'Star Trek,' '24' Actress Dies After Two Decades on the Screen
Actress Annie Wersching, whose roles included major parts in the TV series “24” and “Star Trek: Picard,” has died at 45.
Wersching died of cancer, her publicist, Craig Schneider, said, according to The New York Times.
Wersching was diagnosed with cancer in 2020 but continued to work, according to Deadline.
Wersching was “a private person by nature, and the diagnosis made her even more so,” actress Ever Carradine wrote in a GoFundMe page she created for the family Wersching left behind.
“She wanted to protect her boys. She wanted to get better so she could continue working. And honestly, she just didn’t really want to talk about it. She wanted to live her life, on her terms, and be with her family,” she wrote.
Just found out my dear friend, Annie Wersching, passed away. We just lost a beautiful artist and human being. My heart is shattered. Thoughts are with her loved ones.
There’s a go fund me set up for her family: https://t.co/dhvk6uOvZV
— Neil Druckmann (@Neil_Druckmann) January 29, 2023
Actor Stephen Full, Wersching’s husband, said in a statement, “There is a cavernous hole in the soul of this family today. But she left us the tools to fill it. She found wonder in the simplest moment. She didn’t require music to dance. She taught us not to wait for adventure to find you. ‘Go find it. It’s everywhere.’ And find it we shall,” Deadline reported.
“As I drove our boys, the true loves of her life, down the winding driveway and street, she would yell BYE! until we were out of earshot and into the world. I can still hear it ringing. Bye my Buddie. ‘I love you little family.'”
We are sorry to report the passing of Star Trek Picard’s Borg Queen, the talented Annie Wersching. Her publicist has confirmed that she died of cancer today. pic.twitter.com/PWzYBQXJ7h
— TrekMovie.com (@TrekMovie) January 29, 2023
“My heart is broken in more pieces than I can count. Annie came into my world with an open heart and a contagious smile. Brandishing such talent, she took my breath away. Annie became more than a workmate, she became a real friend to me, my family and every cast and crew member that worked with her. She’ll be truly missed by them and the fans she always found time to interact with. Annie you’ll be missed, you left your mark, and we’re all the better for it,” said Jon Cassar, director and executive producer of “24.”
Wersching was born in St. Louis. In addition to her husband, she leaves behind three children: Freddie, Ozzie and Archie, according to the Times.
Writing in The Guardian, Stuart Heritage said Wersching was the kind of actress who was the backbone of show business.
“So broad was Wersching’s filmography that almost everyone will remember her best for something different. Fans of ‘The Vampire Diaries’ will know her as Lily Salvatore, the evil vampire who blew in during the later stages of the show in a flurry of stabbings, slapping and biting. She had a brief but important role in the Halle Berry sci-fi series ‘Extant,’ as a woman committed to ridding the world of advanced technology,” he wrote.
Heritage went on to list numerous other TV shows she had appeared on, including “‘CSI.’ An episode of ‘NCIS.’ ‘Blue Bloods.’ ‘Major Crimes.’ ‘Cold Case.’ ‘Rizzoli & Isles.’ The ‘Dallas’ reboot. The ‘Hawaii Five-O’ reboot.”
RIP Annie Wersching.
Renee Walker was one of the most fascinating characters in the 24 universe and Wersching & @RealKiefer were an all-time great duo. #AnnieWersching pic.twitter.com/WWz99zYFfG
— DJ Sixsmith (@DJ_Sixsmith) January 30, 2023
“There’s a lovely symmetry in the fact that Wersching’s screen career was bookended with ‘Star Trek’ projects. Her first role, in a 2002 episode of ‘Star Trek: Enterprise’ was nothing to write home about; in the season one episode Oasis, she played a small but pivotal function as a Kantare woman who maintains a holographic reality to protect the feelings of her grieving father,” he wrote.
“But her most recent role, in ‘Star Trek: Picard’ last year, was a lot meatier. Wersching played the Borg Queen and, under an impressive set of prostheses, threw the show’s entire narrative into new and ambitious territory.”
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