Agency," "Rescue Me," and currently plays Lisbeth, the ex-wife of Dylan McDermott's Duncan Collingsworth, on ABC's new drama series, "Big Shots."

Recently, Turco could be seen in true story-based football drama film "Invincible" (2006), as the wife of Greg Kinnear's Dick Vermeil, and in Andy Fickman's feature film "The Game Plan" (2007), alongside Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson.

More personally, the 5' actress who was romantically linked with John Meese in the mid 1990s, has been married to her "The Agency" co-star actor, Jason O'Mara, since 2003. They have one child together.

Classical Ballerina

Childhood and Family:

On May 17, 1965, Jean Paige Turco was born in Springfield, Massachusetts, to Joyce J. and David V. Turco. She attended the Walnut Hill School of the Performing Arts, Natick, Massachusetts, and performed as a soloist at the New England Dance Conservatory, the Amherst Ballet Theater Company and the Western Massachusetts Ballet Company. She once danced "The Nutcracker Suite" with The Berkshire Ballet.

Turco graduated with a Drama degree from the University of Connecticut. She decided to turn to acting and musical theater after suffering an ankle injury which terminated her career as a dancer.

On set of the TV series "The Agency" (2001), Turco met Irish actor Jason O'Mara (born on August 6, 1972). They married on September 19, 2003, and has one child together, a son named David (named in honour of her father, who died when she was less than one year old). The family splits their time between Los Angeles and New York and often visits relatives in Ireland.

The Agency

Career:

Initially trained to be a classical ballerina, Paige Turco broke her foot at age 14 during a rehearsal and was forced to end her dancing career and turn to acting. A drama student at the University of Connecticut, she appeared in such college productions as the musical comedies "You're A Good Man, Charlie Brown", "Annie" (based upon the popular Harold Gray comic strip "Little Orphan Annie"), and "A Day in Hollywood/A Night in the Ukraine"

After working in a summer theater, Turco landed her TV acting debut on the longest-running soap opera in television history, "Guiding Light" (CBS; 1952-Present), as Dinah Morgan Marler #2 (1987-1989), a troubled teen who is adopted by a wealthy woman. She then was featured on the ABC popular soap opera "All My Children," as the virginal ingenue Melanie 'Lanie' Cortlandt Rampal (1989-1991).

In 1991, Turco made her feature acting debut, the action/family film "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles II: The Secret of the Ooze." In the second "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles" film, she portrayed the female lead character of the resourceful TV news reporter April O'Neil, which also proved to be her first breakout film role. She later reprised the role in its following installment, the live-action “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles III” (1993).

Turco subsequently retreated to the small screen and made her primetime TV series debut on the short-lived (five weeks) NBC evening soap opera "Winnetka Road" (1994), playing a failed actress who returns to her hometown with her young son after her failed marriage. That same year, she also starred in two independent films, Conrad Janis' political drama/thriller "The Feminine Touch" (aka “November Conspiracy”), playing an ambitioned journalist and the girlfriend of Dirk Benedict's character, and John Feldman's drama "Dead Funny," in which she acted opposite Elizabeth Peña and Andrew McCarthy.

From 1995 to 1996, Turco became regular cast of the CBS supernatural drama series "American Gothic," as Gail Emory, a determined reporter who takes care of her cousin Caleb (played by Lucas Black) while trying to uncover the truth about her parents' mysterious death. Afterwards, she had a recurring role as a lesbian policewoman named Officer Abby Sullivan (1996-1997) who asks Det. Greg Medavoy (played by Gordon Clapp) to serve as sperm donor, on ABC long-running, Emmy-winning cop drama "NYPD Blue." She was also cast in a recurring role of alcoholic single mother Annie Mott (1997-1998) who falls for Scott Wolf's Bailey Salinger, on Fox's dramatic series "Party of Five."

Meanwhile, Turco was featured in the ensemble of Richard Schenkman's romantic comedy "The Pompatus of Love" (1996; with Jon Cryer, Mia Sara and Jennifer Tilly), playing Gina, the sister of Adam Oliensis' character who has an abusive husband, and delivered an effective performance as an unhappily married woman who plots the murder of her abusive husband (played by John Mese) in the festival-screened "Dark Tides" (1998). She also co-starred with Mara Hobel and Clancy Brown in Jeremy Workman's comedy movie "Claire Makes It Big" (1999).

Entering the new millennium, Turco had a lead role as the Greek cousin of Joe D'Onofrio's character, in Nick Efteriades' independent feature "Astoria" and appeared in a key subplot in the independent gay-themed drama film based on the play "Urban Folk Tales" and premiered at the 2000 Sundance Film Festival, "Urbania", playing a hard-nosed businesswoman opposite Dan Futterman. She also appeared in Christopher Goode's independent film "Dead Dog" with Jeremy Sisto and Emily Cline and in writer/director Bret Stern's based-on-book comedy movie "R2PC: Road to Park City." Additionally, she starred in ABC thriller "Runaway Virus," based on Malcolm Gladwell's magazine article "The Dead Zone," and supported Jared Padalecki in the made-for-TV movie "Silent Witness," as well as appeared in the pilot episode of CBS dramatic series "The Fugitive."

In 2001, Turco returned to primetime series work as co-star of the CBS fall drama that followed the inner-workings of the CIA, "The Agency" (2001-2003), in which she played rookie CIA recruit Terri Lowell, opposite future husband Jason O'Mara. During that time, she was spotted as a guest in an episode of NBC cop drama "Law & Order: Special Victims Unit" as well as appeared in the films "The Empath" (2002), an independent film by writer/director David Lowell Sonkin, and "Rhinoceros Eyes" (2003), a fantastical coming-of-age film by writer/director Aaron Woodley in which she played a detail-obsessed movie production designer who becomes the love interest of a young, reclusive prop-house employee (played by Michael Pitt).

After taking a three-year hiatus following her marriage to "The Agency" co-star Jason O'Mara, Turco returned in the pilot episode of the drama comedy series "Women in Law" and with a recurring role as science teacher Mrs. Nell Turbody (2006) on the FX Network's critically-praised drama "Rescue Me." She also played roles in the 2006 films "Waltzing Anna," Doug Bollinger and Bx Giongrete's comedy starring Betsy Palmer, "Invincible" (as the wife of Greg Kinnear's Dick Vermeil), Ericson Core's true story-based football drama starring Mark Wahlberg, and "The Favor," writer/director Eva S. Aridjis' drama starring Frank Wood as her old flame.

Recently, in 2007, Turco supported Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson in Andy Fickman's feature film, "The Game Plan." She currently plays Lisbeth, the ex-wife of Dylan McDermott's Duncan Collingsworth, on ABC's new drama series, "Big Shots."

As for her upcoming project, Turco is now filming an upcoming true story-based war drama TV movie titled "Taking Chance" (HBO), alongside Kevin Bacon.

Awards:
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