Star Trek Actors You May Not Know Passed Away

In "Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country," Klingon Chancellor Gorkon (David Warner), attending a diplomatic dinner aboard the Enterprise, raises a toast to "the undiscovered country ... the future." But Gorkon, who's quoting Shakespeare, has the Bard's meaning wrong: in "Hamlet," the title character uses the phrase to refer not to the future, but to death, what lies beyond it, and our fear of what that might be.

Sadly, Gorkon himself crosses over to the "undiscovered country" shortly thereafter, and actor David Warner himself exited stage left in 2022. We're equally sorry to say that a lot of actors from the "Star Trek" universe — the now-vast spectrum of TV shows and movies that the franchise has generated — have also made that journey to the great unknown that waits beyond this plane of existence.

It's hardly surprising that many talented actors involved with a decades-old property have moved beyond the realm of human understanding. But while some left us years ago, others have only passed on more recently. Regretfully, a lot of names didn't make the already sizable list we've compiled, but the ones we have included all made a mark on "Trek" history in some large or small fashion, whether you knew they had passed away or not.

While the Klingons and Romulans were recurring enemies on the original "Star Trek," only one individual villain appeared on the show more than once: Harcourt Fenton "Harry" Mudd, interstellar con man, indelibly portrayed in Season 1's "Mudd's Women" and Season 2's "I, Mudd" by character actor Roger C. Carmel.

In his early 30s when he played Mudd, Carmel had already racked up a sizable amount of credits on Broadway, TV, and in film when he got the nod. He voiced the character once more for "Mudd's Passion," a 1973 episode of "Star Trek: The Animated Series," and made guest appearances on "The Man from U.N.C.L.E.," "The Dick van Dyke Show," "Batman," "The Munsters," "Hawaii Five-0," "All in the Family," "Laverne and Shirley," and many others. Carmel later shifted mostly to voice work before playing "Senor Naugles" in a successful but short-lived ad campaign for a Mexican restaurant chain called Naugles.

Carmel died at age 54 on November 11, 1986. Although the official cause of death was "hypertrophic cardiomyopathy" — a disease of the heart muscles — rumors persisted for years that he either committed suicide or overdosed.

Susan Oliver had been working since 1955 in TV and movies when she was asked to appear as Vina, a human woman imprisoned on the planet Talos IV in "The Cage," the first, unsold pilot for "Star Trek." Vina appears in different guises throughout the show, most notable as a green Orion slave girl who does an erotic dance to tempt Captain Christopher Pike. Oliver's green-painted visage — the result of a long, tedious make-up process — became an enduring image of "Star Trek" after footage from "The Cage" was recycled for the two-part Season 1 episode "The Menagerie."

Oliver continued to act and even direct, mostly on TV, into the late '80s and was nominated for an Emmy for a supporting role in the 1976 TV movie "Amelia Earhart." She was also a licensed commercial pilot who attempted to become the first female pilot to fly from the U.S. to Moscow, but was refused entry to Soviet airspace. She died from lung cancer on May 10, 1990 at the age of 58. A documentary about her life, "The Green Girl," was released in 2014.

Like many "Star Trek" veterans, Vienna-born actor Bibi Besch developed an extensive career in television and film since making her debut in 1966, turning up on hit shows like "The Rockford Files," "Murder, She Wrote," and "The Golden Girls." But she did not appear on a "Trek" TV series — instead, she played Dr. Carol Martin, inventor of the Genesis Project and mother of James T. Kirk's estranged son David in "Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan."

Besch's post-"Khan" work included a reunion with that film's director, Nicholas Meyer, for the disturbing 1983 nuclear war TV film "The Day After," along with recurring roles on "Falcon's Crest," "Northern Exposure," and "The Jeff Foxworthy Show." Besch kept working right up until her death from breast cancer at the age of 54 on September 7, 1996, and even showed up in an episode of "Melrose Place" that aired two days after her passing.

Born in Bombay in 1948, Persis Khambatta became, in 1965, just the third Indian woman in history to compete in the Miss Universe pageant. Her work as a model led to small roles in a handful of Bollywood and British pictures before she was picked to play Lieutenant Ilia, the bald Deltan navigator of the Enterprise. Khambatta agreed to shave her head for the role, which was initially developed in 1977 for the "Star Trek: Phase II" TV series before that was abandoned in favor of the 1979 film "Star Trek: The Motion Picture." 

Her appearance in "ST: TMP" led to more roles in films like "Nighthawks" and "Megaforce," and although she was a contender for the title role in the James Bond thriller "Octopussy," the part went to Maud Adams. Guest shots on shows like "MacGyver" and "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman" followed. Plagued since 1980 by health problems, Khambatta succumbed to a heart attack in Mumbai (formerly Bombay) on August 18, 1998, at the age of 49.

Canadian actor John Colicos made "Star Trek" history as Kor, the show's first major Klingon adversary, in the original series' Season 1 episode "Errand of Mercy." According to Marc Cushman's "These Are The Voyages," Colicos was supposed to play Kor again in Season 2's "The Trouble with Tribbles" and Season 3's "Day of the Dove," but was unavailable both times. He — along with the actors who did play the main Klingon antagonists on those segments — later appeared on "Star Trek: Deep Space Nine," reprising Kor in the episode "Blood Oath."

In addition to two more episodes of "Deep Space Nine," Colicos' other sci-fi credentials include the role of Count Baltar on the original 1978 "Battlestar Galactica" and voicing Apocalypse on "X-Men: The Animated Series" in the mid-1990s. Before his death at age 71 on March 6, 2000, after several heart attacks, Colicos had compiled nearly a hundred screen credits — but he'll always be the first Klingon.

No one loved the Enterprise more than her Chief Engineer, Lieutenant Commander Montgomery Scott, and James Doohan's portrayal of the "miracle worker" is a cornerstone of the "Star Trek" universe — even if, according to "Inside Star Trek: The Real Story," creator Gene Roddenberry almost fired him following his debut in the second pilot, "Where No Man Has Gone Before." Instead, Doohan's "Scotty" was an integral part of all three seasons of the original series, the animated series, and seven of the feature films, as well as a sixth season episode of "Star Trek: The Next Generation."

A veteran of World War II, the Canadian-born Doohan saw combat and was wounded during the D-Day invasion of Normandy. He already had a vast trove of TV and radio work under his belt when he boarded the Enterprise, and was quite adept at voiceover work — he often voiced aliens, computers and other non-humanoids on "Star Trek: The Original Series," and performed multiple roles on the animated series. While work outside of "Star Trek" dried up in his later years, he remained enormously popular at "Star Trek" conventions until 2004, when Alzheimer's disease and Parkinson's disease forced him out of the spotlight. He beamed up for good on July 20, 2005, and some of his ashes made it into space in 2008 and 2012.

Lee Bergere's one appearance on "Star Trek: The Original Series" was a memorable one: In the Season 3 episode "The Savage Curtain," he played President Abraham Lincoln — or rather, a simulacrum of Lincoln created by the aliens known as the Excalbians to fight alongside Kirk, Spock and a similar recreation of the Vulcan philosopher Surak in a contest staged to explore the nature of good vs. evil.

While the episode is considered among the silliest in the "Trek" canon, Bergere did bring a certain dignity and gravitas to the role. As with many "Trek" guests, the Brooklyn-born Bergere was the very definition of a working character actor, with more than 150 TV credits. He appeared regularly as head servant Joseph Anders on the first three seasons of "Dynasty" (1981-1983), and showed up in the 1975 ABC series "The Hot l Baltimore" as one half of a middle-aged gay couple — at the time a groundbreaking scenario for network TV. Bergere died at the age of 88 on January 31, 2007, in Fremont, New Hampshire from undisclosed causes.

Khan Noonien Singh is generally considered one of the greatest "Star Trek" villains — if not the greatest — in the series' long history. One of a group of genetically enhanced humans who tried to conquer Earth in the late 20th century, he and his followers put themselves in suspended animation aboard an interstellar vessel and slept for centuries, waking up and trying to take over the Enterprise in the classic episode "Space Seed."

Khan returned 15 years later in "Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan," out for revenge against Captain Kirk for the death of Khan's wife. Khan was played both times by the Mexican actor Ricardo Montalban, who would also star as Mr. Roarke on the hit 1970s TV series "Fantasy Island" and also play the key role of circus owner Armando in two of the "Planet of the Apes" movies from earlier that decade. A star in Mexico since the 1940s, he kept working right into his 80s, landing late roles in the "Spy Kids" series. Montalban also co-founded the Nosotros Foundation to advocate for the better portrayal of Latinos in the entertainment industry. He died at age 88 from heart failure on January 14, 2009.

Veteran actor William Windom had the opportunity to appear in three of sci-fi's greatest screen franchises during his almost 60 years in the business: He starred in the classic "Twilight Zone" episode "Five Characters in Search of an Exit" in 1961, played the President of the United States in 1971's "Escape from the Planet of the Apes," and guest-starred as the obsessed Commodore Matt Decker in the Season 2 "The Original Series" episode "The Doomsday Machine."

In this widely acclaimed favorite among fans, Decker's own vessel is wrecked and his entire crew killed by a giant alien robot that smashes planets to pieces, so he hijacks command of the Enterprise in a quixotic attempt to destroy the automaton before it ventures into the rest of the galaxy.

In addition to his top-shelf sci-fi credits, the gruff-voiced Windom made his film debut in 1962 in "To Kill a Mockingbird," and guested on just about every major network TV series around between the 1950s and early 2000s, including a longtime recurring role on "Murder, She Wrote." Congestive heart failure took his life at the age of 88 on August 16, 2012.

What can be said about the great Leonard Nimoy and his truly iconic portrayal of Vulcan science officer Mr. Spock that hasn't already been said? Cast by Gene Roddenberry in the role for the very first "Trek" pilot, "The Cage," Nimoy's Spock was the only character that survived a complete cast overhaul for the show's second pilot and the series — even though the network (NBC) was against his inclusion. The cool, logical, half-human (and Emmy-nominated) Spock became the show's most popular character and remains a bracing combination of rationality, intellect, compassion, and loyalty.

Nimoy's place in pop culture history had long been secured when he passed away at age 83 on February 27, 2015, from COPD (chronic obstructive pulmonary disease). In addition to his extensive acting and directing credits — which included two of the "Star Trek" feature films — Nimoy was a longtime advocate for the arts, a devotee to science, and an activist for Jewish causes. And how many legendary actors can say they've had an asteroid named after them?

Actor and dancer Yvonne Craig was just the second green-skinned woman to appear on "Star Trek: The Original Series," after Susan Oliver in "The Cage," but her turn as Orion asylum inmate Marta in the Season 3 episode "Whom Gods Destroy" was a memorable one. Unlike Oliver, Craig was trained as a dancer and used those skills to remarkable effect in the episode, one of the show's campiest.

Although her long film and TV career began in 1957, Craig of course rocketed to fame a decade later when she was cast as Barbara Gordon/Batgirl on the third season of the ABC-TV series "Batman." According to Huffington Post, Craig said she did all her own stunts for the show, and her combination of "ass-kicking" crime fighter and brainy librarian made her a "pioneer of female superheroes" on television. She died of breast cancer at age 78 on August 17, 2015.

Born in Queens, New York to actors Robert Walker and Jennifer Jones, Robert Walker Jr. made his mark in spectacular fashion on "Star Trek" as Charles Evans, the teenage boy at the center of "Charlie X." The second "The Original Series" episode ever aired focused on Charlie's inability to integrate back with other humans after living for 14 years on a planet by himself. The incorporeal aliens on the planet, the Thasians, gave Charlie vast powers so that he could survive — powers he was too immature to use among his own kind.

Although Walker continued to work sporadically through the '70s, '80s and '90s, his greatest success came in the 1950s and '60s. In addition to "Charlie X" — considered one of the best "Trek" episodes of all time — he appeared in the 1969 counter-culture classic "Easy Rider," alongside John Wayne and Kirk Douglas in 1967's "The War Wagon," and in TV shows such as "Bonanza," "Columbo," "Quincy, M.E.," and "L.A. Law." He died on December 5, 2019, at age 79 from undisclosed causes.

By the 1980s, "Star Trek" already had a long history of high-caliber guest stars, including Jane Wyatt, Joan Collins, and Ricardo Montalban. For "Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home" they added Brock Peters, star of the Academy Award-winning 1962 classic, "To Kill a Mockingbird." In the film, he starred as Admiral Cartwright, and he returned for "Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country" where it was revealed that he had betrayed the Federation and allied with a group of dissident Klingons to sabotage peace talks. 

Peters would be cast a second time in the franchise in 1996, in a very different role. That year he joined the spin-off series, "Star Trek: Deep Space Nine," as Joseph Sisko, father to Captain Benjamin Sisko. He'd play the role in six episodes, including the acclaimed installment, "Far Beyond the Stars." 

Outside of "Trek," Peters also starred in a number of famous films, including "Soylent Green" and "Porgy and Bess," which was adapted from the musical he'd also starred in on Broadway years earlier. Sci-fi fans may also recognize him as the voice of Darth Vader in the "Star Wars" radio dramas where he stood in for the inimitable James Earl Jones. Peters died after a battle with pancreatic cancer in 2005 at the age of 78.

In a key episode of "Star Trek: The Next Generation" that sees the Enterprise return to Earth, producers needed a veteran actor to play an enigmatic character known as Boothby, who had been mentioned before by Picard as a wise and sagely groundskeeper at Starfleet Academy. They turned to Hollywood legend Ray Walston, who would join the cast of the hit series, "Picket Fences," later that same year.

Walston had a long and varied career, but might be best known for his iconic role as the titular alien in the 1963 series, "My Favorite Martian," or perhaps as Mr. Hand in "Fast Times at Ridgemont High." With a list of credits too long to rattle off every classic series he popped up in, it's enough to say that he was a mainstay on screens big and small across many decades. He'd even return to the role of Boothby (sort of) when he guest starred in two episodes of "Star Trek: Voyager," once as an alien posing as the Starfleet gardener, and a second time in an elaborate dream sequence. He continued acting right up until his death in 2001 at the age of 86.

In "Star Trek" lore, there are few mythological figures that conjure up as much mystique and reverence as the great Klingon warrior known as Kahless. First mentioned in an episode of the original "Star Trek," he is said to be the founder of the Klingon Empire. In "Star Trek: The Next Generation" his legend grew and was said to be the greatest warrior in Klingon history, an almost Christ-like figure who united his people and who was prophesied to return one day to lead his people to new glory. When he did, resurrected by genetic engineering in the episode "Rightful Heir," he was played by Kevin Conway.

But playing Kahless wasn't Conway's only contribution to science fiction. Fans know Conway's voice well in fact, as he provided the intro and outro narration for the 1995 reboot of "The Outer Limits." He also had a lengthy career on the big screen, mostly playing supporting roles in movies like "Slaughterhouse-Five," "Jennifer 8," and "The Quick and the Dead." He had countless credits on TV, and in the late 2000s he joined "The Good Wife" in a recurring role as Jonas Stern, his final on-screen role. He died in 2020. 

With a career that touched parts of seven decades, members of every generation would recognize Sally Kellerman from one role or another. Many might know her best for originating the role of "Hot Lips" Houlihan in the feature film version of "MASH," while '80s kids no doubt recognize her as the ghost of adult film star Roxy Dujour from "Meatballs III: Summer Job." Even in later years, Kellerman was still active, appearing in episodes of "The Young and the Restless," "Workaholics," and "Law & Order: LA" in the 2010s.

But before all of those roles, Kellerman appeared in one of the most famous episodes of "Star Trek" from 1966, "Where No Man Has Gone Before." Notable for being the second pilot of the series and the first episode filmed with William Shatner as Captain Kirk, it was the third episode aired overall. In the story, Kellerman plays Enterprise officer Dr. Elizabeth Dehner, who, along with helmsman Gary Mitchell, achieves godlike powers. Long after her appearance, Kellerman continued making appearances at "Star Trek" conventions up until her death in February 2022.

British actor W. Morgan Sheppard played four major characters across multiple shows and films in the "Star Trek" franchise. But he also has a rare distinction of playing different characters in both the original "Star Trek" timeline and the J.J. Abrams reboot. His first role came in 1988 when he played Federation scientist Ira Graves in the "The Next Generation" episode, "The Schizoid Man," where he steals the android Data's body to extend his lifespan. He then moved over to the films, playing the Klingon commandant at the Rura Penthe penal colony in "Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country." Sheppard returned in "Star Trek: Voyager" as the alien Qatai in the episode, "Bliss."

In 2009, Sheppard came back to "Trek" once more to portray a Vulcan administrator who berates a young Mr. Spock, played by Zachary Quinto. Sci-fi fans will also remember his role in "Doctor Who," where in the episode, "The Impossible Astronaut," he plays an older version of Canton Delaware III, with his younger self played by Morgan's real-life son, Mark Sheppard. It was Mark who announced the passing of his father in 2019 at the age of 86 in a moving dedication on Instagram.

When "Star Trek: The Next Generation" was first being assembled, the role of Captain Jean-Luc Picard was one of the toughest to fill, with a number of contenders vying for the role. Before Patrick Stewart nabbed the part, Mitchell Ryan was an early favorite, according to StarTrek.com. But like Billy Campbell — who lost out on the role of Commander Riker but was cast in a guest starring role — Ryan wound up on the show in the episode, "The Icarus Factor." That Season 2 episode sees Ryan come aboard the Enterprise playing the part of Riker's father Kyle.

Shortly before he played Kyle Riker, Ryan starred in "Lethal Weapon" as the film's main villain, General Peter McAllister. Some 20 years earlier though he'd made a name for himself by starring as Burke Devlin in "Dark Shadows." Audiences today might remember him best from his starring role in the popular '90s sitcom, "Dharma and Greg," where he played Greg's father, Edward. In March 2022, Ryan died of congenital heart failure at the age of 88.

On its debut in 1993, "Star Trek: Deep Space Nine" was more than just the second spin-off of the hit sci-fi franchise. It was also markedly different from its predecessors, with a decidedly religious angle to its story, something that "Star Trek" had almost entirely shied away from to that point. Embodying this religious element were the Bajorans, whose spiritual leader was Kai Opaka, played by Camille Saviola.

A veteran of stage and screen, Saviola's filmography is littered with roles in some of TV's biggest hits, including episodes of "L.A. Law," "NYPD Blue," and "Friends" in the 1990s, and "ER," "Judging Amy," "and "Entourage" in the 2000s. Yet while she only appeared in four episodes of "Deep Space Nine," Saviola would be best remembered for her recurring role as Kai Opaka. As the spiritual leader, she was pivotal early in the series, helping guide Commander Ben Sisko into his role as the Bajoran Emissary to the Prophets. 25 years after her final appearance as Opaka, Saviola died of heart failure in 2021, aged 71.

"Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country" may have had one of the finest supporting casts of any film in the series. In addition to Christopher Plummer as the film's primary antagonist General Chang and Brock Peters returning in the role of Admiral Cartwright, it also included Kim Cattrall, Kurtwood Smith, Iman, and of course film veteran and British icon, David Warner. In the film, Warner stars as Klingon Chancellor Gorkon, whose murder kicks off the film's riveting story, but it's actually not the first role he played in the franchise, nor would it be the last.

A few years earlier, Warner played St. John Talbot in the forgettable "Star Trek V: The Final Frontier." More memorably however he returned in "Star Trek: The Next Generation" in the classic two-parter, "Chain of Command," where he played a brutal Cardassian interrogator who tortures Captain Picard.

Beyond "Star Trek," Warner was famous for roles in "Titanic" and "The Omen," and had key roles in cult classics like "Time Bandits" and "Tron," while also voicing Ra's al Ghul in "Batman the Animated Series." An Emmy Award-winner for his role in the 1981 miniseries, "Masada," alongside Peter O'Toole, Warner died in July of 2022 from a cancer-related illness. He was 80.

Kirstie Alley is no doubt best known for her role as Rebecca Howe, her star-making role in the NBC sitcom, "Cheers," after the departure of the original star, Shelley Long. She followed that up with her own series, "Veronica's Closet" in 1997, and led several other short-lived shows of her own. But years before her television fame, Alley played the iconic role of the Vulcan Lt. Saavik in "Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan." In the film, she's the protege of Mr. Spock and is notable for being — along with star Leonard Nimoy — the first character to ever speak the Vulcan language on screen.

Unfortunately, when the time came for a sequel, Alley turned down an offer to return and was replaced in the role by Robin Curtis. Nearly a decade later, when her "Cheers" co-star Kelsey Grammer guest starred in an episode of "The Next Generation," it had originally been planned for Alley to reprise the role as his first officer, but scheduling conflicts quashed her appearance (per StarTrek.com). Still, Alley's mark on the franchise is a big one, and the "Trek" community saw a major loss when she passed away at 71 from colon cancer in December 2022.

When the original "Star Trek" debuted in 1966, it boasted a Black woman on the bridge in a rare display of racial diversity on prime-time television. Nichelle Nichols, in one of her very first on-screen roles, played communications officer Uhura — one of the first Black characters in a leading TV role — and quickly became a trailblazing icon for both women's rights and racial equality. She's also credited as half of the first interracial kiss on television, shared with series star William Shatner.

Before "Trek," Nichols played a role in an episode of "The Lieutenant" penned by Gene Roddenberry all about racial intolerance. But the episode proved too controversial for TV and never aired, making her role as Uhura her first credited role on television. Nichols, who helped inspire scores of young women, famously quit "Star Trek," only to be coaxed back into the series by Martin Luther King, Jr., in an incident that helped shape the rest of her life. 

Thanks to her role in the series, Nichols was the face of women in science and even became a recruiter for NASA in the 1970s. And while Nichols never did win any major awards for her performance as Uhura, she was nominated for a Daytime Emmy in 2017 for a four-episode run on "The Young and the Restless" and received a lifetime achievement award from the Academy of Science Fiction, Horror & Fantasy Films. In 2022, Nichols died at the age of 89, leaving behind a legacy of grace and strength for future generations of fans to aspire to. 

"Star Trek: Deep Space Nine" was known for its stellar recurring cast, and in Season 6 the series added actor Barry Jenner as Admiral William Ross. Nearly a main cast member, Jenner appeared in 12 episodes in the show's final two seasons, playing Captain Sisko's no-nonsense Starfleet boss. He was also the rare Starfleet admiral who didn't turn out to be evil, even joining the crew's victory in the series finale.

While Jenner never did have much of a career in film, he found plenty of success on television. He got his start in the 1970s and went on to secure guest spots on hits like "Remington Steele," "Highway to Heaven," and "Simon & Simon" as well as a recurring role on "Days of Our Lives" before landing the role of Dr. Jerry Kenderson on "Dallas" midway through its run. From there, Jenner secured single-episode guest spots in everything from "Family Ties" to "Mr. Belvedere," on top of multi-episode appearances on the likes of "Falcon Crest" and "Matlock." He even guested in an episode of "Saved by the Bell" when it was still called "Good Morning, Miss Bliss."

Outside of "Trek," Jenner's biggest role in the 1990s was as Lt. Murtaugh in "Family Matters," appearing in 18 episodes before he landed a regular role on the short-lived "Something So Right" in 1996. His role as Admiral Ross was one of his final on-screen appearances, and shortly thereafter he all but retired from acting. He died in 2016 from leukemia. He was 75.

For those unfamiliar with "Star Trek" it may come as something of a surprise to learn that Miguel Ferrer had a role in the franchise. After all, Ferrer is much more famous among sci-fi fans for his role in "RoboCop" (alongside future "Trek" stars Ronny Cox, Ray Wise, and Peter Weller), not to mention countless bigger roles. But in "Star Trek III: The Search for Spock," Ferrer was an instant fan-favorite as the smarmy helmsman of the USS Excelsior.

One of the best character actors in Hollywood in the 1980s and '90s, Ferrer rarely had the leading role but never failed to be memorable. He got his first acting gig in an episode of "Magnum, P.I.," and following "The Search for Spock" he appeared in episodes of "Hill Street Blues" and "Trapper John, M.D.," and even re-teamed with William Shatner for an episode of "TJ Hooker." Genre fans will almost certainly recognize Ferrer as FBI Agent Rosenfeld in David Lynch's "Twin Peaks" in 1990 — a role he returned to nearly 30 years later for the show's belated third season. 

Some of Ferrer's biggest roles, though, came late in his career. In 2001, he joined the main cast of "Crossing Jordan," and he appeared in all of the show's 117 episodes. Not long after, Ferrer starred in the 2007 reboot of "The Bionic Woman" before joining the main cast of "NCIS: Los Angeles" in 2012. He'd stick with the "NCIS" spin-off until his passing in 2017. He died of throat cancer at 61.

Every "Star Trek" needs a doctor, and while many will tell you that DeForest Kelley — aka "Bones" McCoy — was the franchise's first, that title actually belongs to actor John Hoyt. In the show's original unaired pilot, "The Cage," Hoyt starred as Dr. Boyce, the ship's resident physician and confidante of Captain Pike (Jeffrey Hunter). Though he only appeared in that single episode, it's a legendary one that gave Hoyt a special place in "Star Trek" lore as the franchise's first chief medical officer.

Hoyt was no stranger to science fiction when he played Boyce, having appeared in quite a few memorable titles, including "Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea," "X: The Man with the X-Ray Eyes," and 1951's "When World's Collide." He had two episodes of "The Twilight Zone" already under his belt and afterward continued in the genre with appearances on the original "Battlestar Galactica," "The Time Tunnel," and the "Planet of the Apes" TV series. Though he rarely had recurring roles on TV, he did show up in seven episodes of "Hogan's Heroes" and five of "The Virginian," mostly in different roles each time.

Some of his most legendary projects were epics — he appeared in both "Spartacus" and "Cleopatra" — but his biggest role was also his last: From 1982 to 1987 he starred in "Gimme a Break" as Grandpa Kanisky, a role that brought him to the attention of an entirely new generation. In 1991, Hoyt died at the age of 86.

Another guest actor in the franchise, Fritz Weaver is notable not just for his role in the 1994 "Deep Space Nine" episode "Tribunal," but for his extensive filmography that makes him one of the most prolific and varied guests the show has ever seen. In that installment, Weaver plays a Cardassian lawyer named Kovat who is brought in to "defend" Chief O'Brien (Colm Meaney) from trumped-up terrorism charges.

By the time that episode aired, though, Weaver was already one of TV's most unsung heroes. He'd made his mark as far back as the 1950s, and it's actually something of a surprise that he didn't appear in the original "Star Trek," considering his pedigree in the '60s: He starred in two episodes of the original "The Twilight Zone" series (in the episodes "The Obsolete Man" and "Third from the Sun") and appeared in episodes of "The Invaders," "Gunsmoke," "The Fugitive," and "The Man from U.N.C.L.E." And he never slowed down, either, continuing to appear in shows into the '90s and 2000s, including episodes of "The X-Files," "L.A. Law," and "Law & Order."

Weaver won a Tony Award for Robert Marasco's "Child's Play" in 1970, while also earning an Emmy nomination for his role in the TV miniseries "Holocaust," in which he played a Jewish man sent to die in Auschwitz during WWII. Weaver acted until his death in 2016. He was 90 years old.

"Star Trek" has a habit of reusing actors — when a guest star impresses, they bring them back for a bigger role, sometimes even in another series entirely. That was the case with Kellie Waymire, who appeared in the franchise first in the "Star Trek: Voyager" episode "Muse," from its final season, where she played a stage actor on an alien world that resembled ancient Rome or Greece. And just a year later after the launch of "Star Trek: Enterprise," Waymire was brought back in a recurring role as crewman Cutler, a young woman with a serious crush on Dr. Phlox (John Billingsley).

Prior to appearing on either "Star Trek" series, Waymire was mostly a sitcom guest actor, appearing in the "Seinfeld" episode "The Blood," and episodes of "Ally McBeal," "Stark Raving Mad," and "Snoops." She later had a notable role in the "Friends" episode "The One Where Ross Is Fine," playing a friend of Phoebe's named Colleen. Sadly, Waymire's career was cut short in 2003 when she suffered a fatal heart attack caused by an undiagnosed medical condition. She was just 36 years old.

What makes Madge Sinclair unique among "Star Trek" guest stars is that she was cast in an episode of "Star Trek: The Next Generation" mostly for her connection to a franchise regular, LeVar Burton. Nearly 15 years earlier, Sinclair played Bell Reynolds in "Roots," the 1977 TV miniseries that turned Burton into a star. In the Season 7 episode "Interface," Sinclair plays the mother of Burton's character, Geordi La Forge, while fellow "Roots" alum Ben Vereen plays Geordi's father.

Playing Geordi's mother wasn't her first "Trek" role, though, because Sinclair also had an uncredited cameo in "Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home," playing the captain of the USS Saratoga. Sinclair got her start a decade before, though, with some of her first roles coming in shows like "Madigan" and "The Waltons" as well as the film "Conrack" in the early '70s. More famously, perhaps, she played Queen Aoleon, mother of Eddie Murphy's Akeem Joffer, in the 1988 comedy classic "Coming to America" (which also featured "Roots" star John Amos).

On television, Sinclair is most recognizable for her role as Ernestine Shoop on the "M*A*S*H" spin-off, "Trapper John, M.D." as well as her roles on "Gabriel's Fire" and "Me and the Boys." Her final film performance came in "The Lion King" in 1994, where she voiced Sabari, the wife of Mufasa (who was voiced by her on-screen "Coming to America" husband James Earl Jones). Sinclair died just a year after its release in 1995, aged 57, the result of cancer.

"Star Trek" fans got a rare glimpse of Earth in "Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home," and for the first time, they met the Federation President, played by veteran actor Robert Ellenstein. Not a year later, though, Ellenstein was back, this time in an early episode of "Star Trek: The Next Generation" titled "Haven," playing Steven Miller, whose son Wyatt (Rob Knepper) was due to be married to ship's counselor Deanna Troi (Marina Sirtis).

A prolific actor whose work stretches back to the 1950s, Ellenstein's body of work began with an episode of the Walter Cronkite-hosted historical reenactment series "You Are There." From there, his career wove through drama anthologies like "The Pepsi-Cola Playhouse" and "Kraft Theatre." But he also filled the guest role in episodes of "Gunsmoke," "The Thin Man," and "The Rifleman." At the movies, Ellenstein had roles in several all-time classics, including the original "3:10 to Yuma," "North by Northwest," and "Brewster's Millions." He continued acting on TV throughout the '70s, '80s, and '90s, showing up in multiple episodes of hit shows like "CHiPs," "Columbo," "Marcus Welby, M.D.," and "Mission: Impossible."

One of his final on-screen performances was in an episode of "ER." Shortly after, in 1999, he took on the ultimate role: playing King Lear in a production for the Los Angeles Repertory Company. Shortly after, he stepped away from acting altogether. He died in 2010, aged 87.