It's been over 20 years since DS9 wrapped: what have the cast been up to since?
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00:00Deep Space Nine was the show that enjoyed one of the largest supporting casts out of all of the
00:04Trek series to date. Aside from the core characters, there were regulars in Quark's bar,
00:09looking at you, Maughan, and those Starfleet officers who dropped in from time to time.
00:13Add to this the mighty Dominion, the Klingon Empire, and all sorts, and without a chart,
00:17sometimes it's a little difficult to keep all of these characters in check.
00:21One of the major positives are the directions that the actors' careers can take during the show,
00:25and also afterwards. Whilst many have remained on television, some of the cast of Star Trek DS9
00:30have moved into entirely new directions. Some are teaching, some are writing, and others,
00:35well, they've run for office. I'm Marcus Bronzi, this is Trek Culture,
00:39and this is the cast of Deep Space Nine, Where Are They Now?
00:43Number 19. Admiral Ross, Barry Jenner
00:46Admiral William Ross was an addition to the series in the sixth season,
00:50taking Sisko on as his right-hand man. Barry Jenner appeared in several more episodes up
00:54to the seventh season finale, and he passed away in 2016. He was a popular addition to the
01:00convention circuit and attended as often as possible. He also made appearances in Knotts
01:04Landing, Dallas, Somerset, and Another World. He was an avid fan of both tennis and golf,
01:09playing in many tournaments to raise money for charity. Unfortunately,
01:12he died in 2016 from acute myeloid leukemia. He was 75.
01:17Number 18. Legate Damar, Casey Biggs
01:20Legate Damar first appeared in a tiny guest spot back in Deep Space Nine's fourth season,
01:25as an unnamed aide to Golda Katt. This was a very small spot, which eventually evolved to Damar
01:30running the Cardassian Union and finally instigating the insurrection against the Dominion, giving his
01:36life for the fight in the process. Not bad for a walk on pie. Since Deep Space Nine, he's appeared
01:42in ER, The Good Wife, Elementary, Person of Interest, and Unbelievable, a show which features
01:48many of his former co-stars along with other Trek alumni.
01:51Number 17. Rom, Max Grodonchik
01:54First appearing in The Next Generation as Sovak in Captain's Holiday and Parlanor in The Perfect
02:00Mate, Max Grodonchik, like his on-screen brother Armin Shimmerman, has played several different
02:06characters in Star Trek. He is, of course, most well-known for playing the lovable buffoon Rom,
02:11Quark's brother in Deep Space Nine. Originally written as Ferengi Pit Boss in Emissary,
02:16his character grew immeasurably over the seasons until he was finally made the Grand Nagus in the
02:22series' penultimate episode. He has also made guest appearances in ER, like much of Hollywood
02:27during the show's run, Crossing Jordan, Six Feet Under. He's also an accomplished singer,
02:32writing and performing Rom's song, which he often knocks out at conventions. The song, of course,
02:37laments his wishes to take over Quark's bar and have Odo finally leave the station. Cute.
02:42Like many of his co-stars, he's appeared in What We Left Behind, wherein he also sings,
02:46this time with Jeffrey Coombs, Casey Biggs, and Armin Shimmerman.
02:50Number 16. Cassidy Yates, Penny Johnson
02:53Cassidy Yates was introduced in the show's third season and was quickly established as a love
02:58interest for Ben Sisko. After a slightly rocky first year where she was, well, sent to prison
03:03for helping the Marquis, she returned in the show's fifth season where she and Ben pick things
03:07up from where they left off. Penny Johnson wasn't originally a Star Trek fan, so when she told her
03:12other half that she got the job, he was over the moon because he was a big Trekkie in their
03:16relationship. Since the show ended, she is probably best known for her role in Seth MacFarlane's The
03:21Orville, where she plays Dr. Claire Finn. The show is very obviously a loving tribute to Star
03:26Trek, the original series, and of course, the Next Generation eras. Before this, she appeared in a
03:31starring role on Castle, where she shared several episodes with both Michael Dorn and Robert Picardo.
03:36She has also appeared with Michael Dorn back in The Next Generation in the seventh season episode
03:42Homeward. Cassidy Yates was recently teased in the first season of Star Trek's Picard, where her
03:46shipping company has an office in Boston. A precursor to an appearance, maybe? Well, hopefully.
03:52Number 15. Weyan slash Brunt, Jeffrey Coombs
03:55Jeffrey Coombs is an actor with a vast body of work to his name. Before he joined the cast of
04:00Deep Space Nine in the dual role of Weyan and Brunt, he was most famous for portraying Dr.
04:05Herbert West in the films Re-Animator and Bride of Re-Animator. He has a special love for these
04:10films and appeared in the direct-to-DVD third film Beyond Re-Animator in 2003. He also gave
04:16his voice to the role of the redesigned Scarecrow in the animated series of Batman, picked primarily
04:22for the deep sense of dread he could instill with his voice. He appeared in both Star Trek Voyager
04:26and Star Trek Enterprise as well as several other roles. He has appeared in many horror films,
04:31including a large amount based on Lovecraft's literature, starting back in the 80s but
04:36continuing on up until quite recently. In 2018, he played Lovecraft himself in Howard Lovecraft
04:42and the Kingdom of Madness. He can also be seen in Unbelievable alongside many other great Star
04:48Trek actors. Number 14. Gold Ducat, Mark Alimo
04:52Mark Alimo is most recognizable to most Star Trek fans as Gold Ducat, the evil leader of the
04:58Cardassian Union and then later the Parwraith Acolyte. His slow manner of speaking hooked
05:04audiences from the beginning, though Ducat was not his first role on Trek. In the years since
05:09Deep Space Nine has finished, Alimo has stayed away from the spotlight somewhat. He has continued to
05:14work on stage using his role as Gold Ducat as an inspiration for much of his work since then.
05:19Alimo has the distinction of being probably the most developed villain in all of Star Trek,
05:24as Ducat appeared in 33 separate episodes, where his story went from shady Cardassian soldier to
05:30the harbinger of doom in the show's finale. Be that as it may, Ducat remains a firm fan
05:36favorite character. Number 13. Garruk, Andrew Robinson
05:41Garruk remains one of the most interesting recurring characters on any of the Star Trek
05:45series, thanks in large to the wonderful performance by Andrew Robinson himself.
05:50Introduced early in the series, he appeared in many episodes throughout the show's run.
05:54He originally auditioned for Odo, but secured Garruk instead. He kept a character bible
05:58throughout the series, using it to frame and then fully compose the novel, a stitch in time once the
06:04show was finished. The novel chronicles not just the aftermath of the Dominion War, but expands on
06:09Garruk's early life as well. He and Alexander Sedig collaborated on a stage play entitled
06:14The Dream Box, which they often performed together at conventions. He was recently
06:18interviewed for the behind-the-scenes look at the making of the 80s horror film Hellraiser,
06:23wherein he played the father of the original lead character. Prior to Deep Space Nine,
06:27he would have been widely recognized as the Scorpio Killer from 1971's Dirty Harry.
06:32He was one of the first backers of What We Left Behind, and provides a narration thread throughout,
06:36using his instantly recognizable voice to both chill and intrigue.
06:40Number 12. General Martok, J.G. Hertzler
06:43Hertzler actually appeared as far back as the pilot emissary, as the Vulcan captain of the
06:48USS Saratoga. He would of course become best known for his role as General Martok,
06:53with two of his many appearances being as a changeling imposter. Hertzler has a long and
06:58distinguished career on stage and screen. He has a vast Shakespearean credit, something he feels
07:03adds to his ability to play a Klingon. After Deep Space Nine wrapped, he appeared on the series
07:07Charmed and Roswell, the latter of which had an episode written by Ronald D. Moore. However,
07:12it is in the political arena that Hertzler has been busy for the last few years. In 2013,
07:17he was elected as a Democrat of the board to Ulysses, New York, close to a town called Romulus.
07:23In 2016, he and James Cromwell were arrested for civil disobedience,
07:28protesting the greenlighting of underground gas storage in Seneca Lake over public opposition.
07:33In 2017, he announced his candidacy for the U.S. Senate, planning to run in 2018,
07:38advancing to the primary but withdrawing his candidacy a little later.
07:41Number 11. Nog, Aaron Eisenberg
07:44Forever known to Star Trek fans as Nog, Quark's nephew, best friend of Jake Sisko and ensign
07:49aboard Deep Space Nine and the USS Defiant, Aaron Eisenberg sadly passed away in September 2019.
07:56He had suffered ill health for many years, beginning with a kidney transplant in his
07:59teens that stunted his growth and eventually a second kidney transplant in 2015. He had two
08:05sons and a loving wife, whom he married in 2018. He was a professional photographer with his own
08:10gallery. He appeared on other shows like The Secret World of Alex Mack in the 90s and was also
08:15a theatre director up to the time of his death. He played Nog for all seven seasons of Deep Space
08:20Nine. Of the role, he had this to say,
08:22I'll always carry love for the show with me, wherever I go. So when you ask me what I've
08:26left behind, I can't think I've left anything behind, because it's still here with me every
08:31day. A consummate professional, a devoted father, and friend, he was a co-host with
08:36Ciroc Lofton on the podcast The 7th Rule, keeping their friendship going in the years
08:40after the show wrapped. Taken far too young by heart failure at the age of 50, he's sorely missed.
08:46Number 10. Colonel Kira, Nana Visitor
08:49Nana Visitor had one of the hardest roles to play in Star Trek. As a Major, and later a Colonel,
08:54Kira, she was tasked with making an admitted terrorist a sympathetic character, something
08:59she not only achieved, but did so in such a way that it cemented her character as one of the best
09:03across all entries in the franchise. Since the show wrapped, she has kept very busy in terms of
09:08work. She went from space to dancing, appearing in Las Vegas and Washington as Roxy Hart in Chicago,
09:15before joining the Broadway version. She appeared in Dark Angel, Frasier, CSI, and in Wildfire,
09:20in which she had the starring role for four seasons. She then went on to appear in Battlestar
09:25Galactica for one episode of its fourth season, where she plays a woman dying from cancer who
09:29strongly believes in the message of God, tying back to her days as the devout Kira. She appeared
09:34in the BBC sci-fi series Torchwood, Miracle Day for two episodes, and then in Castle with former
09:40co-star Penny Johnson. Like many other Trek actors, she has done voice work in Family Guy,
09:44appearing in 12 episodes to date. She's also appeared in the remake of Friday the 13th.
09:48She's a frequent guest at Star Trek conventions, and it's safe to say that she's kept busy since
09:53the show wrapped. Number 9. Julian Bashir, Alexander Sidiq
09:57Introduced to the show in Emissary, the cocky young recruit Julian Bashir would rise through
10:01the show to become one of the most beloved characters in the series. Sidiq was only 25
10:06when he landed the role of Dr. Bashir, after being passed over for the role of Commander Sisko.
10:11That was a great idea, guys. During the show's run, he fell in love with and had a child with
10:15co-star Nana Visitor, with whom he married and subsequently divorced, although they remain on
10:20good terms. His later credits include Spooks, Family Guy, 24, Game of Thrones, Peaky Blinders,
10:25and Gotham. He has appeared in many films since the show finished as well. He appeared in Reign
10:30of Fire, Kingdom of Heaven, Doomsday, with his uncle Malcolm McDowell, and Syriana, to name a
10:35few. He has also been one of the few actors to both work in Star Trek and Doctor Who,
10:41so it's safe to say that he's been busy. Number 8. Quark, Armin Shimmerman
10:46Armin Shimmerman has enjoyed a very long association with Star Trek. He made his
10:49first appearance on screen all the way back in The Next Generation's first season. He appeared
10:54as the face of Lwaxana Troi's jewelry box in Haven, and then appeared in the flesh,
10:59so to speak, in The Last Outpost, portraying one of the first Ferengi ever seen in Star Trek.
11:05While that episode was mixed in terms of reception, his turn as Quark undeniably was
11:09one of the highlights of Deep Space Nine. Through him, the Ferengi were given a greater depth and
11:14breadth, evolving from something of a joke to a well-rounded species. He also appeared as the
11:19horrible Principal Snyder on Buffy the Vampire Slayer. There were few fans who didn't have a
11:23smug smile when that giant snake chomped down on him. Since then, he's appeared in Nip-Tuck,
11:29an ER, and has lent his voice to video games including 2007's Bioshock and Mass Effect.
11:34He's married to actress Kitty Swink, who guest-starred in Deep Space Nine as well.
11:39Bonus fact! He was actually present on set as Quark when the Paramount lot was hit by an
11:43earthquake in 1994. He quickly rushed home to check on his family, forgetting that he was in
11:48full makeup, and in his own words, scared the sh** out of several onlookers. Number 7.
11:53Jake Sisko – Sir Rock Lofton Sir Rock Lofton was the youngest lead actor
11:57in the Star Trek series when he was cast as Jake all the way back in 1992. It was just a few weeks
12:03after his 14th birthday at the time, but it wasn't his first appearance on TV. He'd already appeared
12:07in several other productions. Throughout the run of the show, Lofton grew very close to his
12:11on-screen father, Avery Brooks. A relationship that he has recently revealed has survived to
12:16this day. Both Brooks and Lofton cite that this relationship was one of their favorite takeaways
12:21from their time on the show. Lofton is currently the host of the podcast The Seventh Rule, which
12:25he previously hosted with Aaron Eisenberg. Although Eisenberg was several years his senior,
12:30on the show they developed a firm friendship that lasted up until his death in 2019.
12:35Though his current acting credits are sparse, Lofton continues to attend Star Trek conventions
12:39and appeared in What We Left Behind, the documentary chronicling both the making of
12:43Deep Space Nine and celebrating the anniversary of the show. He remains involved in the Star
12:48Trek universe and has appeared in some Star Trek web series that have unfortunately had
12:52their Trek overtones dulled due to the lawsuit on fan productions. He now resides in California
12:57and has one daughter. Number 6. Miles O'Brien-Colummini
13:01The long-suffering chief of operations on Deep Space Nine, or to others, the most important man
13:06on Starfleet, Miles O'Brien was a role that Colummini landed back in The Next Generation,
13:11appearing in the pilot, Encounter at Farpoint. He is one of the few guest stars to appear in both
13:16of the pilot and final episodes for The Next Generation and Deep Space Nine.
13:20Meany was perhaps best known to audiences for his roles in the Barrytown trilogy outside of
13:24Star Trek, but he has also appeared in a vast array of both Irish, UK and American productions.
13:29He appeared in Die Hard 2, Into the West and The War of the Buttons. After the show,
13:33he went on to appear in The Simpsons and Stargate Atlantis. He had a starring role in AMC's Hell
13:38on Wheels from 2011 to 2016, as well as a role in the adaption of Childhood's End.
13:45Number 5. Ezri Dax – Nicole DeBoer
13:47Nicole DeBoer joined Deep Space Nine in the role of Ezri Dax and appeared in all episodes of the
13:52seventh and final season. She was actually given quite a few episodes revolving entirely around
13:56her character, which gave her a short amount of time, but the opportunity to really establish
14:00herself on the show. Ezri was a very different character from Jadzia, something that fans were
14:05quick to point out, even though Star Trek painfully goes through the effort to explain
14:09why symbiotes are different when they are in different bodies. Um, do you not know how
14:12trill work? Opinion has softened a bit in the intervening years. The introduction of her
14:17character allowed writers to better resolve the Dax-Worf storyline, which by necessity was cut
14:21brutally short. I'll explain why that happened in just a minute. She eventually ended up in a
14:25relationship with Julian, which sort of brings his arc with Dax in a full circle. Following the end
14:30of the show's run, DeBoer then took a starring role in The Dead Zone, based on the Stephen King
14:35novel of the same name. She appeared in Stargate Atlantis, which also starred Robert Picardo,
14:40although their characters were never seen on screen at the same time. DeBoer was also a part
14:45of what we left behind, expressing her fond memories of her relatively short time on the show.
14:49She currently has a recurring role on the Canadian series Private Eyes,
14:52and she has one daughter named Summer.
14:54Number 4. Jadzia Dax, Terry Farrell
14:57Terry Farrell of course played Jadzia Dax for Deep Space Nine's first six series,
15:01being memorably killed off in the sixth season finale, Tears of the Prophet. She also remains
15:05one of the few main actors to be killed on screen and not have her character come back
15:09in some form or another. The reason for this was due to behind-the-scenes strife. Farrell's
15:13contract had ended and she wanted to renegotiate a contract where she had less episode appearances.
15:19This had the unfortunate effect of angering producers to the point where they decided
15:22they would give her all the time off she wants, by killing Jadzia Dax. Though this relationship
15:27has since been mended, it had not been fixed in time for the series finale, What You Leave Behind,
15:31which features no tribute to Jadzia in the closing minutes. Since then, Farrell went on to star in
15:36shows like Becca, where she remained for four seasons. At various conventions, she has expressed
15:40her regret at how the situation ended between her and in particular Rick Berman, who she cites as
15:45the main reason Dax was killed off. Officially though, it's stated she did not give her permission
15:50to use her likeness for the show's finale. She's in fact stated that she was never approached about
15:54it. In 2018, she married Adam Nimoy, yep, Leonard's son, and had a son named Max from a
16:00previous marriage. She's appeared in Renegades and continues to tour the convention circuits.
16:04Number 3. Worf, Michael Dorn
16:07Like Colin Meany, Michael Dorn was an alumni of The Next Generation, where he played Worf for
16:12seven seasons. Once that show finished and Generations had been released in theatres,
16:16the producers decided to bring Worf over onto Deep Space Nine, making him the first Trek actor
16:21to play a leading role on two of the different spin-offs. He remained with the show until
16:26completion in 1999. Following Star Trek, he appeared as a pilot in the biography film of
16:31Ali. Dorn isn't actually an experienced pilot in real life and owns several jets.
16:35He appeared in the Disney movies The Santa Claus 2 and 3, playing the Sandman. He's
16:39continued to work on television and film, occasionally with his Star Trek castmates.
16:44He was also one of many Star Trek actors who provided their voice on the Disney animated
16:48series Gargoyles, wherein he played the role of Coldstone and Taurus. He has appeared in many
16:53video games and joined the rest of The Next Generation castmates in the Family Guy episode
16:57Not All Dogs Go to Heaven. Word on the street is that Dorn has pitched a Worf spin-off series,
17:02but nothing has come of that yet, and he was allegedly offered a role in Star Trek Discovery,
17:06but apparently was offered so little money he had to turn it down. He's gone on the record to say
17:10how much he hated the makeup required for the role of Worf, but still. When this article was
17:14first written, we did say that we hoped that he would be making a cameo appearance in the
17:18new season of Picard. I better buy myself a lottery ticket, because it's happening.
17:23Number 2. Odo. René Aubergenois. Aubergenois starred as Odo for the entirety of Deep Space
17:30Nine's run, but appeared in Star Trek before as Colonel West in Star Trek Undiscovered Country.
17:35He would later appear in a guest role on Enterprise. Sadly, he passed away from
17:39lung cancer in 2019, but not before leaving a significant body of work behind. Prior to
17:45his work in Star Trek, he appeared in Benson from 1980 to 1986, and appeared in several
17:50theater productions, earning him a Tony Award along the way. Following Star Trek, he went on
17:54to star in Boston Legal, which also featured William Shatner and his longtime friend Armin
17:59Shimmerman. Aubergenois was an accomplished voice actor as well. Perhaps his best-known
18:04voice role was Disney's The Little Mermaid, where he played Louis the Chef, a role he reprised in
18:09the animated television series that followed. Speaking of animated series, he also lent his
18:14voice to Batman The Animated Series, and he's one of the few actors to appear both in the
18:18animated Batman series and the live-action films. He appeared in Stargate SG-1, took part in the
18:23comedy roast of William Shatner, along with appearing in It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia.
18:28He directed several episodes of Deep Space Nine and took part in several of the video games.
18:32More recently, a lovely tribute to Odo is made in an episode of Prodigy. It's the episode titled
18:37Kobayashi, and it uses existing dialogue from DS9. It's fair to say that the face of Odo,
18:42and Aubergenois, will be remembered forever.
18:45Number 1. Captain Sisko, Avery Brooks
18:48Avery Brooks is an actor, of course, but also an activist and a highly talented musician.
18:53He was already a well-known actor before taking on the role of Commander Sisko. He was the first
18:57African-American lead actor in any of the Star Trek series, and throughout his time on the show,
19:02was involved in several of the franchise's most well-known takes on civil rights. He actually
19:06directs the episode Far Beyond the Stars, in which he stars as a science fiction writer,
19:11Benny Russell. Whilst there are currently no plans for Brooks to return to the franchise,
19:15I mean, who wouldn't love a Star Trek Sisko series? His work on Deep Space Nine serves
19:19among the most inspirational acting across the franchise. The fact that he juggled all
19:23seven seasons, whilst retaining a professorship at a university, occasionally conducting lectures
19:28in costume, is no mean feat. One of the best actors that the franchise brought on board,
19:33Brooks is truly a credit to Star Trek.
19:35So there you have it, I've been Marcus Bronzey, and this is Trek Culture, and that was...
19:39The cast of Deep Space Nine, where are they now? Please don't forget to give us a like
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19:53slash MarcusBronzeyWeekdays at 9AMGMT. Until next time, see you around, bless.