J.G. Hertzler Runs For Congress, Patrick Stewart Drinks Shoe Champagne And More Star Trek CelebWatch

MONTREAL, QC - JUNE 11: Actor Sir Patrick Stewart celebrates on the podium with Daniel Ricciardo of Australia and Red Bull Racing and a shoey during the Canadian Formula One Grand Prix at Circuit Gilles Villeneuve on June 11, 2017 in Montreal, Canada. (Photo by Clive Mason/Getty Images)

J.G. Hertzler, best known to Trek fans for his recurring role as Klingon General Martok from Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, has announced he is running for Congress. Hertzler is currently an elected member of the Town Board of Ulysses, N.Y. and hopes to unseat Congressman Tom Reed of New York’s 23rd District. And according to the report from his weekend announcement, the actor is planning on campaigning “in character,” but not as a Klingon:

Hertzler says he’ll run not just as himself, but “in the persona of Mark Twain,” and present his ideas “through the brilliant humorist for all ages.” Twain, born Samuel Clemens, spent much of his life in Elmira, about an hour south of Trumansburg and the Ithaca area. He says his plan is also a tribute to Hal Holbrook, who has portrayed Mark Twain for over 60 years, including at the Clemens Center in Elmira a few years ago. He won a Tony award for his portrayal of Twain fifty years ago, and is said to have portrayed Twain longer than Clemens himself did.

Republican Tom Reed has held the seat since 2012. In 2016 he carried the district with a 15-point margin. Hertzler has filed papers to run as a Democratic, which means he will first have to win the nomination by running in a primary against local teacher Rick Gallant who announced a run in May with the support of local Democratic Party County chairs.

J.G. Hertzler on Ulysses Town Council and as Martok in Star Trek: Deep Space Nine

Patrick Stewart Drinks Shoe Champagne At Canadian Grand Prix

Sir Patrick Stewart is making news today for his bravery. Over the weekend the Star Trek: The Next Generation star was at the Formula One Canadian Grand Prix in Montreal where he was conducting the podium interviews after the race. Australian driver Daniel Ricciardo decided to celebrate by drinking some champagne from one of his shoes and then invited Stewart to drink from the other. Amazingly, Sir Pat did. Watch him drink sweaty shoe champagne in the video from Formula 1 below.

Nichelle Nichols To Appear In Downward Dog

ABC has announced that Star Trek’s Nichelle Nichols will be a guest star on their talking-dog sitcom Downward Dog. She will appear in the June 20th episode titled “Old” where she will be playing a local celebrity singer named Deejay Devine.

Nichelle Nichols Downward Dog “Old”  (ABC)

Nichelle Nichols with Allison Tolman and Kirby Howell-Baptiste in Downward Dog “Old”  (ABC)

Downward Dog airs Tuesdays on ABC at 8:00 PM.

More Celeb Bits

Star Trek Enterprise’s (and previous Tony-winner) Scott Bakula presented at the 71st Annual Tony Awards at the Radio City Music Hall in New York City last night.

Scott Bakula with Sutton Foster at 2017 Tony Awards (Getty)

The Mummy, directed by Star Trek writer/producer Alex Kurtzman,  opened over the weekend to poor reviews and ended being beat at the domestic box office by Wonder Woman (co-starring Star Trek’s Chris Pine) in its second weekend. However, internationally The Mummy did relatively well bringing in a total of over $173M for the weekend. The eponymous mummy is played by Sofia Boutella who revealed that when she played Jaylah in Star Trek Beyond she brought a massage table to relax on while her makeup was applied, which she did again for The Mummy (as can be seen in this new Instagram photo she shared over the weekend). 

Speaking of Chris Pine, he is getting a lot of good buzz from the highly-rated Wonder Woman, for example: Business Insider declaring the actor is “suddenly at the top of his game.”

And speaking of Sofia Boutella she will be re-uniting with her Beyond co-star Zachary Quinto in the upcoming film Hotel Artemis. Empire reports he and Sofia have joined the cast along with Jodie Foster for Iron Man 3 writer Drew Pearce’s directorial debut in what is described as a near-future thriller.

Star Trek’s Zoe Saldana stars in “Free Me,” an emotional new music video from Sia about dealing with HIV.

That’s it for this week’s celebrity roundup, but keep up with all the Star Trek celebrity news here at TrekMovie

 

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Patrick. My view of you now feels stepped upon.

DON’T LITTER!

Campaigning in character as Mark Twain? Oh, geez. Like any normal person I’d hope the Republican wins anyway, but at the very least let it be the other Democrat if it has to be.

Being a Republican in New York must feel like being a tribble on Kronos.

Ask a gay person about living in the deep south and then your analogy is more accurate.

Stargazer 1893,

Wait, are you saying that after gaining the right to marry that they found a way to apply their miscegenation laws in a somehow more encompassing form to gays and the intersex in the deep South?

http://www.npr.org/2017/06/12/532123349/illicit-cohabitation-listen-to-6-stunning-moments-from-loving-v-virginia

I do recall a heterosexual married couple getting arrested for engaging, behind closed doors, in an outlawed form of sex. Is it still that bad in the land of my birth?

What normal people want financially incompetent warmongering bigots in power?

Stargazer 1893,

As much as it pains me to lable them normal, arms merchants.

“lable” should be “label”

Normal person? Care to define that???

Clemons was a more sensible and moral person than you could ever hope to be.

I doubt Clemons would agree with your assessment of his own character.

If Hertzler ran in my area, I’d vote for him. Martok/Worf 2020!

Business Insider is declaring that Chris Pine is “suddenly at the top of his game”? Well, I declare you guys to be “on the outs.” Clearly you haven’t been paying attention these past, oh, eight years. Pine consistently gives top performances, whether he’s playing Steve Trevor or Kirk or … any other role. He’s a professional and he puts everything into his work, just like any other actor with chops.

Does Scott Bakuka have a portrait of himself in his attic? The man simply doesn’t seem to age!

I second the ticket of Martok/Worf 2020! (And I seriously hope JGH unseats that doofus Tom Reed.)

I’ve known John Hertzler for 35 years. He’s the real deal, folks. If you’re in the 23rd District, he won’t disappoint you or let you down. If you follow him on Facebook, you know what he believes in. I believe in him.

What happened to Bakula’s Tony? Did they rescind it?? Was he on performance-enhancers as I have always suspected?