 
Ryan, a self-admitted Army brat, grew up near bases
ranging from Germany to Hawaii. She was born in Munich, Germany and after
re-locating to bases in Kansas, Maryland, Georgia and Texas, her family
settled down in Paducah, Kentucky when she was 11. After graduating from
Northwestern University in Chicago as a National Merit Scholar with a B.S.
in theater, she came to Los Angeles.
As a former series regular on NBC's Dark Skies,
Ryan is no stranger to the world of science fiction. She portrayed Juliet, a
mysterious government agent who helped in a secret program against hostile
extraterrestrials. Prior to landing that role, she guest-starred on several
television series including Matlock, Who's the Boss?,
Murder, She Wrote, Reasonable Doubts and Diagnosis Murder.
Additionally, Ryan appeared in two episodes of Melrose Place, as a
lesbian soap opera actress who endured a staged marriage to a gay bridegroom.
Ryan's television experience also includes roles in
a variety of telefilms including "Coed Call Girl," "Nightmare in Columbia
County," NBC's "In the Line of Duty: Ambush in Waco" and UPN's The
Sentinel. Her feature film credits include the independent films "The
Last Man" and "Men Cry Bullets." Jeri was also seen in the Wes Craven film "Dracula
2000."
In 2001 when Voyager wrapped its final
season, television producer David E. Kelley decided he wanted Ryan in his
Fox drama Boston Public, and created a new character specifically for
her. So without missing a beat she stepped into the role of "Ronnie Cooke,"
a wealthy lawyer who becomes a high school teacher, starting in the fall of
2001. It was quite a challenge going from the staid Seven of Nine to the
emotional Ronnie. "It's sort of one end of the spectrum to the other," she
said at a press tour. But, "This is why you become an actor, to play vastly
different characters. And it's really exciting for me."
She soon moved on from one Boston show to another.
When Boston Public concluded in 2004, she took recurring roles on
Two and a Half Men and The O.C., and then she got to act
alongside William Shatner and Rene Auberjonois in two episodes of Boston
Legal which concluded its season 2 in 2006. Immediately after that she
landed a principal role in CBS' Shark, playing "Jessica Devlin," an
L.A. district attorney and personal nemesis to James Woods' character.
Shark was the most-watched new drama of 2006-07, and one of the few new
shows to survive into a second season.
While promoting Shark before its first
season in 2006, Ryan announced her engagement to Christophe Eme, a French
chef with whom she runs the restaurant Ortolan in West Hollywood. Ryan
described the proposal thusly: "He brought me home, covered my eyes and took
me up to the bedroom. He had candles lit everywhere and champagne on ice. He
had gotten this huge canvas and painted it with words that said in French
'And you come with me forever.'" Eme also put a photograph of themselves at
the bottom of the canvas with the words "Toi et Moi" ("You and Me").
The couple held their nuptials in the Loire Valley
of France on June 16, 2007, near Eme's hometown. The wedding was held at a
15th-century castle known as Chateau de Noirieux near Angers. The bride wore
a Vera Wang gown, and 120 guests attended the ceremony, including Ryan's son
Alex (who was 12 at the time) from her first marriage to investment banker
and politician Jack Ryan.
Jeri and Christophe are currently expecting a child,
due in March 2008. |
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