Most Trek actors have been relative unknowns before joining the cast, but some have been relatively well-known from other things before joining the show. Who do you think was most famous before joining the franchise? My guess would be LeVar Burton, since Roots was such a phenomenon and he'd already been hosting Reading Rainbow for a few years.
Which Trek actors were most famous before joining the cast?
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It depends on your definition of famous and when you started watching. I saw Roots and was pleased to see LeVar Burton on TNG (before realizing what a boring character Geordi was), but if we're talking about TNG actors, I'd have to say Patrick Stewart. I saw him many years before, in I, Claudius, Dune, and Lady Jane. Of course he was in other movies, as well as his stage performances.
For TOS... I have no idea which of them was more famous, as I'd never heard of any of them before seeing Star Trek.
DS9... I'd heard of Rene Auberjonois (having seen a few episodes of Benson).
Voyager: The only one of them I'd heard of before was Kate Mulgrew, and only in connection with that silly "Mrs. Columbo" series.
Enterprise... well, of course I'd heard of Scott Bakula - loved him in Quantum Leap. Never heard of the others, though.
I've since seen quite a number of the various Trek actors in other roles. If you want to catch a lot of the TOS actors and guest stars in older shows, just watch the first half-dozen seasons of Bonanza - there's even one in which both Ricardo Montalban and Madalyn Rhue guest star as husband and wife.
For TOS... I have no idea which of them was more famous, as I'd never heard of any of them before seeing Star Trek.
DS9... I'd heard of Rene Auberjonois (having seen a few episodes of Benson).
Voyager: The only one of them I'd heard of before was Kate Mulgrew, and only in connection with that silly "Mrs. Columbo" series.
Enterprise... well, of course I'd heard of Scott Bakula - loved him in Quantum Leap. Never heard of the others, though.
I've since seen quite a number of the various Trek actors in other roles. If you want to catch a lot of the TOS actors and guest stars in older shows, just watch the first half-dozen seasons of Bonanza - there's even one in which both Ricardo Montalban and Madalyn Rhue guest star as husband and wife.
Until nuTrek, I don't know if any would have amounted to being "famous" in the sense his/her name was commonly known. Anyone who might have been previously recognizable basically amounts to "That guy who was in that thing..." Meaney is probably the best example of this. I think just about anyone recognizes his face, but I bet most people wouldn't know his name offhand.
As you say, Burton might have been the only exception and maybe Bakula.
As you say, Burton might have been the only exception and maybe Bakula.
It's odd to me that you say "maybe" Bakula. To me, he's the obvious answer, since he's the only Trek actor that had previously been the series lead for two primetime broadcast network series ("Quantum Leap" and "Mr. and Mrs. Smith"), one of which ran for 5 years. And he was also a recurring character on two more very highly rated broadcast network shows - "Murphy Brown" and "Designing Women".
In fact, I remember worrying that identifying him as Sam might take me out of Enterprise too much, before seeing the series premiere and realizing that recognizing him was the least of the problems.
I can definitely see a case for Burton or Stewart, and maybe even for Mulgrew (more for "Ryan's Hope" than for "Mrs. Columbo", though). But I think Bakula has this one in the bag.
Burton, Philips, Auberjonais, Bakula. Stewart. Russ was sort of famous in Star Trek circles because he played different characters over the years.
For me Robbie McNeil was ''the guy who was in that thing.' He did quite a bit of episodic TV doing things like L.A. Law and Murder She Wrote, Quantum Leap etc. He was in a couple of series that were cancelled...one I remember was set during WWII. I want to say it was called Home Front but don't remember. Did a memorable episode of the Twilight Zone and a stint on a soap opera when he was very young.
For me Robbie McNeil was ''the guy who was in that thing.' He did quite a bit of episodic TV doing things like L.A. Law and Murder She Wrote, Quantum Leap etc. He was in a couple of series that were cancelled...one I remember was set during WWII. I want to say it was called Home Front but don't remember. Did a memorable episode of the Twilight Zone and a stint on a soap opera when he was very young.
Probably depends on your country?
Here in the UK, we never got Reading Rainbow so LeVar Burton was an unknown. Patrick Stewart was pretty well known, but I think the most famous before joining Trek was Scott Bakula from his Quantum Leap days.
Here in the UK, we never got Reading Rainbow so LeVar Burton was an unknown. Patrick Stewart was pretty well known, but I think the most famous before joining Trek was Scott Bakula from his Quantum Leap days.
Is Avery Brooks worth a mention?
Known for playing Hawk in Spenser: For Hire and then the lead role in the spinoff A Man Called Hawk. He even featured in a few Spenser television films.
Known for playing Hawk in Spenser: For Hire and then the lead role in the spinoff A Man Called Hawk. He even featured in a few Spenser television films.
I watched Dominic Keating for years on Desmonds on British TV, he was as recognisable to me as Scott Bakula. Robert Duncan McNeill was in the Masters of the Universe movie. I don't know if that's fame or infamy (Courtney Cox was in it too). Jeffrey Combs had a lot of feature film credits before he did Star Trek...
I don't think I'd seen any of the main actors on TNG before the show aired. I've seen many of them in roles they filmed before TNG since then, though. None of the main actors on DS9 were familiar to me before watching the show, apart from those who reprised their TNG characters, of course. There were plenty of guests who were familiar, though. I didn't know anyone from VOY before, except Tim Russ from a few minor genre appearances. There were plenty of familiar faces on ENT, the most familiar being Scott Bakula from Quantum leap. Vaughn Armstrong had plenty of genre appearances behind him by then, as had Jeffrey Coombs.
As a UK watcher for me its
Scott Bakula Quantum Leap
Avery Brooks Spenser for hire (not sure how popular the show was over here, but I watched it) I did not recognise him until he shaved his head lol
Rene Auberjonois for Benson (for those over a certain age)
Levar Burton Roots
Dominic Keating Desmonds
Scott Bakula Quantum Leap
Avery Brooks Spenser for hire (not sure how popular the show was over here, but I watched it) I did not recognise him until he shaved his head lol
Rene Auberjonois for Benson (for those over a certain age)
Levar Burton Roots
Dominic Keating Desmonds
Along those lines (I saw him/her in the thing), Denise Crosby had a small role in the movie 48 Hours. The Nolte and Murphy rousting the girlfriend(s) scene. She actually looks like her facial structure is still slightly in development then (even though she was 25).
Absolutely LOVED him him in "Spencer For a Hire"!!!
There were any number of times that I wanted him to break the fourth wall in DS9, and give us the "teeth-show-ahahaha-laugh" he had in "Spencer".
Absolutely LOVED him him in "Spencer For a Hire"!!!
There were any number of times that I wanted him to break the fourth wall in DS9, and give us the "teeth-show-ahahaha-laugh" he had in "Spencer".
Did he do it in the episode 'Our man Bashir'?
Not quite! Not with that "Street-Wise, Amused at the World, Spen-sah" thing he had.
But Three Thumbs Up to you for even knowing what I was talking about!!!
Robert Picardo as the hilarious robotic "Johnny Cab" in "Total Recall".
Wasn't he also the coach in "The Wonder Years"?
Jeffrey Combs in the worst movie of all time "Reanimator".
Patrick Stewart gets the life sucked out of him in "LifeForce".
That movie's only redeeming feature was the female space vampire that spent most of the movie walking around London butt naked. Saw the actress in a recent French movie and she's still stunning.
Wasn't he also the coach in "The Wonder Years"?
Jeffrey Combs in the worst movie of all time "Reanimator".
Patrick Stewart gets the life sucked out of him in "LifeForce".
That movie's only redeeming feature was the female space vampire that spent most of the movie walking around London butt naked. Saw the actress in a recent French movie and she's still stunning.
Mulgrew, Burton, Brooks and Russ were all in Roots: The Gift.
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