Claudia Lee Black (born in Sydney, New South Wales on October 11, 1972) is an Australian actress, best known for her portrayals of Aeryn Sun and Vala Mal Doran in the science fiction television series Farscape and Stargate SG-1 respectively.
Claudia Lee Black was born and raised in Sydney, Australia. She was educated at the Kambala Girls School, in Sydney. So far she spent most of her life abroad, partly in Europe and New Zealand.
Claudia has participated in Australian television and movies. She portrayed a hermaphrodite named Jill Mayhew in the Australian television series "Good Guys Bad Guys". She also had a leading role in the New Zealand soap opera City Life playing the role of Greek lawyer Angela Kostapas.
For her role in Farscape, Black was nominated Best Actress by Saturn Award in 2001 and 2002, and won the award in 2005. She has appeared in the feature films Queen of the Damned and Pitch Black. Black also appears as Vala Mal Doran in Stargate SG-1 as a regular cast member starting in season ten; she portrayed the same character in one season eight episode ("Prometheus Unbound") and eight season nine episodes. In 2004, she was voted "#7 Hottest Scifi Babe" by Scifi WorldNet.
In the fall 2007 NBC TV show "Life" Black was cast in the supporting role of Jennifer Conover for the initial pilot. Due to Claudia's second pregnancy, the part was recast and the role was given to actress Jennifer Siebel when the series was picked up. Interestingly, NBC still used footage of Black, and none of Siebel, when promoting the show's debut.
Popular at sci-fi conventions, Black showed her talent at singing and playing the guitar at the Farscape conventions.
Black has also appeared in theatre. She once played Portia in a tour of the Merchant of Venice. She has also had parts in "Spotlight On Women," "Portrait Of Dorian Gray," "Loose Ends," and "Pick Ups" for the Belvoir Street Theatre; "Little Women" and "The World Knot" for the Bicentennial Opera.
Black is also a professional singer of jazz and classical music and is often admired for her exotic speaking voice.
In order to film the mini-series Farscape: The Peacekeeper Wars, Black postponed her honeymoon in 2004.
According to an interview with TV Guide, Black gave birth to a boy in December 2005. She appears pregnant in the story arc of Stargate SG-1 beginning with the episode "Crusade". According to SG-1 co-star Michael Shanks, Black gave birth to her second son in November 2007.
