- Marsha Thomason
-
Marsha Thomason Born Marsha Lisa Thomason
19 January 1976
Moston, Manchester, EnglandOccupation Actress Years active 1993–present Spouse Craig Sykes (2009-present) Marsha Lisa Thomason (born 19 January 1976) is an English actress, who is known in the United States for playing Nessa Holt in the first two seasons of the NBC series Las Vegas, for her recurring role on ABC's Lost as Naomi Dorrit, and for playing FBI agent Diana Berrigan on USA Network's White Collar.
Contents
Early life
Thomason was born in Moston, Manchester, the daughter of Phyllis (née McCrae), a Jamaican electronics company employee and Peter Thomason, who worked in politics.[1] She attended Holy Trinity Primary School in Blackley, and North Manchester High School for Girls, before attending Oldham Sixth Form College to study for A levels in Media Studies, Theatre Studies and Performing Arts. Thomason attended the Manchester Metropolitan University, receiving a Bachelor of Arts degree in English. From the age of 13, Marsha attended Oldham Theatre Workshop where she was able to participate within youth theatre productions which would later contribute in her confidence towards becoming an aspiring professional actress.
Career
Thomason first came to prominence on British television in the series Playing the Field and Where The Heart Is, as well as in the first series of the BBC Three drama Burn It. In the U.S., she appeared in Disney's The Haunted Mansion, playing Eddie Murphy's wife. She played Brandy in the movie My Baby's Daddy, and played Victoria in Black Knight. She also played Vicki in Pure. She starred in the US television series Las Vegas as Nessa Holt in seasons 1 and 2, a total of 47 episodes.
On 21 October 2004 she was a guest on the radio show Loveline. In January 2008 she appeared in Messiah V: The Rapture, alongside Marc Warren. In August 2008 Thomason was cast as a series regular in the CW show Easy Money.[2]
In 2009 Thomason appeared on General Hospital; her first appearance was 20 November.[3] After appearing in the pilot episode for White Collar as agent Diana Berrigan, she returned for the first season finale. It was announced that she would appear on the series full time in the second season.[4][5] She will be the new voice of Diana in Hitman: Absolution.
Lost
Thomason was a recurring character on the television show Lost as Naomi Dorrit. Being a friend of Dominic Monaghan (who played Charlie Pace on the series), she was a huge fan of the show and excited to be cast. She also found the lack of character transparency to be refreshing: "That’s kind of difficult as an actor, but also freeing in a way, because you just have to play the scenes as they’re written. And then if you find out if you’re a big villain or whatever, then you play that... You know when that worked really brilliantly? On 24 with Nina Myers. She didn’t have a clue – Sarah Clarke, the actress – and that made it really brilliant, because she played Nina honestly. Really honestly. And then she was a villain. Genius. That was such a great one."[6]
She first appeared in the third season episode "Catch-22," which aired on 18 April 2007, and continued to appear until the season finale "Through the Looking Glass". She next appeared in "The Beginning of the End" and in the season 5, episode 13, "Some Like it Hoth".
Personal life
On 5 April 2009 Thomason married Craig Sykes, a lighting technician, in Malibu, California.[7]
Thomason is an avid supporter of Manchester City Football Club.[8]
Filmography
Year Title Role Notes 1993 Safe Wendy TV Movie 1994 Priest Nurse 1996 Prime Suspect 5: Errors of Judgment Janice Lafferty Brazen Hussies Stripper with fire TV Movie 2001 Swallow Tina Harford TV Movie Black Knight Chambermaid Number 7 / Victoria the Chambermaid / Nicole 2002 Long Time Dead Lucy Pure Vicki 2003 The Haunted Mansion Sara Evers / Elizabeth Henshaw 2004 My Baby's Daddy Brandy 2005 The Nickel Children Beatrice 2006 The Package Melissa Short film Caffeine Rachel The Fast One Lucy Comedic short The Tripper Linda Tug of War Sam Comedic short 2007 LA Blues Carla 2008 Messiah V: The Rapture Mel Palmer TV Movie 2009 Into the Blue 2: The Reef Azra Film Television
Year Title Role Notes 1996 Prime Suspect 1 Episode: Prime Suspect 5: Errors of Judgement 1997 Pie in the Sky Sally 8 Episodes 1998 Playing the Field Sharon 'Shazza' Pearce Where the Heart Is Jacqui Richards 3 Episodes: "The Final Curtain", "The Healing Game" & "Fresh" 1999 Love in the 21st Century Louise Episode: "Threesome" 2001 Table 12 Denie Episode: "Guess Who's Not Coming to Dinner" 2003 Burn It Tina 2003–2005 Las Vegas Nessa Holt Seasons 1-2 (Main cast: 47 Episodes) 2007 Cane Miranda Sanfilipino Episode: "Family Business" 2007–2010 Lost Naomi Dorritt 12 Episodes 2008 Life Jill Abrahams Episode: "The Business of Miracles" 2008 Easy Money Julia Miller series regular 2009–2010 Make It or Break It MJ Martin 6 Episodes 2009–present White Collar Diana Berrigan Season 1 (2 episodes: Pilot, Finale); Season 2+ (Main Cast)[4] 2009 General Hospital Gillian Carlyle 2009 2011 2 Broke Girls Cashandra Episodes: "And Hoarder Culture", "And The Really Petty Cash" References
- ^ http://www.filmreference.com/film/15/Marsha-Thomason.html
- ^ "Exclusive: Lost's Naomi Finds Easy Money". TV Guide. http://community.tvguide.com/blog-entry/TVGuide-News-Blog/Todays-News/Casting-News-Easy/800044388.
- ^ http://www.soapoperadigest.com/news/breaking/
- ^ a b Ausiello, Michael (2010-02-12). "White Collar Promotes Marsha Thomason". ew.com. http://ausiellofiles.ew.com/2010/02/11/white-collar-marsha-thomason-series-regular/. Retrieved 2010-02-12.
- ^ Andreeva, Nellie (2010-03-14). "Three solidify cable series roles". The Hollywood Reporter. http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/three-solidify-cable-series-roles-21615. Retrieved 2010-06-23.
- ^ "'Lost's Marsha Thomason Interview". Digital Spy. http://www.digitalspy.co.uk/cult/a46737/losts-marsha-thomason-interview.html.
- ^ Heldman, Breanne (2009-04-06). "Lost Actress Marsha Thomason Finds a Husband". E! Online. http://www.eonline.com/uberblog/b107954_lost_actress_marsha_thomason_finds.html. Retrieved 2011-04-26.
- ^ "twitter.com/Marsha Thomason". http://twitter.com/#!/Marsha_Thomason/status/23875606017. Retrieved 2011-04-26.
External links
Categories:- 1976 births
- Actors from Manchester
- Alumni of Manchester Metropolitan University
- Black British actors
- British actors
- British expatriates in the United States
- English actors
- English film actors
- English people of Jamaican descent
- English television actors
- Living people
- People from Moston
Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.
