Tracy Dawn Scoggins is an American actress known for her roles as Monica Colby in the 1980s primetime soap opera Dynasty and its spin-off series The Colbys, Cat Grant in the first season of the 1993–1997 television series , and as Captain Elizabeth Lochley during the final season of Babylon 5 in 1998.
Early life
An only child, Scoggins is the daughter of John Scott Scoggins and Lou Cille Scoggins. Her father was a trial lawyer, and her mother graduated from law school and was a tennis champion. She attributes her own success to their influence. At the age of nine, Scoggins won a diving championship; by 13, she was accumulating swimming medals. At Dickinson High School, Scoggins was a cheerleader and an athlete, excelling in various sports such as gymnastics and diving. She graduated from Dickinson High School at age 16 and enrolled at Southwest Texas State University in 1970. As a student-athlete there, she was on the varsity gymnastics team and graduated with a bachelor's degree in physical education. While at Southwest Texas State, Scoggins nearly qualified for a spot on the 1980 Olympic diving team. After graduation, Scoggins briefly taught physical education before being recruited by John Casablancas of the Elite Model Management agency. Elite sent Scoggins to New York, where she worked for a year before a European modeling circuit that included Italy, Germany, and France. Scoggins returned to the United States and studied with the Herbert Berghof Studio and the Wynn Hanmann Studio in hopes of launching an acting career.
Career
Scoggins' first role was as a fake deputy sheriff in the fourth season Dukes of Hazzard episode "New Deputy in Town" in 1981; she then appeared in the TV movie Twirl. She was cast as a regular in the short-lived 1983 TV seriesRenegades. The following year, she was cast as a regular on the 1984 ABC television series Hawaiian Heat, which lasted 11 episodes. After guest roles in TV series such as Remington Steele, T. J. Hooker, Blue Thunder, and The A-Team, Scoggins had a role on the Dynasty spin-off series The Colbys, playing Monica Colby, the daughter of Charlton Heston's character. Following the cancellation of The Colbys after two seasons, Scoggins reprised the role in the final season of Dynasty. Scoggins landed recurring or short-term parts on TV series during the 1980s and 1990s, including the role of Cat Grant in Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman, Amanda Carpenter on ', Elizabeth Lochley on Babylon 5 and its two spin-offs Crusade and ', Cassandra in three episodes of ', Marie-Diane on The Secret Adventures of Jules Verne, and Anita Smithfield in two Dallas TV movies. This was not her first role in Dallas, as she had played a small part as another character in a 1983 episode. Scoggins appeared on a 1996 episode of Wings and in the ' episode "Destiny |Destiny"'. Scoggins starred in the 1992 straight-to-video production Demonic Toys. She was in the 1995 3DO game Snow Job. Alan Spencer cast Scoggins in a pilot for CBS called Galaxy Beat. The pilot did not sell. Spencer said that she is "one of the funniest people on Earth". In 2005, Scoggins landed a role as a main character, Grace Neville, on the gay supernatural series Dante's Cove. In 2006, she had a guest role in the fourth-season premiere of the TV showNip/Tuck, and returned to the role of Elizabeth Lochley in the direct-to-DVD production . Her recent television credits include NCIS and Castle.