William Morgan Sheppard In New Star Trek March 19, 2008
by Charles Trotter , Filed under: ST09 Cast , trackback
In a new interview with Den of Geek, veteran character actor William Morgan Sheppard revealed he has a small part in JJ Abrams new Star Trek (and TrekMovie.com has verified the report). Trek fans should recognize Sheppard from his multiple Trek appearances, most notably as the Klingon commandant of Rura Penthe in Star Trek VI. Sheppard only revealed that the role is ’small’ and he plays a race he hasn’t played before.
Den of Geek asked if Sheppard was reprising one of his previous three Trek roles:
No, I will say that much, definitely not. In fact I am playing a different race, I’ve done Klingons…actually, I am going to be judging as a Klingon, though I won’t be dressing up as one for it, at one of those big conventions up in Maryland. That one’s in July, and they want me to go. It’s a Klingon convention. Can you believe it?
Sheppard also talked about dealing with the challenges of working in make-up, like in Star Trek VI:
It holds you back, really. Sometimes you can act the wardrobe, or the wardrobe does the acting for you. When it’s prosthetics like that it’s hard work to get any kind of humanity, even if its an alien. Hard work to get any kind of life behind it. I had fun being a Klingon. My favourite is ‘Soul Hunter’ in Babylon 5. [J. Michael] Straczynski really let me go with that one.
Sheppard in Star Trek VI, TNG and VOY
In addition to his role on Star Trek VI, Sheppard appeared as Ira Graves in TNG episode "The Schizoid Man" and Qatai in Voyager’s "Bliss." The 75 year-old English-born actor might be best known for his recurring role as Blank Reg on the TV series Max Headroom. He also played Maj. Gen. Isaac Trimble in the films Gettysburg and Gods and Generals. His other films include The Elephant Man, Cry Freedom, Wild at Heart, Needful Things, and The Prestige. Sheppard had a recurring role on SeaQuest DSV and appeared in an episode of JJ Abrams’ Alias. In addition to Alias, he has another connection to the Abrams team, appearing as Captain Archibald Witwicky (Sam Witwicky’s great-grandfather) in Transformers (written by Alex Kurtzman and Bob Orci).
Sheppard in Transformers
For more on Sheppard see: IMDB | Memory Alpha | Wikipedia
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Comments»
Yes! Nice choice Mr Abrams! Love this guy.
Cool! He was great in Elvira also.
I had no idea he was still around.
It’s always a pleasure to see them hire talented actors!
ybe an Andorian. With the antenae on the back.
Father!
Oh yes, I do remeber him as the character Blank Reg on “Max Headroom”. I didn’t recognize him as the Klingon Commander on Rura Penthe though. He is a talented actor.
Excellent news. Heck, i still have strangely clear memories of an appearance by him in Crossbow. And until this minute I didn’t even realize I remembered ever watching a show called Crossbow (and sadly, the imdb has very incomplete credits for it, so I can’t even now go on a mad hunt for his episode …)
(For those who don’t recall, it was a lightweight historical/fantasy show about William Tell, told in a universe where William Tell looks suspiciously like Mark Knopfler).
And of course, Blank Reg!
oops… meant , Grandfather!
Decloaking . . .
Love to see those familiar Trek faces.
Still can’t start STOGaM Pt. 2; I give up.
Recloaking.
Good stuff! Ira Graves was cool.
He has the greatest gravelly voice. Perhaps a Romulan?
Hmm.. what’s that thing he played in Voyager? It looks almost like the later ENT Tellarites….
To know him is to love him. And to love him is to know him.
Those who did not love him, loved him anyway. From afar.
No wonder people love working with JJ!
Another nice touch.
The adventure continues…
I like this guys voice also!! “Since you are all going to die any way, why not tell you?” That line and delivery was classic.
Perhaps he will be a Tellarite?
The cast of thousands grows… hey, when are they going to throw us another official picture of… anything?? Orci had said, “soon.” Ok….
He was in theeeeee Pivotal B-5 episode where the Shadows first showed themselves and wiped out the Narn Fleet. He also played the soul Hunter on B-5. God I miss B-5, best Trek along with DS9 since TOS hands down.
i always thought he was Joe Cocker
nice casting
He’ll always be Blank Reg to me
Wow, that “Qatai” makeup looks almost exactly like the “Tellarite” makeup used in Star Trek: Enterprise. At least now I know where they recycled that gods-awful doesn’t-look-anything-like-a-Tellarite makeup from!! :D
B&B must have been awfully short on cash.
As the Klingon, he reminded me of my neighbor while growing up. Same beard, same gravely voice, same attitude. He had 2 eyes, though.
23. The better to see you with.
What a great character actor. Looking forward to his turn as a different alien. Maybe he’s a Romulan, he would look cool with pointed ears accenting that short cropped grey hair.
If he does turn out to be a Romulan, and they slap one of those bad Moe Howard/Spock wigs on the man, I’ll throw my reeses wrapper at the screen. (can’t throw the candy it’s too good!)
A scene with his soul hunter character in the B5 opening credits for several seasons as I recall….
He’s a little chubby to play a Tellarite, isn’t he?
Somehow, they all seem on the thin side to me!
#25
Not only is the candy too good, but at $5 a pack at the theater, it’s too expensive to throw as well!
Anyone considered that he may play a Human–hasn’t done that in Trek yet.
#27…. Tellerite, skinny? They’re all porcine, and portly….
#29… actually that thought had occurred, but wasn’t Ira Graves human?
#29 – Ira Graves was a human.
#18 – When Orci says “soon”, it means “wait for it, wait for it…” Yes, still annoying, but easier to stomach.
Character actors make the films sometimes. It grounds it and allows us to truly enjoy the everyman getting a little recognition instead of pretty-boys or fake, plasticy ladies with the oft-too white to be white teeth and large “nacelles”.
Kirk’s father…….?
Great character actor and a good choice. I was always struck by one of his scenes as Major General Trimble in “Gettysburg”…
“Yes, sir. Sir… I said to him, General Ewell, these words. I said to him, “Sir, give me one division and I will take that hill.” And he said nothing. He just stood there, he stared at me. I said, “General Ewell, give me one brigade and I will take that hill.” I was becoming disturbed, sir. And General Ewell put his arms behind him and blinked. So I said, General, give me one *regiment* and I will take that hill.” And he said nothing! He just stood there! I threw down my sword, down on the ground in front of him! We… we could’ve done it, sir. A blind man should’ve seen it. Now they’re working up there. You can hear the axes of the Federal troops. And so in the morning… many a good boy will die… taking that hill.”
Sheppard played the part so well, you could feel his quiet seething… as well as feel his bravado. Very Klingon-like!
No matter how many prosthetics they cover him in in the new movie, you’ll never miss him because of the voice.
#33 “Kirk’s father….?”
Uh, if this is depicting Kirk going off to Starfleet, when did he sire Jimmy, when he was 60?
I have always love watching this actor perform in Star Trek, glad to see he’s back! I wonder if we will see any other familiar faces? Vaughn Armstrong in some alien make up perhaps? :D
Every man has his time….
Bring back Clint Howard!!!!
This guy is great. It’ll be cool to see him again.
I watched ST VI a couple of months ago and I wondered if this guy was still alive… Glad to see that he is.
I always thought he’d have made a great Mad Eye Moody in the Harry Potter films. From his first appearance in the books, this is who I pictured. The guy they ended up casting as Moody is great though, which is more than I can say about Richard Harris’ replacement as Dumbledore. :-(
Wasn’t he also the Russian General in Rambo III who made the mistake of asking Sly “Who are you?”
“I’m your worst nightmare.”
Hokey, but still a great line!
I saw Transformers for the first time about a month ago or so and said to myself “I’ll bet he’ll be in the movie.”
Looks like I was right.
^34
His was a wonderful portrayal in Gettysburg. The anguish he portrayed was palpable. I thought for a while he might be a combat veteran or maybe a jobsite foreman who lost men under his command it was so moving.
Great actor. Much under-appreciated.
hurrah!!!
:)
Hurray for Blank Reg! Runner-up to Steve Buscemi for “Best Teeth In Hollywood!”
Odd for me to put it this way, but we were “trailer neighbors” when we shot our sequence for STVI. In the hours that “hurry up and wait” entails, I told him I knew him from “Max Headroom,” and he replied, “Bless you, my son!” At the end of our 2 days’ work together, he was very supportive and advised me to keep going, as long as I love what I’m doing and it’s always fun.
#35
Well, we don’t know if Jim is the oldest! William could very easily play anyone 60 up. I think it’s a possibility!
He’d also be perfect in the role of a villainous member of that Klingon subspecies from the Original Series. Give him the fu manchu moustache and a silver vest…and look out, Jim.
He was also beautifully creepy as Mr. Reindeer in David Lynch’s “Wild At Heart”. Silver dollars…
#49 – “Klingon subspecies?”
Is that another half-assed fanboy explaination for why the Klingons and those Crinkle-Heads from TMP-onward look different?
51. [The] TOS Purist aka The Purolator – March 19, 2008
Dam, you are fun tonight.
God bless the character actor. They add flesh to the bone of a movie or TV show.
Crinkly-headed make-up or not.
Yeah, I remember him mostly from Transformers.
Andorian! He’d be great. Could even be Shran, much older.
Anthony, when will we find out that YOU are in the new movie? ;) Me? My agent is still waiting on that call.
Going to see him on big screen again
but he should get a role with more screen time……he deserves it!! he was great in Elvira……here in Brazil this movie is considered a hit….with constant reprising in brazilian TV
Greetings from Brazil!!!! sorry for the bad english…..¬¬
Awesome Awesome Awesome. Shepherd is one of my favorite character actors.
Excellent work, Charles!!
Love that you put pics of the three characters he played side-by-each!! It’s so much easier than trying to picture them or try to look them up. Good stuff. The voice always sounded familiar but I never made the connection. Duh. How could I miss a voice like that?
20. bugs knickson
Joe Cocker? Hilarious (and true!). Never thought of that.
Just looked William Morgan Sheppard up on Widipedia. He’s the father of Mark Sheppard who played Icheb’s father in Voyager (not Mark Shepherd who played “Morn” in DS9). Cool!
kg
Oops. That’s W-I-K-I-P-E-D-I-A.
It’s late.
Goodnight.
kg
“Nooo Electronic Frontier , Only a shield prevents Beaming.”
Awesome — he mentions his son Mark Sheppard, who has his own streak of entertaining SF roles (Firefly’s Badger, BSG’s Romo Lampkin….) I didn’t know that they were related.
I’ve always liked this guy. And Shaun — great call. He would’ve made an awesome Mad Eye Moody.
…which Katie G. just pointed out (re: Mark Sheppard).
This guy was in the series finale of Quantum Leap, and so much more… I enjoy seeing him crop up in things from time to time. Someone above mentioned Vaughn Armstrong and another person Clint Howard… I agree. I also wonder if TOS actress Sherry Jackson is still around? “WOW!!” Is all I can say about her! If only time travel were practical…
I loved his part in “Needful Things” as the Catholic priest.
IT’S NOT THE DEVIL!!! IT’S THE GODDAMN BAPTSISTS!!!!!
I read a review that said he over-acted the Soul Hunter but loved his performance. There was a Soul Hunter in the B5 opening credits but it was not Sheppard, it was the other Soul Hunter who came to retrieve him in that episode.
His other B5 appearance was as G’Kar’s uncle Warleader G’Stenn in “The Long Twilight Struggle”.
I thought it was peculiar that his Klingon commandant not only referred to Rure Penthe as a “gulag” but spoke in a Russian accent. The Cold War references just keep coming, folks.
Final note to gamers, he also did the narrations and mission briefings on several of the “Medal of Honor” video games.
But he was not the Russian General in Rambo III
#65
Yeah, he was in the Medal of honour games! Knew he sounded familiar!
This guy is awesome! I loved him in the various Treks and Transformers!
Awesome! I’ve always loved his performances. Looking forward to another one.
#47., DougE57:
It’s wonderful that you had that opportunity! Glad to hear that he’s a decent guy. I’m curious, what role did you have in Star Trek VI?
#57., Gustavo:
Don’t worry about it, your English was almost perfect! :)
#51—Actually, it’s the “canon” explanation given in ENT, whether you like it or not.
Look, I like my Klingons TOS-style, but it is not their appearance which bothers me.
Klingons in TOS were both as articulate and cunning, as they were brutal.
TMP may have changed the look, but it was the TNG-era which disturbed me most. TNG-era Klingons are so primitive and almost neanderthal-like in their behavior that it makes me doubt the ability of such a species to accomplish the feat of interstellar travel at all.
I’ll take the original Kang and Kor anyday…
#38—LOL!
#69 – I don’t consider ENT to be canon at all, so there.
Other than that, I think it’s pretty amazing that someone else agrees with me on the Klingon behavior issue!! I’ve never been able to figure out how a race who acts like primitives (TNG Klingons) ever got ANYWHERE, much less into space. They kind of went overboard with the whole “OMG WARRIOR RACE” thing in TMP-onward, especially in TNG.
#71—Absolutely. They (Berman and co.) took a lot of liberties with the Klingons and, IMO, ran in the wrong direction.
I hate TNG-era Klingons!!!
The blame of what was done with the Klingons on TNG through DS9 should fall on the golden boy Ron Moore. He was the one who “developed” them.
#73—The blame is on all of them for accepting that approach. They reinvented the whole race and culture and developed whole storylines around it. Why even call them Klingons? They could have been something entirely different instead. TNG-era Klingons are more like Capellans with warp capability…except the “bat’leth” is their weapon of choice instead of that projectile blade thing.
TNG ruined the Klingons!
I agree the Klingons got very irritating and I got sick to death of them by the time DS9 ended. I’m jusat saying if you want to blame people for that, you have to include Saint Ron Moore and not just Berman and Braga.
#75—I hear you, but who called Ron Moore a saint? He was responsible for some decent DS9 storylines, but that’s about all the praise I have for him. He’s certainly not in the league of D.C. Fontana. I couldn’t care less about individual finger pointing on this issue. They all signed off on going that route with the Klingons. I’m sure that if he was given free reign with the Klingons, someone else had to be there to give it to him. I own a business, and if someone I choose to delegate a task to does it poorly, there is no one to blame but me. It has to be that way. The buck never stops in the middle (unless your name is Steinbrenner). Berman and Braga must have liked what they saw in Moore’s work on the Klingons, or it would have gone nowhere at all…
Most fans want to think Moore is perfect in every way, and Berman and Braga are hellspawn.
Re: #12. THX-1138
“He has the greatest gravelly voice. Perhaps a Romulan?”
He reminds me of J. G. Hertzler (General Martok) in DS9.
kg
Re: #75 MattJC and #76 Mr. Poopey face(formerly known as Closettrekker)
About the Klingons – - I did get a little tired of seeing so many episodes about them but I didn’t mind how they turned out. But the way they were costumed in TOS – - that I found laughable. Knowing who the actors were made it worse – - a little face paint and glued on facial hair – - I was more impressed with how they were portrayed in TNG on. I guess the physical appearance distracted me from their personalities. Although from your comments it appears that you feel that they were made to regress from their TOS counterparts instead of evolving.
I will say that the transition was a little rough. The way they handled that was not very clever – - asking Worf what happpened when they realized that the guys with fake beards/make-up were Klingons. I know they tried to address it in ST:ENT but it wasn’t done well. I just ignore that and don’t let it bother me.
In relation to the Capellans, there’s no comparison! The polyester outfits and fake fur… The acting was okay, but again, the physical appearance distracted me. I have enjoyed how the Klingons were developed. (Are we derailing this thread)? Oh well. It’s interesting to hear other opinions.
Gotta go.
kg
Regarding Klingons (mainstream turtlehead or silvervest subspecies) their amorality was in juxtaposition to federation codes of conduct and honor; but viewed from the perspective of some of the more advanced beings, both are essentially of the same coin. It’s no wonder that the two eventually combined after the Klingon’s moon disaster.
BTW, Neaderthals weren’t necessarily the savage wildmen that their species often is used to invoke. For 250,000 years they thrived without major incident, until more “advanced” men showed up, along with climate change and the end of the wooly rhinoceros herds.
#79—Yes, I did feel that they regressed. Again, I don’t care so much about their appearance (I understand wanting to physically distinguish them more from humans), but their behavior went from clever Imperials with technology and efficiency to rival that of the Federation, to Neandethals in space who would rather slay you with a bat’leth and eat one of your organs. Kang and Kor were as intelligent and evolved as they were ruthless and bent on conquering. TNG-era Klingons were almost mindless thugs whose political system was feudal and completely unstable.
I understand the Soviet metaphor, but geez, even late 20th century Russians didn’t regress that far after the collapse of the Soviet machine.
You don’t see Vladmir Putin reduced to feudalism, non-hygenic living, consuming live food, and eating the hearts of slain enemies. Are we to believe that “Praxus” did that to Klingon culture? It was just a bit much for me.
#80—”BTW, Neaderthals weren’t necessarily the savage wildmen that their species often is used to invoke. For 250,000 years they thrived without major incident, until more “advanced” men showed up, along with climate change and the end of the wooly rhinoceros herds.”
I watch the discovery channel/ history channel too. I knew someone would say that. It was just a figure of speech. You aren’t one of those guys from the Geico commercials, are you? If so, I apologize for offending you.
I still like my Klingons more dignified.
Re: #82 Mr. Poopey face (formerly known as Closet-Trekker)
“You aren’t one of those guys from the Geico commercials, are you? If so, I apologize for offending you.”
LOL!! Those were clever commercials…
Did you like ANY of the post-TOS Klingons? What about Gowron? Did you like Worf at all? His being raised by humans make him a little less barberic and more dignified although he still went by the old ways (the wedding customs, the killing of the brother customs, the right of vengeance customs) in some instances.
This is very interesting to me because, as I said, I haven’t really thought too deeply or too much about it. It was more or less entertainment. Of course, some of the more obvious flaws stuck out but I didn’t really delve beneath the surface. Being on this website has been a real eye-opener for me.
My guess would be Kor was your favourite (”fools!! Will I have to kill them all??). Priceless line from TOS “Errand of Mercy” (Season 1, Ep. 26).
kg
#68 – KDoug: I played the Prisoner At Rura Penthe, the unfortunate prisoner who gets thrown out to die as Mr. Shepard welcomes the arriving prisoners. My role had the distinction of being the last of the scripted roles to be cast. I had the unique opportunity to work with Nicholas Meyer, met Leonard Nimoy, and after I recorded a “wild track” on the Rura Penthe set while actors and crew stood and watched, it was Shatner who gave me a smile and polite applause after the take was finished. It was an April in 1991 that this fan will always remember fondly.
#83—Yes, Katie. You have me pegged. I am most definitely a Kor fan.
I enjoyed DS9 quite a bit, but I’m just partial to the Klingons in TOS. I like Kang as well. Koloth was okay, as was the unnamed Klingon in “Friday’s Child” (one of my favorite episodes), but Kor is the best, IMO. He seemed every bit Kirk’s intellectual equal.
#84: “it was Shatner who gave me a smile and polite applause after the take was finished”
This clearly dispels the propaganda that The Shat wasn’t thoughtful to his fellow actors. There is no actor more generous to fellow thespians than Shat.
#86
Yeah, it only took Shat 30 years to learn how to be thoughtful, even
generous, to his fellow thespians.
#87: “Yeah, it only took Shat 30 years to learn how to be thoughtful, even
generous, to his fellow thespians”
30 years??? DougE57’s beautiful experience working with The Shat is from 1991.
This succeeds in confirming what a wonderful person Shat is & his generosity on the set. Takei loves to tell the story how Shat ruined the takes for Sulu’s captain promotion scene in TWOK, but as Shat later explained, if Sulu is captain then how could he be in a film taking place on the Enterprise? When Sulu finally became captain in TUC, if you add up his screen time, he’s in the film for under 5 minutes—-Shat was right & was sincerely looking after George’s career interests. That’s a helluva guy in my book!
He reminds me of an old moonshiner