So last night I was watching DS9's "Second Skin," and there was something just so familiar about the actor playing Entek. Sooooooooo familar. Finally I said to myself, myself being the only person there at the time, "Gee, that guy reminds me a little bit of that guy who used to play Chano on Barney Miller. What was his name? It couldn't really be him, of course, but there is something familiar about him..." But of course, Entek actually was played by Gregory Sierra, who did indeed play Chano on Barney Miller, and that came through despite the Cardassian makeup and the lack of Hispanic accent. (I have no idea what Sierra sounds like out of character - he had a standard American accent in DS9, but in most of this roles, at least the ones I've seen, he has a strong Hispanic accent, such as the Puerto Rican accent he used on Barney Miller.) So what I'd like from all of you are examples of your favorite actor-spottings - any Trek show (or movie, I guess) is fair game, but I admit that I'll be more impressed at those that involve character actors. Because Gregory Sierra really was hard to spot in that episode.
I was surprised to see Ken Jenkins (Dr. Bob Kelso from Scrubs) in the TNG episode "Evolution" Took me about the whole episode to figure out who he was.
I was watching Quantum Leap last night and I saw the actor who played Admiral Paris on VOY, Richard Herd. He was in an episode called "Future Boy".
And everyone's favorite Cardassian Gul/insane zealot had a very brief cameo in the second Naked Gun movie.
I remember being delighted to see the guy we always referred to as "Patty Duke's father" appearing as sort of a bad guy in "The Trouble With Tribbles." I believe it was William Schallaert. I know he appeared in all kinds of things for years, but he was predictably kind and paternal in almost every other role I saw him in.
Only one 'a' in the name. Shallert. He was also in a DS9 episode playing a Bajoran flautist with the two-sided Bajoran flute(whatever it's called).
He must have had the longest, most various career in the history of television. He popped up everywhere for decades!
I've just remembered that I also saw Marc Alaimo in Quantum Leap, but I can't remember the name of the episode. He played a police officer whose daughter was dating an African-American gentleman and that caused some problems. He was fantastic as Gul Dukat, but it was great seeing him without the Cardassian make-up for a change.
Marc Alaimo in the last-ever-aired episode of the A-Team as a mobster. (Episode entitled "Without Reservation", intended to be the penultimate episode but held back and finally aired in reruns). Marc Alaimo again in his first Trek appearance, as an alien in TNG's "Lonely Among Us" (it's the voice that gives him away. "Sorry, wrong species"). Tracey Scoggins, Cat Grant from "Lois & Clark", as a Cardassian obsessed with O'Brien in "Destiny" (DS9) Robert Beltran in his "Lois And Clark" appearance as a terrorist (love the hair!) Terry Farrell in the US version of "Red Dwarf" that tanked. (Seriously, guys, stop remaking our shows!)
I like it when you see the regulars without makeup in other stuff. I was flicking through the channels one day last week and The Patriot' was on, never noticed that the guy who played Odo played the priest in that. Also liked seeing 'Quark' and 'Flox' in nip/tuck.
Oh, I love Quark! I saw Armin Shimerman in Buffy and Seinfeld. I see in IMDb that he's done a lot of stuff.
These are great, you guys - just great. I did know that Gregory Sierra was in the second Naked Gun movie and Hot Shots! Part Deux, but I had forgotten and I'm thrilled to have been reminded of it, so thanks, Loki/Thor and Mr. LB. And yeah, William Schallert was, like, everywhere. Here's another one, also from DS9 (just because I've been working my way through that show in recent months): Mary Crosby, known to me only as the woman who shot JR, was Natima Lang (Quark's love interest) in the DS9 episode "Profit and Loss." I recognized her right away but it seemed so unlikely, somehow, that I doubted myself until I checked the credits.
Precisely! Stan the Caddy. And if I'm not mistaken, Phil Morris, the guy who played Kramer's lawyer, was in a Voyager episode.
He was also awesome, and I mean awesome, as Third Ramat'iklan in Rocks and Shoals. It may be the best one-shot character in all of modern Trek.
The first time I saw Worf's father, I didn't recognize him. I loved his voice, but was surprised that it sounded so familiar to me. I just wasn't enough of a movie / TV watcher to recognize an actor's voice. When I saw the credits, I understood: about 30 years prior, I had seen/heard Theodore Bikel on Broadway in The Sound of Music. Awesome voice.
The man who hosts the spirit of Jack the Ripper in "The Wolf In the Fold" was played by John Fiedler, aka the guy with the high voice from 12 Angry Men. And Piglet from Winnie the Pooh. I was very proud of myself for catching that; usually I'm terrible at actor spotting.
Vaughn Armstrong was on QL once as well ... The ep where Sam is the cab driver. Vaughn played Fred Trump (Donald's dad).