Lanei Chapman

Lanei Chapman is an American actress. She has appeared primarily in guest appearances on episodes of various television series, and may be best known for her role as Lt. Vanessa Damphousse in the single 1995–96 season of the series Space: Above and Beyond.

Career Chapman first appeared on television at the age of 13 in a Kentucky Fried Chicken commercial.

She made her debut in the series Space: Above and Beyond during the pilot episode, playing main cast character Lt. Vanessa Damphousse. By her own admission, the character did not have a great deal to do in that initial two-part episode, so much so that when she was required to audition, the lines she read were from a different character as they had not yet developed Damphousse. The writers took elements of Chapman's own experiences and backstory and wrote it into the new character's as they were developing her.

Personal life Chapman is a graduate of Dartmouth College with a degree in Spanish. She had originally chosen to major in drama, but switched part-way through after discovering the extent of the foreign language program at the college. She also wrote a short play while there, called Home Run, which she sent to actress Chip Fields to appear in and assist Chapman in directing. She is also a qualified teacher in California, and for a short time taught kindergarten until she chose to pursue acting full-time.

Filmography

Year Title Role Notes 1989 A Mother's Courage: The Mary Thomas Story Mary (16 years) 1990 China Beach Glitter episode "Souvenirs" 1992 The Importance of Being Earnest Cecily 1992 The Wonder Years Miss Shaw episode "Kodachrome" 1992 White Men Can't Jump Lanei 1992 Martin Caller #1 (voice) episode "Things I Do for Love" 1991–1992 Star Trek: The Next Generation Ensign Sariel Rager, a conn officer of the Enterprise-D Silently played the role in numerous episodes, only received an on-screen speaking credit in four episodes: episode "Schisms" episode "Relics" episode "Night Terrors" episode "Galaxy's Child" 1992 The Jacksons: An American Dream Katherine's sister, Hattie TV Mini Series 1993 Seinfeld Sid Fields' Housekeeper episode "The Pilot, Part 2" episode "The Old Man" 1993 The Secrets of Lake Success Melanie Jones 1995–1996 Space: Above and Beyond Lt. Vanessa Damphousse episode "...Tell Our Moms We Done Our Best" episode "And If They Lay Us Down To Rest..." episode "Sugar Dirt" episode "Stardust" episode "R&R" episode "Pearly" episode "Dear Earth" episode "Toy Soldiers" episode "The Angriest Angel" episode "Never No More" episode "Level of Necessity" episode "Who Monitors the Birds?" episode "The River of Stars" episode "Choice or Chance" episode "Hostile Visit" episode "The Enemy" episode "Eyes" episode "Ray Butts" episode "Mutiny" episode "Pilot" 1997 The Pretender Julie Thorton episode "Under the Reds" 1998 C-16: FBI Angela Robinson episode "My Brother's Keeper" episode "The Art of War" 2001 Rat Race Merrill Jennings 2001–2002 Judging Amy Winnie Van Exel episode "The Frozen Zone" episode "Between the Wanting and the Getting episode "Everybody Falls Down" 2002 The District Jenny McClure episode "Goodbye, Jenny" episode "Drug Money" 2002–2003 The Division Prosecutor, District Attorney episode "Wish You Were Here" episode "Beyond the Grave" 2004 Dense Yvette 2006 Thief Sheronda Jones episode "In the Wind" episode "No Direction Home" 2006 Grey's Anatomy Lianne Tressel episode "Sometimes a Fantasy"2009Lincoln HeightsPlainclothes police officer episode "Time to Let Go"