The guy who played the local head Cardassian, Gul Dukat in DS9. Very nuanced performance at times.
Mark “The Neck” Alaimo.
Brent Spiner. Absolutely phenomenal.
I also loved Andrew J. Robinson as Garak on DS9. I was fascinated with that character, and thought it was played well.
And I.
Anyone know how much of the character was due to writers and how much to Robinson?
I would ask the same question about Shimmerman.
Brent Spiner. Though FTR, I think DeForest Kelley was a bit underrated.
Did you catch Spiner when he made a couple of appearances on Night Court?
I’ve seen Robinson in other stuff. I would say most of the credit goes to him.
Sadly, no.
I’d go with Colm Meany. He may not have shown much on ST (though he did managed to turn his role from a one-scene walk-on to a recurring character), but his movie work (“The Commitments,” “The Snapper,” “The Englishman who Went Up a Hill and Came Down a Mountain”) is quite good.
He played an outrageous hick character from Oklahoma. The character appeared 2-3 times right before he got Trek. In fact, the episode recently repeated on the Biography Channel, of all places.
He also made a very brief appearance on Cheers (the episode where Diane had jury duty).
Will Wheaton.
no, not really
He had a pretty big role in DS9, and I think he did a great job. He played the “everyman” role perfectly.
In fact, I think the whole cast of DS9 was fantastic, especially the villains. There were so many bad guys on that show that you just loved to hate.
I was going to third(?) Avery Brooks, but then I actually read the question, and as you were asking for the most talented actor I’ll instead fifth (or thereabouts) Patrick Stewart.
I’d have to go with the two actors who’ve had the most substantial careers outside of the Trek-verse: Stewart and Auberjunois. Honorable mention to Meaney, who’s a much better (and more prolific) actor outside of Trekdom than he ever was in it.
That character (Bob Wheeler) and his wife, June (played by Annie O’Donnell) were originally described as being from West Virginia, but it turned out they were actually from (and the accents should have made it obvious) Yugoslavia.
A partial list of TOS guest stars who were either outstanding actors on their own merits or shone brightly on TOS:
Rhodes Reason
Logan Ramsey
William Marshall
Kathryn Hays
Steve Ihnat
Frank Gorshin
James Daly
Sandra Smith
William Windom
John Fiedler
Warren Stevens
Barbara Bouchet
Robert Walker Jr
Sally Kellerman
Gary Lockwood
Clint Howard
Marc Adams
Joan Collins
John Harmon
This isn’t even a complete list. I could do the same for each series and movie. This franchise has drawn and/or made some incredible talent.
No love for Frank Langella?
All things considered, he’s probably the best all-around actor to appear on modern Trek. Just an occasional guest, though.
Among cast members, I’m going with Auberjonois.
That’s like nominating a turd for being the least smelly in a pile of turds.
Thanks for sharing that erudite thought.
You are most welcome.