Guinan became the civilian hostess of the U.S.S. Enterprise's Ten-Forward lounge at Picard's invitation in early 2365, dispensing her trade's time-honored craft of advice while remaining mute about her own background. At Ten-Forward, she kept a selection of alcoholic beverages for special occasions in opposition to Starfleet's synthehol regulations and made herself available to anyone in need, especially the senior staff, as an informal counselor.

Well over 600 years old now, Guinan hid out from her father on Earth in AD 1893 as a mature adult and had an imaginary Tarcassian razor beast as a childhood pet. She herself has been married at least twice and has "a lot" of children.

In the 2160s, Guinan first encountered the Q entity, and both mutually consider the other an implacable enemy - though she went by a different name then. A century later she was not present when her people were attacked by the Borg and scattered from their home system thousands of light-years from Federation space - though she was aboard the refugee-filled S.S. Lakul some 27 years later near Earth, in 2293, when part of her being was trapped in the same Nexus ribbon which destroyed her ship and a sister El-Aurian craft and caused the apparent death of Captain James T. Kirk. Following the incident, Guinan developed what otherwise would be dubbed a "sixth sense."

Though usually a calm and reasoned observer, Guinan's personal life proved fitful and she held long grudges against both Q and the Borg as enemies - though even she relented against the latter when "Hugh" Borg proved civilized when cut off from the collective in 2368. She coyly says her relationship with Picard goes "beyond friendship and beyond family," and had earlier claimed she liked bald-headed men; she has vaguely spoken of "serious trouble" that she escaped thanks to the trust of Picard; in return, he once observed that, "Guinan is very selective about whom she calls a friend."

No stranger to the phaser range, she once beat Worf on Level 14, firing left-handed, and she silenced a dream-deprived paranoid mob in Ten-Forward with an energy-beam rifle hidden behind the bar. She has also been coached in fencing by Picard, begun when she considered exercise to strengthen her arm in 2368.
 

WHOOPI GOLDBERG

Whoopi Goldberg stars as Guinan in Star Trek: The Next Generation in a recurring guest star role.

Whoopi starred in the box-office hit "Sister Act" and the sequel, "Sister Act 2." She also starred in "Sarafina!," a film adaptation of the stage musical, shot on location in South Africa. Whoopi also co-stared in the film "Made in America" opposite Ted Danson. Recently, Goldberg can be seen in the acclaimed "Girl, Interrupted."

Goldberg received an Oscar nomination and the Golden Globe Award in 1985 for her motion picture debut in Steven Spielberg's film version of Alice Walker's "The Color Purple." She has since starred in such films as "The Long Walk Home," "Jumpin' Jack Flash," "Burglar," "Fatal Beauty," "Clara's Heart," "Soapdish," and "The Player," among others.

Whoopi's performance as Oda Mae Brown in "Ghost" earned her the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress, the Golden Globe Award, and the NAACP Image Award. She was also named the NAACP's "Entertainer of the Year" for 1990.

In 1986, her appearance on an episode of Moonlighting earned Goldberg an Emmy Award nomination as Best Guest Performer in a Dramatic Series. Her performance in the CBS Schoolbreak special, "My Past Is My Own," garnered Goldberg a Daytime Emmy Award nomination as Outstanding Performer in a Children's Special. Her appearance on A Different World earned her yet another Emmy nomination. Her television credits include Baghdad Cafe (in which she starred with Jean Stapleton), "Scared Straight: 10 Years Later," "Carol, Robin, Whoopi and Carl," "Funny, You Don't Look 200," Marlo Thomas' "Free To Be...A Family" and "Freedomfest—Nelson Mandela's 70th Birthday Special," which she co-hosted. Whoopi co-produced and appeared in "Hot Rod Brown," the first two "Tales from the Whoop" for Nickelodeon, for which she was nominated for a Daytime Emmy Award. Since 1998, Whoopi can be seen center square on the new Hollywood Squares. Goldberg, along with Billy Crystal and Robin Williams, have also co-hosted HBO's "Comic Relief" specials, which benefit the nation's homeless. Whoopi has also served as host of the Academy Awards for two years, the most recent being the 1999 ceremony.

Whoopi was named the NAACP's Entertainer of the Year. Other recent honors include the "Hollywood Woman's Press Club's Golden Apple" for Female Star of the Year, UCLA's "Jack Benny Award," and Women in Film's "Norma Zarky Humanitarian Award," among others. Whoopi was honored for Distinguished Achievement in Film at the "9th Annual American Cinema Awards" and at L.I.F.E. (Love is Feeding Everyone) "Hunger Hero Awards."

She is well-known for her tireless humanitarian efforts on behalf of children, the homeless, human rights, substance abuse and the battle against AIDS.

Biographies derived and edited from the Official Site.