Amanda Tapping

About Amanda Tapping

Amanda Tapping (born 28 August 1965) is an English-born Canadian actress. Born in Rochford, Essex in 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.

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.

Tapping is best known for her portrayal of Samantha Carter in the science fiction television series Stargate SG-1, which debuted in 1997. Tapping took the place of Torri Higginson in season four of Stargate Atlantis as the Atlantis expedition commander. In season five, however, Tapping's role on the show will be reduced to that of "special guest-star" with only occasional appearances.. Instead of returning for Atlantis' 5th season Amanda chose to focus her attention on the development of a new series for the SCI FI Channel, "Sanctuary For All" for which she serves as both star and Executive Producer, which follows on from Sanctuary, a 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.