Karen E. Fraction

Karen Elizabeth Fraction Hamilton (February 15, 1958 – October 30, 2007) was an American actress, dancer, and model born in Flint, Michigan. She earned a bachelor's degree in communication arts from Adelphi University in 1980, and during her second year there was cast in a touring production of The Wiz. That experience served as her entry point into professional theater and ultimately led to a Broadway career spanning from 1980 to 1990.

Fraction made her Broadway debut in The Tap Dance Kid, which starred Hinton Battle. Her subsequent stage credits included Anything Goes, a 1987 revival of Cabaret, and the 1991 revival of Oh, Kay!. She also toured Europe and Japan in Bob Fosse's Dancin'. In 1985 she took part in a concert version of Stephen Sondheim's Follies, which was later released as Follies in Concert (1986), and she performed at Radio City Music Hall.

Beyond the stage, Fraction built a television career across multiple decades. She played Jennifer Parker, one of the central characters in the Nickelodeon series My Brother and Me, which ran during the 1994–1995 season. Following that role, she was cast as Dr. Perry, the Chief Medical Officer, in seaQuest 2032, replacing Rosalind Allen; as the series shifted toward a more military tone, the character appeared in a recurring rather than a main capacity. Her additional television work included a single episode of Swamp Thing (1992), two episodes of Sheena (2001), the pilot of Taina (2001), and an episode of Walker, Texas Ranger (1999). Her film appearances included Palmetto (1998), The First of May (1999), and Our Son, the Matchmaker (1996). She also appeared in commercial and print advertising work from the 1980s onward, with campaigns for AT&T, K-Mart, Febreze, and Denny's.

Fraction died on October 30, 2007, five years after being diagnosed with breast cancer. She was survived by her husband, Lawrence Hamilton, and their two children, Lauren Elizabeth Jean and Lawrence Wm. Morris.