Paige Turco
Jean Paige Turco was born May 17, 1965. She is an American actress best known for her roles as April O’Neil and April O’Neil on Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles II. Melanie Cortlandt, from ABC’s soap opera All My Children; Terri Lowell, CBS series The Agency; Gail Emory, CBS series American Gothic; and appearances on NYPD Blue and Party of Five. She starred in The 100, a post-apocalyptic drama series.
Early life
Turco was the daughter of Joyce Jean (Jodoin), and David Vincent Turco, both from Boston, Massachusetts. After the death of her father, her mother moved her family to Springfield, Massachusetts at age one. She is English, French-Canadian, and Italian ancestry. As a child, she took ballet lessons and hoped to be a classical ballerina. After graduating from Walnut Hill School, Natick, Massachusetts in 1983, she performed soloist at the New England Dance Conservatory and Amherst Ballet Theatre Company. A foot injury prevented her from performing professional ballet. Later, she remarked that
Career
Turco’s television acting debut was in 1987 on CBS’ soap opera Guiding Light, as Dinah Marler. Later, she appeared as Melanie Cortlandt on All My Children. In the role of April O’Neil, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles II The Secret of the Ooze (1991), and then in Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles III (1993), she replaced Judith Hoag.
