Amanda Tapping (born 28 August, 1965) is an English-born Canadian
actress and producer. Born in Rochford, Essex, England, she moved
with her family to Ontario, Canada when she was three years old.
She attended North Toronto Collegiate Institute where she excelled
in environmental science and drama. However, when she finished in
1984, she decided to focus her attention on drama when she attended
the University of Windsor School of Dramatic Arts in Windsor,
Ontario. As of 2004, Tapping lives with her husband, Alan Kovacs,
in Vancouver, British Columbia. She has one daughter, Olivia B.,
born on 22 March, 2005. Tapping has two living brothers, Richard
and Christopher. Chris is a fraternal twin, who works in Toronto as
a database administrator. A third brother, Steven, died in December
2006. After graduation Tapping continued to study theatrical arts
while performing in several stage productions. She appeared in
several television commercials and played a variety of roles in
television and film productions, such as The Outer Limits and The
X-Files. She also formed a comedy troupe, the "Random Acts", with
collaborators Katherine Jackson and Anne Marie Kerr, in Toronto in
the early 90s. In costume as Samantha Carter in Stargate: Continuum
Tapping is best known for her portrayal of Samantha Carter in the
science fiction television series Stargate SG-1, which debuted in
1997. After SG1 was canceled, Tapping reprised the role of Samantha
Carter on Stargate Atlantis as the new commander of the Atlantis
expedition.[4]. In season five however, Tapping's role on the show
was reduced to that of "special guest-star" with only occasional
appearances[5] due to Tapping choosing to focus her attention on
the development of a new series for the SCI FI Channel called
Sanctuary. The show consisted of 13 episodes which expanded on an
original show released on the internet in 2007 as a series of eight
"webisodes", where the bulk of the scenery and characters are
entirely green screen and CGI creations. Tapping serves as both
star and Executive Producer of the show. In 2007, Tapping won a
Canadian Comedy Award for Best Actress for her role in the short
film Breakdown