Which actress played Tasha Yar?

Denise Crosby played Tasha Yar in Star Trek: The Next Generation. Yar served as the USS Enterprise-D’s chief of security and was one of the series’ original bridge officers.

Crosby was initially considered for the role that became Deanna Troi, while Marina Sirtis auditioned for Yar. Gene Roddenberry ultimately switched the assignments, casting Crosby as the more physically formidable security chief and Sirtis as the empathic counselor.

Crosby left the regular cast during the first season, and Tasha Yar was killed by the alien Armus in “Skin of Evil.” She later returned as an alternate-timeline version of Yar in “Yesterday’s Enterprise” and played Yar’s half-Romulan daughter, Sela. This makes her easy to confuse with Sirtis, Gates McFadden, or Whoopi Goldberg, but Crosby is the actress who originated Tasha Yar.