Trek guest actors in maybe surprising roles

Discussion in 'Star Trek - The Original & Animated Series' started by Maurice, Mar 12, 2013.

  1. J.T.B.

    J.T.B. Rear Admiral Rear Admiral

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    Well, once you have a prime spot right on a Malibu beach, you probably don't want to give it up!

    If it's the one I'm thinking of, a great two-parter called The House on Willis Avenue, I'm pretty sure they took it to Franklin Canyon (AKA the Miramanee planet):

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    I never watched Murder, She Wrote back in the day, because I thought it was for "old" people, but now I've been catching it on CoziTv and it is a bonanza for guest stars from earlier generations. Plus William Windom had a recurring role, how can you go wrong. Here's a two-for-one from 1989, Marj "What is Brain?" Dusay about to be questioned by Morgan Woodward (Gene Barry/Bat Masterson is a non-Trek bonus):

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  2. Nerys Myk

    Nerys Myk A Spock and a smile Premium Member

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    Looks like Jim and Rocky were fishin' at Myers Lake in Mayberry.
     
  3. inflatabledalek

    inflatabledalek Fleet Captain Fleet Captain

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    Not so much a Trek actor but a Trek name...

    My rewatch of Knight Rider has reached the one with James (or "Jamie" as he was credited then) Cromwell in it. But what really stands out is that the evil villain of the week he's working for is called... Shatner.

    Now, I'm sure it's not that uncommon a name but I don't recall ever seeing a fictional character called that before (and whilst it might be coincidence presumably the writer would have been aware they were co-opting the name of a pop-culture icon even if they had another inspiration for it). And because this character doesn't seen to have a first name the entire episode is full of everyone going around snarling "SHAT-NER!" over and over again. It becomes quite hypnotic, especially how they all make it sound as if it's the worst possible word to say on television.

    Frankly it winds up feeling, however unintended, as if the writer had some sort of a grudge against old Bill.

    Does anyone know if George Takei ever wrote any televison? ;)
     
  4. Christopher

    Christopher Writer Admiral

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    Yeah, I've often found it interesting that I've never heard of anyone else named Shatner, Nimoy, Doohan, or Takei except for family members of those Trek actors. I think I came across a Schattner once, but that was as close as it got. I don't think I've come across any unrelated person named Roddenberry either.
     
  5. mb22

    mb22 Fleet Captain Fleet Captain

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    A Schattner family (second or third cousins to Bill) lived in my neighborhood about 30 years ago.
     
  6. Forbin

    Forbin Admiral Admiral

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    My weekly Mannix this week was the season 7 finale faeturing the obligatory 1970s "hero gets strung out on heroin" plot line. Once again Paul Carr shows up:

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    And Roger Perry for a twofer!
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    Dooming the first Saturn probe, Kelso shoots Captain Christopher!
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    And, since it's Paul Carr, gets shot himself. Again.
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  7. Christopher

    Christopher Writer Admiral

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    Is that the moment when the Mannix timeline diverged from the Star Trek timeline?
     
  8. FormerLurker

    FormerLurker Rear Admiral Rear Admiral

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    When the ZAZ guys said Robert Stack's character flew in the war in "Airplane", they weren't kidding, were they?
     
  9. Mr. Laser Beam

    Mr. Laser Beam Fleet Admiral Admiral

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    ^ And he wasn't kidding: flying a plane is no different from riding a bike. It's just a lot harder to put baseball cards in the spokes.
     
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  10. Christopher

    Christopher Writer Admiral

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    That's pretty much what the joke in Airplane was -- that so many of its cast members were the exact actors you'd cast in a totally serious version of the same story.
     
  11. Mr. Laser Beam

    Mr. Laser Beam Fleet Admiral Admiral

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    ^ And the other part of that joke was that they never said which war it was, so they could just use it as a throwaway line...
     
  12. Push The Button

    Push The Button Commodore Commodore

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    I love this thread, it never disappoints.
     
  13. DarrenTR1970

    DarrenTR1970 Commodore Commodore

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    Hello there
    Long time lurker first time poster. I don't know if this has been mentioned upthread but I just watched the first season of 'The Six Million Dollar Man', and there in the first episode is Paul Carr playing a police officer. Later in the first season Gary Lockwood shows up playing an assassin, and I just recently watched the movie 'The Devil at 4 O'clock' with Spencer Tracy and Frank Sinatra and there was a young Barbara Luna playing a native girl suffering from leprosy.
     
  14. FormerLurker

    FormerLurker Rear Admiral Rear Admiral

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    Gary Lockwood showed up more than once on 'The Six Million Dollar Man', playing a set of identical twins who were both assassins, con men, and 'foreign spies'. Steve Austin had dealings with both of them, until one was killed off and the other sought revenge, resulting in his own death.

    Kind of cool, I guess. Gets two death scenes playing essentially the same character.
     
  15. ToddPence

    ToddPence Fleet Captain Fleet Captain

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    In that first episode ("Popoulation Zero") also appearing along with Carr is his "Where No Man Has Gone Before" co-star Paul Fix (Dr. Piper).
     
  16. DarrenTR1970

    DarrenTR1970 Commodore Commodore

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    Just watched an episode of Laramie and there was Peter Duryea as a cowboy. Had to wait for the credits to be sure. Then just the other night I caught an old Sherlock Holmes with Basil Rathbone and there was Ian Wolfe, Mr. Atoz himself, looking almost exactly as he did when he appeared on Star Trek 20 years later. He's like Patrick Stewart in that he went bald at an early age and never seemed to grow older after that.
     
  17. The Old Mixer

    The Old Mixer Mih ssim, mih ssim, nam, daed si Xim. Moderator

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    Yeah, I think I saw Wolfe on an episode of Hopalong Cassidy from the early 50s, and my reaction was, "Was that guy ever young?"
     
  18. mb22

    mb22 Fleet Captain Fleet Captain

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  19. The Old Mixer

    The Old Mixer Mih ssim, mih ssim, nam, daed si Xim. Moderator

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    "ERROR 403 - FORBIDDEN"

    Did an image search, though, and the guy was still no spring chicken.
     
  20. Stevil2001

    Stevil2001 Vice Admiral Admiral

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    Not a "guest" actor, but I had to rewind and rewatch when James Doohan put in a fifteen-second appearance in 1965's 36 Hours as a junior officer. Was not expecting that!