Denise Michelle Crosby (born November 24, 1957)^[3] is an American actress and model known for portraying Security Chief Tasha Yar mainly in season one of Star Trek: The Next Generation, and Yar's daughter, the half-Romulan Commander Sela, in subsequent seasons. She is also known for her numerous film and television roles, and for starring in and producing the film Trekkies.

Denise Michelle Crosby was born in Hollywood, California, the daughter of Marilyn Scott and actor Dennis Crosby, after whom she was named. Crosby's paternal grandfather was the famed singer and actor Bing Crosby. Crosby was born out of wedlock, and Crosby's parents went through a highly publicized, three-year-long lawsuit her father had brought to cancel the $80 per week he was paying Crosby's mother for child support. Crosby's mother won the lawsuit and Dennis was ordered to continue paying child support and legal fees. The lawsuit deeply embarrassed Dennis and Bing Crosby, whom Crosby never met even though she was 19 when he died.^[4]

Crosby graduated in 1975 from Hollywood High School, followed by Cabrillo College, where she studied theater. She dropped out of college after she was interviewed by a local paper and revealed her famous family background: "One of the drama teachers used the story to illustrate to the class that this crap is what Hollywood's all about, using people's names to get somewhere. I was very, very hurt by it. So I just checked out." She started modeling and, in 1979, posed nude for the March issue of Playboy magazine, which she called "some kind of rebellion on my part, some way of saying screw you to the family image".^[5]

Crosby's choice of career solidified at an early age and was influenced by her grandfather Bing Crosby and her father Dennis Crosby. Crosby's first high-profile role was as Lisa Davis on the soap opera Days of Our Lives. She has appeared as Dr. Gretchen Kelly in three episodes of Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman, and as a sheriff on The Adventures of Brisco County, Jr. episode "No Man's Land".

In the early 1990s, she played the role of the mayor in the short-lived series Key West. She also appeared in two episodes of the cable television series Red Shoe Diaries, playing a different character in each episode. Crosby had a small recurring role in Aaron Spelling's primetime drama, Models Inc, a spin-off from Melrose Place. She was a guest star on the eighth season of The X-Files for two episodes, in which she plays a doctor who examined Agent Scully's baby. In 1991, she was a guest star in "The Deadly Nightshade", a first-season The Flash episode as Dr. Rebecca Frost.

In 2001, Crosby appeared in two episodes of NYPD Blue as the abrasive Lieutenant Susan Dalto. In 2006, she was a guest star in "Popping Cherry", the third episode of the first season of Dexter, appearing via flashback as Dexter Morgan's first victim. Crosby had a recurring role in Southland as Detective Dan "Sal" Salinger's wife.

One of her first film appearances was in the 1982 Nick Nolte/Eddie Murphy film 48 Hrs. This was followed by a small role in the 1982 film Trail of the Pink Panther, which she reprised in the sequel Curse of the Pink Panther. In 1985, Crosby appeared in the music videos for Chris Isaak's song "Dancin'" and Michael McDonald's song "No Lookin' Back". In 1986, she appeared in the music video for Black Sabbath's song "No Stranger to Love". In the same year, she played a robotics engineer, Nora Hunter, in the science-fiction movie Eliminators. She starred in Stephen King's Pet Sematary, played the lead role in Dolly Dearest in 1991, and also appeared in Deep Impact and Quentin Tarantino's Jackie Brown. Her other film roles included the 2002 Western horror film Legend of the Phantom Rider, and the 2005 Tobe Hooper horror film Mortuary.

Crosby was married to Geoffrey Edwards, son of director Blake Edwards, from 1983 to 1990. She appeared in a number of her former father-in-law's films, including 10, Skin Deep, Trail of the Pink Panther, and Curse of the Pink Panther. Crosby married Ken Sylk in 1995, and they have a son, August (Augie), born in 1998.^[4]