# Spotting Star Trek actors in other programs
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spotting-star-trek-actors-in-other-programs/794982
**Category:** Cafe Society
**Tags:** tv-shows-scripted, star-trek-paramount
**Created:** [August 29, 2017, 12:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spotting-star-trek-actors-in-other-programs/794982 "2017-08-29T00:49:02Z")
**Posts on this page:** 20
**Page:** 10
### Author:  [@BlankSlate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BlankSlate)
#### Post date: [September 3, 2017, 2:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spotting-star-trek-actors-in-other-programs/794982/181 "2017-09-03T14:07:58Z")
> [@furryman](#):
>
> I spotted his name in the series _Intelligence_. At first i thought it was somebody else because he looked too old.
My favorite Dr. Phlox appearance was right around the same time as Star Trek: Enterprise. He got clocked with a frying pan by his long-suffering wife in one of the _Six Feet Under_ opening sequences.
Looking at his IMDB page, he also shows up in the new _Twin Peaks,_ as “Doctor Ben.”
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### Author:  [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Other_Waldo_Pepper)
#### Post date: [September 3, 2017, 2:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spotting-star-trek-actors-in-other-programs/794982/182 "2017-09-03T14:31:40Z")
> [@BlankSlate](#):
>
> My favorite Dr. Phlox appearance was right around the same time as Star Trek: Enterprise. He got clocked with a frying pan by his long-suffering wife in one of the _Six Feet Under_ opening sequences.
>
> Looking at his IMDB page, he also shows up in the new _Twin Peaks,_ as “Doctor Ben.”
They put him to great use on **Leverage** , as a no-nonsense head of security crisply pitting his attention-to-detail skills against otherwise-amazing art thieves who keep finding their plans foiled; recounting the story years later, those professional criminals reluctantly conclude that, man, that guy was so shrewd an operator that he might be smarter than the planner who currently masterminds their heists.
Spoiler alert: we then get to see _why_ they cast John Billingsley in the role.
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### Author:  [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)
#### Post date: [September 3, 2017, 3:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spotting-star-trek-actors-in-other-programs/794982/183 "2017-09-03T15:44:11Z")
> [@Loach](#):
>
> He somehow got into many Ron Howard movies.
… And at least one episode of _ **Happy Days** _,\* too. 😉
\*The only one I ever watched.
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### Author:  [@ReticulatingSplines](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ReticulatingSplines)
#### Post date: [September 3, 2017, 6:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spotting-star-trek-actors-in-other-programs/794982/184 "2017-09-03T18:27:27Z")
I rewatched the entire run of Frasier recently and I was surprised at how many Trek people turned up in that show:
- Of course, Kelsey Grammer himself and his on-screen ex-wife Bebe Neuwirth are both TNG alumni
- Nana Visitor shows up as a guest at one of Niles’ parties in his apartment at the Montana
- Someone already mentioned Rene Auberjonois plays Frasier’s old college psych professor
- Robert Picardo is the son of Martin’s bully boss
- Patrick Stewart plays Alistair Burke, who mistakenly thinks Frasier is gay
- Saul Rubinek appears many times as Niles’ divorce lawyer and Daphne’s fiance
- Brent Spiner has one appearance as the pale guy sitting next to Lilith on the flight she takes to ask Frasier for his sperm
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### Author:  [@CelticKnot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CelticKnot)
#### Post date: [September 3, 2017, 8:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spotting-star-trek-actors-in-other-programs/794982/185 "2017-09-03T20:39:56Z")
> [@CelticKnot](#):
>
> What I find interesting is how many of the actors from TNG, DS9 and VOY are directing now.
> _The Mentalist_ had many ST alumni as directors, and Robert Picardo had a recurring role.
Still finishing up _The Mentalist._ John DeLancie just showed up.
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### Author:  [@CelticKnot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CelticKnot)
#### Post date: [September 3, 2017, 10:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spotting-star-trek-actors-in-other-programs/794982/186 "2017-09-03T22:38:07Z")
Next episode Mark Harelik.
It’s almost like an early Hollywood studio system at work here.
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### Author:  [@mlees](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mlees)
#### Post date: [September 5, 2017, 3:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spotting-star-trek-actors-in-other-programs/794982/187 "2017-09-05T15:09:18Z")
As a little side track here, I sometimes “have an ear” for voices.
In the recently released XCOM 2: War of the Chosen DLC/expansion, some TNG alumni have done some voice acting work:
Denise Crosby, John De Lancie, Michael Dorn, Jonathan Frakes, Marina Sirtis. 🙂
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### Author:  [@Panthan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Panthan)
#### Post date: [September 5, 2017, 8:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spotting-star-trek-actors-in-other-programs/794982/188 "2017-09-05T20:15:50Z")
The 1960s Tarzan series, starring Ron Ely as the apeman, is on Saturday mornings on the Heroes and Icons channel. Nichelle Nichols was in a two-parter called “Tarzan’s Deadly Silence.” And William Marshall (Dr. Richard Daystrom) has been in a couple episodes.
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### Author:  [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)
#### Post date: [September 9, 2017, 12:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spotting-star-trek-actors-in-other-programs/794982/189 "2017-09-09T00:27:42Z")
Another _ **TOS** _–_ **Batman** _ crossover: Joan Collins (“Edith Keeler” and “The Siren”).
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### Author:  [@Mama\_Zappa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mama_Zappa)
#### Post date: [September 10, 2017, 9:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spotting-star-trek-actors-in-other-programs/794982/190 "2017-09-10T21:35:27Z")
Nichelle Nichols in [this cinematic masterpiece](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0424472/fullcredits?ref_=tt_cl_sm#cast).
I believe Netflix still has it on disc. We actually watched it because a friend of ours is one of the principal characters.
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### Author:  [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)
#### Post date: [September 11, 2017, 1:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spotting-star-trek-actors-in-other-programs/794982/191 "2017-09-11T01:42:30Z")
> [@Mama\_Zappa](#):
>
> Nichelle Nichols in [this cinematic masterpiece](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0424472/fullcredits?ref_=tt_cl_sm#cast).
**This one** too:
> **[Snow Dogs (2002) ⭐ 5.2 | Adventure, Comedy, Family](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0281373/?ref_=ttfc_fc_tt)**
>
> 1h 39m | PG
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### Author:  [@Typo\_Knig](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Typo_Knig)
#### Post date: [September 11, 2017, 1:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spotting-star-trek-actors-in-other-programs/794982/192 "2017-09-11T01:59:22Z")
James Doohan died on screen in [The Satan Bug](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0059678/fullcredits?ref_=tt_cl_sm#cast), released in 1965. I don’t think he had any dialog. Creepy death scene, well acted.
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### Author:  [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)
#### Post date: [September 11, 2017, 2:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spotting-star-trek-actors-in-other-programs/794982/193 "2017-09-11T02:16:03Z")
> [@Typo\_Knig](#):
>
> James Doohan died on screen in [The Satan Bug](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0059678/fullcredits?ref_=tt_cl_sm#cast), released in 1965. I don’t think he had any dialog. Creepy death scene, well acted.
Cool! Alistair MacLean is one of my favorite authors. I do not recall how faithfully the film followed the book. I do recall Richard Basehart as the bad guy.
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### Author:  [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)
#### Post date: [September 11, 2017, 2:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spotting-star-trek-actors-in-other-programs/794982/194 "2017-09-11T02:31:00Z")
> [@astorian](#):
>
> Young George Takei was in an episode of\*\*\* Perry Mason-\*\*\* he’s in love with the (female) defendant.
He was also in an episode of _ **Marcus Welby, MD** _ with hippie sideburns and a hot (Asian female) dinner date.
Big wire-rimmed glasses, too. Very '70s.
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### Author:  [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)
#### Post date: [September 11, 2017, 6:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spotting-star-trek-actors-in-other-programs/794982/195 "2017-09-11T18:12:12Z")
> [@Darren\_Garrison](#):
>
> …Rene Auberjonois on _Wonder Woman_ (and with a costarring role on _Benson_.)
I think I first saw him in a low-budget PBS TV movie about Fort Necessity and the French and Indian War. He was pretty good as a young George Washington.
> [@Beckdawrek](#):
>
> Kate Mulgrew (Capt.Janeway) played in the soap opera ‘Ryan’s Hope’
She was on _Cheers_ a few times too, I think, and played Mrs. Columbo on _Kate Loves A Mystery._
> [@John\_Mace](#):
>
> Colm Meaney was Miles O’Brien on _STNG_ and a major character on _Hell on Wheels_ (Thomas Durrant)…
He was good as a gruff but beloved soccer coach in _The Damned United._
> [@blondebear](#):
>
> Not a TV show, but Shatner was \*\*\*excellent \*\*\*in the 1962 film [The Intruder](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0055019/?ref_=nm_flmg_act_207).
I remember seeing him in the early Seventies in an educational film about choosing the right career. It would’ve been only a few years after his first _Star Trek_ run, and he was very good in it.
> [@Loach](#):
>
> Jeffery Hunter was a movie star before he was Captain Pike so he was obviously in a lot of things. Flipping through the channels one night I came across the movie \* Hell to Eternity\* in which Hunter is horribly miscast as a Mexican American…
Well, he _had_ played a guy named Jesus before…: [King of Kings (1961 film) - Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/King_of_Kings_(1961_film))
> [@Andy\_L](#):
>
> Robert Picardo (the EMH on Voyager) has bit part in “Back To School” (he plays one of the guys Rodney Dangerfield’s wife is cheating with) - that movie also features Terry Farrell (of DS9 of course) in a major role. Picardo is also the deadly hitman in “Innerspace” which is in retrospect, hilarious.
He was also in John Candy’s last (and critically-panned) film, _Wagons East!_
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### Author:  [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)
#### Post date: [September 11, 2017, 6:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spotting-star-trek-actors-in-other-programs/794982/196 "2017-09-11T18:59:21Z")
Takei was also in a movie whose name escapes me at the moment. He played the commandant of a Japanese POW camp who was tried and hung after the war for his maltreatment of Australian prisoners.
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### Author:  [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)
#### Post date: [September 11, 2017, 7:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spotting-star-trek-actors-in-other-programs/794982/197 "2017-09-11T19:02:45Z")
> [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](#):
>
> I think I first saw him in a low-budget PBS TV movie about Fort Necessity and the French and Indian War. He was pretty good as a young George Washington.
Wasn’t this the incident where Washington bushwhacked a French contingent looking to parley? Ouch! :smack:
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### Author:  [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)
#### Post date: [September 11, 2017, 8:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spotting-star-trek-actors-in-other-programs/794982/198 "2017-09-11T20:00:30Z")
> [@terentii](#):
>
> Wasn’t this the incident where Washington bushwhacked a French contingent looking to parley? Ouch! :smack:
Accounts differ, but yes: [Have we ever had a killer in the White House? - The Straight Dope](http://www.straightdope.com/columns/read/2568/have-we-ever-had-a-killer-in-the-white-house)
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### Author:  [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)
#### Post date: [September 11, 2017, 8:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spotting-star-trek-actors-in-other-programs/794982/199 "2017-09-11T20:14:48Z")
> [@terentii](#):
>
> Takei was also in a movie whose name escapes me at the moment. He played the commandant of a Japanese POW camp who was tried and hung after the war for his maltreatment of Australian prisoners.
Wow. Takei was in a camp in Rohwer, Arkansas during WWII.
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### Author:  [@ekedolphin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ekedolphin)
#### Post date: [September 12, 2017, 12:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spotting-star-trek-actors-in-other-programs/794982/200 "2017-09-12T00:17:29Z")
Penny Johnson Jerald, who played Kasidy Yates on _Star Trek: Deep Space Nine,_ is now playing Dr. Claire Finn in _The Orville,_ a new Seth McFarlane sci-fi comedy. It debuted last night, and I enjoyed it.
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