perfect casting

[StarCruiser]

An important concept to keep in mind is - pretty much all of these actors were "character" actors. That's what made them so good at these (mostly) one-off parts. They understood how to "get in character" from reading a script and asking just a few key questions of the director and/or writers.

Above all, they were professional actors - not "Stars". De Kelly was such an actor before Star Trek, and it showed from the beginning of his first appearance...

 

[Mysterion]

^^^^
Agreed. Of the regular cast Kelly/McCoy has always been a favorite to watch in every episode he appears.

 

[Roundabout]

Speaking of gender misidentification, the Metron in "The Arena" sure fooled me. I thought the Metron was played by a guy. Talk about metron-sexual.

 

[Sareesataka]

Perfect casting for me: (in no particular order)

-William Windom as Decker
-Joan Collins as Edith Keeler
-Charles Napier as Adam
-Roger Carmel as Harcourt Fenton Mudd
-Frank Gorshin as Bele
-Mariette Hartley as Zarabeth
-Mark Lenard as Sarek/Romulan Commander
-Vic Tayback as Krako
-John Colicos as Kor
-Michael Ansara as Kang
-Michael Forest as Apollo

Probably many many more I'm forgetting at the moment.

 

[gottacook]

-James Daly as Flint

I know he was already mentioned earlier, but that was a damn convincing performance - quite a feat, given whom he was playing. "I... am Brahms" gets me every time.

 

[gottacook]

Supposedly when Fonzie became the surprise breakout character on Happy Days, ABC execs wanted to change the name of the show to Fonzie's Happy Days and give Henry Winkler star billing over Ron Howard.

Eventually, Ron Howard left Happy Days, whereupon Henry Winkler did receive top billing for the rest of the series' run.

 

[FormerLurker]

Speaking of gender misidentification, the Metron in "The Arena" sure fooled me. I thought the Metron was played by a guy. Talk about metron-sexual.

She had big feet. That may be what threw you. I know it's part of what fooled me for many years. I thought she was a teenage boy.

 

[Roundabout]

^
I never noticed the feet. I have to check that out the next time I watch the episode. IIRC, there wasn't a close up shot of the Metron. What was most distinctive to me was the voice. The Metron's voice sounded like man's voice.

 

[Nerys Myk]

^
I never noticed the feet. I have to check that out the next time I watch the episode. IIRC, there wasn't a close up shot of the Metron. What was most distinctive to me was the voice. The Metron's voice sounded like man's voice.

Did the actress do the voice? Sometimes a different actor will dub the voices. IIRC, Malachi Throne was the voice of the Keeper in the Cage. According to MA, the Metron was voiced by Vic Perrin.

 

[johnnybear]

Carole Shelyne was a dancer it seems and appeared as the Metron in Arena, and the TNG episode Home Soil as a crewmember! Later on she changed her name to Carolyne H.Barry although she was born Carole Stuppler in June 1943 in Brooklyn but she sadly died in 2015!
JB

 

[FormerLurker]

Did the actress do the voice? Sometimes a different actor will dub the voices. IIRC, Malachi Throne was the voice of the Keeper in the Cage. According to MA, the Metron was voiced by Vic Perrin.

IMDb agrees with MA.

 

[CRM-114]

Have to agree with Mark Lenard as Sarek (he's definitely influenced by Nimoy while also having a subtly different take on Vulcan behavior) and Roger C. Carmel as Harry Mudd (he perfectly portrayed a faux-regality and an undercurrent of menace).

 

[Poltargyst]

Speaking of gender misidentification, the Metron in "The Arena" sure fooled me. I thought the Metron was played by a guy. Talk about metron-sexual.

Holy crap, I thought that was a guy too, albeit kind of effeminate guy.

 

[Lance]

An important concept to keep in mind is - pretty much all of these actors were "character" actors. That's what made them so good at these (mostly) one-off parts. They understood how to "get in character" from reading a script and asking just a few key questions of the director and/or writers.

Above, they were professional actors - not "Stars". De Kelly was such an actor before Star Trek, and it showed from the beginning of his first appearance...

Absolutely. Many of that generation were also of course 'stage trained', which was a great discipline to bring to TV and movies. Modern actors can and oftentimes do bypass major theatre work, trying to "make it" on big screen and small rather than building up that repertoire of training that treading the boards gives you.

 

[mb22]

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[Miramanee]

Morgan Woodward was awesome as Cpt. Tracy.

The only actor who out-hammed Shatner

 

[StarCruiser]

^Unless you count Jon Colicos!