Karen

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Karen AustinKaren FallbrookKaren LeBlancKaren Zarek

Karen
PerformerRDMCaprica
{{{credit}}}
Portrays:	Lilly (Re-imagined Series) Ruth (Caprica)
Date of Birth:
Date of Death:	April 2, 2011
Nationality:	CAN
Related Media
		@ BW Media
[{{{site}}} Official Site]
IMDb profile

Karen Elizabeth Austin (died April 2, 2011) was a Canadian actress who portrayed Lilly in the Re-imagined Series episode "Escape Velocity," as well as Ruth in the series Caprica. Austin accumulated approximately 56 acting credits across film, television, and stage during a career spanning roughly three decades, working primarily within the Vancouver production community.

Early Life and Career

Details about Austin's early life, including her exact birth date and birthplace, have not been documented in publicly available sources. She performed at Canada's Stratford Festival in 1978 and 1979, placing her among the ranks of classically trained Canadian stage actors who passed through one of North America's foremost repertory theatres.

Austin built a steady career as a character actress working within the Vancouver production ecosystem. Her filmography reveals a working actor who appeared consistently in the television movies, genre series, and studio films that made Vancouver a prominent production hub.

Film

Austin's notable film credits include a role as Aba in The Clan of the Cave Bear (1986) starring Daryl Hannah; a part in Bill Forsyth's critically acclaimed Housekeeping (1987) as Mrs. Paterson; a small role as a bystander in the Robert De Niro–Sean Penn comedy We're No Angels (1989); and a role as the Hospital Receptionist in the Anne Hathaway thriller Passengers (2008). She also appeared as Mrs. Hillman in the Jessica Alba horror film The Eye (2008) and in the direct-to-video sequel 30 Days of Night: Dark Days (2010).

Television

Television work formed the backbone of Austin's career, and her guest appearances read like a map of Vancouver-shot genre television. She appeared in three episodes of 21 Jump Street (1987–1990), playing Sylvia, Mrs. Crawford, and Ms. Futterman; two episodes of Wiseguy (1989–1990) as Judge Knox; and an episode of MacGyver (1990). She also appeared on the Vancouver-produced fourth season of Airwolf (1987) as Dr. Sylvia Phyllis Robertson.

Further genre television credits include Millennium (1997) as Mrs. Anderson; The Outer Limits (1997); Poltergeist: The Legacy (1997) as Abby Cranford; Night Visions (2001) as Prairie Grandma; The 4400 (2005) as Sara James; two episodes of Earthsea (2005) as Farmer's Wife; two episodes of Masters of Horror (2005–2007) as Mom and Quinn; and Flash Gordon: A Modern Space Opera (2007–2008) as Lutie.

Austin also appeared in numerous television movies throughout the 1990s and 2000s, including Dead Ahead: The Exxon Valdez Disaster (1992), When a Stranger Calls Back (1993), Wyvern (2009), and Held Hostage (2009). Her final credited role was Older Nora in the 2011 television movie The Edge of the Garden. A posthumous "Special Thanks" credit appeared in the 2015 short film With Dad.

In the year 2000, she was credited as Karen Austin-Tuck for her role as Michael's Aunt in We All Fall Down, confirming her married name.

Battlestar Galactica Universe Roles

Lilly in "Escape Velocity"

Austin's connection to the Battlestar Galactica franchise began with the Re-imagined Series episode "Escape Velocity," which first aired on April 25, 2008. The episode was written by Jane Espenson and directed by Edward James Olmos.

Ruth in Caprica

Austin's most substantial role in the franchise was Ruth, a recurring character across eight episodes of Caprica (2009–2010), the prequel series set 58 years before the events of Battlestar Galactica.

Austin appeared in the following Caprica episodes: "Rebirth," "Reins of a Waterfall," "There Is Another Sky," "End of Line," "False Labor," "The Heavens Will Rise," "Here Be Dragons," and "Apotheosis." She was usually credited as a co-star except for "There Is Another Sky," in which she was billed as a guest star.

Personal Life

Austin was married to Mel Tuck, a highly regarded pioneer of Canadian theatre. Tuck is a director of international reputation and an innovator in acting training who has founded nine theatre companies and directed over 300 productions across Canada. He headed the drama department at Ryerson University for 13 years and ran the Gastown Actors Studio conservatory in Vancouver for 12 years. In 2019, Tuck received the UBCP/ACTRA John Juliani Award of Excellence for lifetime achievement. John Juliani was the father of Alessandro Juliani (Felix Gaeta).

Austin's name is memorialized in Austin-Tuck Studios, Tuck's Vancouver acting school located at 158 Powell Street in the Gastown neighborhood, where he taught advanced scene study for over 18 years. The studio has since been renamed the Deb Podowski Acting Studio, though its website notes it was formerly called Austin-Tuck Studios.

Several of Austin's Caprica castmates — including John Pyper-Ferguson, Hiro Kanagawa, Teryl Rothery, Jill Teed, and Roger Cross — were also students of Tuck, reflecting the tight-knit nature of Vancouver's acting community.

Austin died on April 2, 2011. Her final role in The Edge of the Garden was released that same year.

References

External Sources

Karen
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Introduced	The Son Also Rises
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Role	Reporter
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Portrayed by	Alison Matthews
Karen is a Cylon
Karen is a Final Five Cylon
Karen is a Human/Cylon Hybrid
Karen is an Original Series Cylon

Karen Fallbrook is a reporter on Colonial One and is apparently a member of the press corps.

Fallbrook poses the question as to whether or not it is in the best interests of the Fleet to continue preparations for Gaius Baltar's trial, to which President Laura Roslin replies that her administration would not bow down to terrorism ^{(TRS: "The Son Also Rises")}.

She is also present at the trial, when she witnesses Roslin's confession of using chamalla. Later, Fallbrook later attends a press conference aboard Colonial One, asking Roslin about hallucinations and about her life expectancy ^{(TRS: "Crossroads, Part I")}.

Karen
{{{credit}}}
Portrays:	Jenna McGavin
Date of Birth:
Date of Death:	Missing required parameter 1=month!
Nationality:	CAN
Related Media
		@ BW Media
Official Site
IMDb profile

Karen LeBlanc is a Canadian actress, singer, and voice artist who portrayed Jenna McGavin in Battlestar Galactica: Blood & Chrome. Born in Scarborough, Toronto, Ontario, and raised in Tottenham, Ontario, LeBlanc trained in musical theatre at Sheridan College and has built a career spanning over three decades with approximately 78 screen credits. Her most acclaimed performance was the lead role in the film Nurse.Fighter.Boy (2008), which earned her a Genie Award nomination for Best Actress.

Character Name Clarification

In the original 2010 pre-production script for Blood & Chrome, LeBlanc's character was named "Jaycie McGavin," identical to a Raptor pilot who appeared in the Razor Flashbacks (2007). However, by the time the film aired in November 2012, the character's first name had been changed to "Jenna" in the on-screen credits, with no surname listed. The name change likely served to distinguish LeBlanc's character from the earlier Razor Flashbacks version.

Career

Early Career and Musical Theatre

LeBlanc began her career as a musical theatre performer after graduating from Sheridan College's musical theatre program in Oakville, Ontario. She toured internationally with the "Legends In Concert" series as a Tina Turner impersonator, performing in Las Vegas, Tokyo, Australia, Germany, and Singapore. She also worked with several bands including Glass Tiger and fronted her own 10-piece R&B band called Midnight Hour.

Her most prominent stage role was Joanne in the Canadian premiere of Rent (1997–1998), produced by Mirvish Productions at the Royal Alexandra Theatre in Toronto. Other stage work includes the world premiere of the musical Outrageous! at Canadian Stage (2000) and a special appearance in Ross Petty's Cinderella pantomime at the Elgin Theatre in Toronto (2008).

Television

LeBlanc's television career spans over 30 years, beginning with the CBC sitcom Material World (1992–1993), where she played series regular Lucy. Her extensive television credits include major recurring and series regular roles in numerous productions.

Notable recurring and regular roles include Candy in Trailer Park Boys (2001, 2018), Robin Taylor in ESPN's Playmakers (2003), Dr. Enuka Okimba in ReGenesis (2008), Eve Weller-Shaw in the science fiction series Defying Gravity (2009), Team Commander Pam Garrett in Shattered (2010–2011), and Inspector Diane Caligra in the CBC police drama Cracked (2013) across 21 episodes.

More recent work includes Cynthia Walker in Ransom (2018–2019) for 17 episodes, Special Agent Ellen Hunter in Season 2 of Departure (2021–2022), Lynette Miller in the Netflix series Ginny & Georgia (2021–2025), Vanessa King in The Kings of Napa (2022), and Zola Augustin in the CBC series Saint-Pierre (2025–2026).

Film

LeBlanc's most critically acclaimed film performance was the lead role of Jude in Nurse.Fighter.Boy (2008), directed by Charles Officer. She portrayed a widowed single mother and night-shift nurse living with sickle cell anemia. The performance earned her the Best Actress award at the 2008 Atlantic Film Festival, a Genie Award nomination for Best Actress at the 30th Genie Awards (2010), and an ACTRA Toronto Award nomination for Outstanding Performance – Female (2009).

Other significant film roles include Brenda in the dance film Make It Happen (2008), Dolly in the A&E television movie Knights of the South Bronx (2005) starring Ted Danson, Delta in the Stephen King adaptation Dolan's Cadillac (2009), and a co-lead role opposite Colin Salmon in High Chicago (2011).

Voice Work

LeBlanc maintains an extensive career as a television and radio voice artist. In animation, she has voiced Queen Pea in the PBS series Super WHY!, Bessie the Alligator in Let's Go Luna!, and sang the opening theme song for Cyberchase. Her commercial voiceover work includes campaigns for Air Canada, the NFL, Kraft, Hyundai, Advil, Tylenol, Capital One, and the Canadian Cancer Society's CIBC Run for the Cure.

Awards and Recognition

LeBlanc has received multiple award nominations throughout her career. Her performance in Nurse.Fighter.Boy earned her the Best Actress award at the 2008 Atlantic Film Festival and a Genie Award nomination for Best Actress (2010). She received a Gemini Award nomination for Best Performance by an Actress in a Guest Role, Dramatic Series (2008) for her work on ReGenesis, and a Canadian Screen Award nomination for Best Supporting Performer, Drama (2023) for Departure.

Personal Life

LeBlanc is the youngest of eight children in a family with roots in Nova Scotia. In a 2022 interview about her role on Departure, she described herself as "an introvert and an extrovert" and mentioned an interest in psychology and therapy as an alternate career path. She maintains an active presence on social media and continues to work in television, film, and voice acting as of 2026.

References

External Sources

Production History

Commentary and Interviews

External Links

• Official Website
• Instagram
• Twitter/X

This article has a separate continuity. This article is in the Dynamite Comics separate continuity, which is related to the Re-imagined Series. Be sure that your contributions to this article reflect the characters and events specific to this continuity only.

Karen
[show/hide spoilers] Spoilers hidden in infobox by default.
Name	Karen Sue Zarek
Age	{{{age}}}
Colony	Sagittaron
Birthplace	{{{birthplace}}}
Birth Name	{{{birthname}}}
Birth Date	{{{birthdate}}}
Callsign	{{{callsign}}}
Nickname	{{{nickname}}}
Introduced	Battlestar Galactica: Zarek 1
Last Appearance	[[{{{lastseen}}}]]
Death	Assassinated during a protest on Sagittaron (Comics: Battlestar Galactica: Zarek #1)
Parents	{{{parents}}}
Step-Parents	{{{step_parents}}}
Siblings	{{{siblings}}}
Children	Tom Zarek
Marital Status	Widowed, Jerome Zarek†
Family Tree	View
Role	{{{role}}}
Rank	{{{rank}}}
Serial Number	{{{serial}}}
Portrayed by	{{{actor}}}
Karen is a Cylon
Karen is a Final Five Cylon
Karen is a Human/Cylon Hybrid
Karen is an Original Series Cylon

Karen Sue Zarek is the mother of controversial revolutionary Thomas Zarek and the driving force behind the Citizens for Sagittaron Labor Reform.

Prior to the First Cylon War, she marries Jerome Zarek and works in the nitrassium production factories in Sagittaron City.

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• Karen Austin
• Karen Fallbrook
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• Karen Zarek