Shatner?!? Are...You...Serious?!? Anyway. Patrick Stewart is great, love his shakespearian work but best performance was Excalibur. Levar Burton also is a good actor for TNG. Ever seen Roots? Alexander Siddig is just amazing. That for me all about the "actors" of Trek. Others can be good comedians but not as much portraying different dramatic roles and carrying emotions.
I think Shatner gets a bad rap. He has a way of making bad material look really bad, often to the point where you feel embarrassed to be watching him. (Among the most cringe-inducing moments: Captain Dunsel, the reading of the Constitution, and Row, Row, Row Your Boat.) On the other hand, when he has good material to work with, he’s actually very good.
These have gotta be up there as some of the best actors in trek: Zachary Quinto! Leonard Nimoy Patrick Stewart Brent Spiner John de Lancie Rene Auberjonois Armin Shimerman Nana Visitor Jeffrey Combs! Robert Picardo Connor Trinneer John Billingsley
Re: Trek’s top actors I've been watching Voyager for the first time and simultaneously doing a partial rewatch of TNG, which I've almost finished (and have just started a partial rewatch of DS9), and I've realized that James Sloyan is awesome. The man just makes you feel for every character he plays. Here's an (incomplete, since I've forgotten many episodes and haven't seen much of VOY and almost none of ENT) list of other guest stars I really liked (not counting the recurring characters, which I've defined as anyone who's been in more than 2 or 3 episodes as the same character): Harris Yulin in DS9 "Duet" - hands down my favorite Trek guest star performance William Marshall in TOS "The Ultimate Computer" Mark Lenard as Romulan Commander in TOS "Balance of Terror" and as Sarek in TOS "Journey of Babel" and TNG "Sarek" and "Unification" pt 1 Robert Walker Jr. in TOS "Charlie X" William Windom in TOS "The Doomsday Machine" Diana Muldaur in TOS "Is There In Truth No Beauty?" Joanne Linville in TOS "The Enterprise Incident" John Anderson in TNG "The Survivors" David Warner in TNG "The Chain of Command" Suzie Plakson as K'Ehleyr in TNG "The Emissary" and "Reunion" Harry Groener in TNG "Tin Man" Lawrence Pressman as Tekeny Ghemor in DS9 "Second Skin" and "Ties of Blood and Water" Tony Todd as Kurn in TNG and DS9 and especially as adult Jake Sisko in DS9 "The Visitor" William Sadler as Luther Sloan in DS9 "Inquisition", "Inter Arma Enim Silent Leges" and "Extreme Measures" Joel Grey in VOY "Resistance"
The best regulars and semi-regulars: Leonard Nimoy DeForrest Kelley Patrick Stewart Brent Spiner John De Lancie Nana Visitor Rene Auberjolois Armin Shimerman Marc Alaimo Jeffrey Combs Casey Biggs Andrew Robinson Kate Mulgrew Robert Picardo Roxann Dawson Jolene Blalock Connor Trinneer Whoever played Degra
Re: Trek’s top actors ENT Connor Trinneer (one of the best things about ENT, in my opinion. Just watch him in Similitude, The Forgotten, or at the end of 'Terra Prime') TOS Nimoy TNG Brent Spiner DS9 Rene Auberjonois VOY Robert Picardo Trek XI Zachary Quinto Bruce Greenwood Anton Yelchin