Jeri Ryan's Real Name: Jeri Lynn Zimmerman

Quick answer: She is known as Jeri Ryan, but StarTrek.com, TV Insider, and TV Guide all give her birth name as Jeri Lynn Zimmerman. TV Insider and TV Guide list her birthplace as Munich, Bavaria, Germany, and TV Insider gives her birth date as February 22, 1968. A Library of Congress record confirms the same date. Ryan is the surname of her first husband, Jack Ryan, according to StarTrek.com.

Real name and early life

StarTrek.com says Jeri Lynn Zimmerman was born in Munich and considered herself "a true Army brat": her father served overseas, and she grew up on military bases in the United States and Germany. TV Guide says she was a National Merit Scholar in high school.

She attended Northwestern University in Chicago, and StarTrek.com says she entered beauty pageants to help cover the cost. As Miss Illinois she placed fourth in the 1990 Miss America pageant, a result TV Insider and TV Guide both confirm.

Career highlights

TV Insider says she quickly built up guest credits on many shows before finding firmer footing on the NBC UFO conspiracy drama Dark Skies (1996–97). That role led her into science fiction. She joined Star Trek: Voyager as Seven of Nine, a former Borg drone recovering her humanity. TV Insider says the UPN role won her a Saturn Award and a huge fan following, and that she gave the character real heart.

StarTrek.com says she did not want the part at first. An audition scene in which Seven remembers laughing as a child, before her assimilation, changed her mind and led her to push hard for the role. She told CNET her favorite episodes were the ones "where Seven got to explore her humanity," including "Someone to Watch Over Me."

TV Guide lists a 1999 Golden Satellite Award win and Saturn Awards in 2001 and 2024, along with several other nominations. She voiced Seven again in 2014 for Star Trek Online's Delta Rising expansion. TV Insider's credit list includes her return to the character on Star Trek: Picard.

Away from Star Trek, StarTrek.com notes the medical drama Body of Proof, which she was filming in 2011, plus the series Bosch and a recurring role as attorney Linda Rothman on Major Crimes. TV Insider describes her as most often cast as "powerful, authoritative women." TV Guide notes her support for the charity GLSEN.

Name notes for searchers

Zimmerman is her birth surname and Lynn her middle name. She has kept Ryan, from her first marriage, as her professional name. StarTrek.com says she is now married to chef and restaurateur Christophe Eme. Some databases spell the surname Zimmermann with a double n; the sources cited here use one n.