Actors you're surprised never appeared in Star Trek

[t_smitts]

There are a number of actors who tend to work a lot in sci-fi / fantasy productions, or characters actors whose "type", one would expect to lend themselves to various roles on Star Trek. For whatever reason, though, it just never happen. I'm just thinking of actors one would expect to be a natural fit in the show, but never did:

Michael Ironside: Besides having one of the most bad-ass surnames out there, his resume's got a number of sci-fi titles (V, Total Recall, Starship Troopers, Terminator Salvation, Lois Lane's father on "Smallville") and, much like the late Charles Napier, he's long been one of the go-to guys to play unfriendly tough guys/military, etc. I could've definitely seen him as a Starfleet admiral involved in something shady, like Pressman, Dougherty, or Leyton. (Try picturing him doing lines from "The Pegasus" or "Insurrection". It's pretty interesting).

Keith David: To me, he'll always be the voice of Goliath from "Gargoyles". ("I've been denied everything, even my revenge!!!") I always thought that powerful, booming voice of his would make him a great Klingon or Jem'Hadar. (And as we know, there were TONS of Star Trek / Gargoyles actors overlapping, so what's one more?) Who knows? Maybe he couldn't handle the prosthetics. A lot of actors can't.

Robert Urich: We had a "Quantum Leap" reunion in the first season of "Enterprise" when Dean Stockwell showed up, but, for whatever reason, DS9 never gave us a similar "Spencer" reunion. Perhaps as Cal Hudson in "The Maquis" or some other guest character with a connection to Sisko?

Xander Berkeley: Another actor typecast as jerks and badguys, though I think he deserved an Emmy nom for his portrayal of the terminally ill George Mason in season 2 of "24". Star Trek probably would've typecast as a heavy-of-the-week as well, but it would've been fun to see an episode on his resume.

[Greg Cox]

Given that Burgess Meredith was all over THE TWILIGHT ZONE and BATMAN, it's a shame he never managed Star Trek as well . . .

(Especially since Frank Gorshin, Julie Newmar, Lee Meriwether, and Yvonne Craig all managed to do both BATMAN and STAR TREK.)

[JustKate]

Martin Landau should have been on Star Trek - think of what a great Romulan or Vulcan he would have made! Barbara Bain would have been fine, too, but Landau would have been a natural.

But Greg is absolutely right about Burgess Meredith, of course.

[JarodRussell]

Tom Hanks.

[t_smitts]

JustKate wrote:

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Martin Landau should have been on Star Trek - think of what a great Romulan or Vulcan he would have made! Barbara Bain would have been fine, too, but Landau would have been a natural.

But Greg is absolutely right about Burgess Meredith, of course.

Landau was actually considered to play Spock, but apparently turned it down. Just as well, since he showed in an interview that he really didn't understand the character:

"I turned down Star Trek. It would've been torturous. I would've probably died playing that role. I mean, even the thought of it now upsets me. It was the antithesis of why I became an actor. I mean, to play to play a character that Lenny (Nimoy) was better suited for, frankly, a guy who speaks in a monotone who never gets excited, never has any guilt, never has any fear, or was affected on a visceral level. Who wants to do that?"

[Mr. Laser Beam]

JustKate wrote:

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Martin Landau should have been on Star Trek - think of what a great Romulan or Vulcan he would have made!

IIRC, Landau was offered the role of Spock in TOS, but turned it down.

JarodRussell wrote:

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Tom Hanks.

He is a huge Trekkie and wanted to play Zefram Cochrane in ST:FC, but the schedule conflicted with his work on That Thing You Do! so he had to decline.

[scotpens]

Greg Cox wrote:

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Given that Burgess Meredith was all over THE TWILIGHT ZONE and BATMAN, it's a shame he never managed Star Trek as well . . .

Burgess Meredith would have been a natural to play Samuel T. Cogley in "Court Martial" if the role hadn't gone to Elisha Cook Jr.

I sometimes imagine one of the guest female roles in TOS Trek being played by Anne Francis or Yvette Mimieux. No particular reason, except that both actresses were doing a lot of television at the time and they were both gorgeous.

EDIT: After checking her filmography, I see Yvette Mimieux didn't actually do that much TV in the 1960s. But she would have been good as one of Captain Kirk's love interests. I can see her as Lenore Karidian in "Conscience of the King."

[JustKate]

t_smitts wrote:

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Landau was actually considered to play Spock, but apparently turned it down. Just as well, since he showed in an interview that he really didn't understand the character:

Mr. Laser Beam wrote:

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IIRC, Landau was offered the role of Spock in TOS, but turned it down.

Oh, I know. The question, I think, asks us to consider who ought to have been on Trek - not who wanted to be on Trek. (After all, Yvette Mimieux is probably not a realistic nomination either, but so what?) I maintain that Landau would have been fabulous. Alas, he didn't agree.

I'm glad he didn't play Spock, though - I am not willing to give up Nimoy as Spock for anybody, including Landau. But a guest role would have been wonderful.

[Greg Cox]

Anne Francis would have been perfect as Rayna in "Requiem for Methuselah," since it's essentially the same character she played in Forbidden Planet (minus the twist ending).

How about Donald Pleasance as a slightly unstable Federation scientist? He did at least one OUTER LIMITS episode so he was presumably available back then.

[Christopher]

I was going to suggest Anne Francis. I just started Netflixing The Man from U.N.C.L.E., and she's in the third episode -- and makes a stunning brunette.

And it's surprising and disappointing that Roddy McDowall never did a Trek episode. He would've made an awesome Trelane.

Oh, and Greg, Joan Collins also did both ST and Batman, appearing as the Siren in the third season of the latter. Other actors who did both include Roger C. Carmel, Stanley Adams, Malachi Throne, Grace Lee Whitney, John Crawford, Leslie Parrish, Nancy Kovack, and more.

[Greg Cox]

Christopher wrote:

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Oh, and Greg, Joan Collins also did both ST and Batman, appearing as the Siren in the third season of the latter. Other actors who did both include Roger C. Carmel, Stanley Adams, Malachi Throne, Grace Lee Whitney, John Crawford, Leslie Parrish, Nancy Kovack, and more.

I figured Trek and Batman shared a few more guest-stars in common, but thought that Gorshin and Newmar and Craig were the most notable examples.

Vincent Price did an episode of F Troop back in those days. Can you imagine him on Trek? Or maybe Karloff and Peter Lorre?

(Karloff did U.N.C.L.E. and Route 66, as I recall, the latter with Lorre and Lon Chaney Jr. as well.)

[foxhot]

Roddy McDowall definitely fits Trelane like a glove. But could be pay Rojan or Koloth??

Going back to the original post candidates, Keith David and Michael Ironside were mentioned. I'm not sure whether the TREK casting agents could afford them, but both excel at movie roles.
But sometimes sci-fi TV may not serve certain character actors,
depending on the show. Remember Mark Rolston from ALIENS? He's another Ironside-type, but when he appeared on TNG he seemed incredibly drained of personality. Or was it because he was playing one of Picard's low-ranking crew?

[mos6507]

The irony of course with Laundau is Nimoy joining Mission Impossible after he left, and then Space: 1999 getting Fred Frieberger.

[T'Girl]

Jack Webb as Commodore Wesley, Webb had such a wonderful speaking voice.

Doug McClure as Ben Finney, I think he would have done a better job of being paranoid and personally tortured.

Chuck Conners as Lazaus (although I have a much higher opinion of Robert Brown's performance than most fans).

Clint Eastwood as Captain John Christopher, Roger Perry was okay in the role, but Eastwood could have brought a sharpness to the man who wanted to report and get home.

And Robert Mitchum in any role he wanted, in fact I've thought for years he would have made a great Kirk.

[Greg Cox]

Well, Robert Ryan was the first choice for Matt Decker, although I can't imagine that anybody has any complaints about Windom today.