Jeri Lynn Ryan was born as Jeri Lynn Zimmermann on Feb. 22, 1968 in Munich, Germany. She has one brother.

Since she was a child, Jeri Ryan has allways been a commuter. Her dad, being in the military, was moved from base to base allowing Jeri to travel to places such as Kentucky and Hawaii. They finally settled down in Paducah, Kentucky to let Jeri and her brother get an education - and it sure pait off. Jeri later became National Merit Scholar with a GPA of 3.69. She then went to Northwestern University majoring in Speech.

It seems that the theatre was always something Jeri had an affinity for. One of her earlier roles was in Grade 5 when she played Gracie at the Bat. From there, she acted in other plays like "Cinderella", "Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs", "You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown", and "The Drunkard" during the mid-'80s.

After that, it was time to transfer to TV acting roles. Jeri landed parts in the shows "Melrose Place", "The Flash", "Time Trax", "Matlock", and "Murder, She Wrote" before getting picked by NBC to star in the doomed show Dark Skies. She was in seven episodes until the show was cancelled. Newertheless those appearances were good enough to help her get the part which most of us know her for - Seven of Nine in Star Trek: Voyager. Since she signed on in 1997, the show's rating improved. That was no surprise thanks to both her skin-tight costume and her wonderful acting ability.

Jeri also appeared in a variety of movies for television including "Nightmare in Colombia" and "In the Line of Duty: Ambush in Waco". Her feature film credits include the independent films "The Last Man" and "Men Cry Bullets".

After Voyager ended in 2001, J.R. joined "Boston Public" portraying a new teacher.