How about giving some credit to Suzie Plakson who we first see as the Vulcan Dr. Selar on board Enterprise D and then as the half-human, half-Klingon mother of Worf's son who is an ambassador and special emissary of the Federation K'Ehleyr on TNG then as the female/Lady Q on VOY and then as Tarah an Andorian on Enterprise. While as not as many as some but she's been in more than some others and is iconic in episodes and has some great characters.
Defiantly not someone who would be considered as playing the most roles or crossed a lot of the franchise lines, but I think Brent Spiner deserves some recognition for portraying multiple family roles as Data, Lore, B-4, Noonian Soong, Arik Soong, Altan Inigo Soong & Adam Soong.
Honourable Mention: Tim Russ also appears in the Orville episode Lasting Impressions where he is curating a time capsule with a long dead womans smartphone in it that Gordon falls for after recreating her in the holodeck. As with many of the Orville episodes the plot borrows heavily from Voyager, in this case Fair Haven where Janeway also falls for a hologram and 'deletes the wife'
Make it 7. Can't forget Scotty and Harriman. And 8 if you count Chakotay as a Maquis captain. Then 9 with Ransom. Heck, he was an acting captain for an episode. Then there was the Emergency Command Hologram bringing it up to 10 he was with plus himself.
Wow, no Tody Todd? His resume in Trek is quite extensive as well as Kurn, older Jake Sisko, Alpha Hirogen, Korban in Elite Force, in Axanar, even in shows like Babylon 5 and Orville and the Flash.
I believe James Doohan deserves a mention as not only Scotty in TOS, TAS, one episode of TNG, and the first 7 movies, but also lent his voice to numerous characters in TAS.
Tim Russ/Tuvok also appeared in DS9 mirror episode, as Tuvok in the mirror universe (Although never verbally called by name in the episode, it is assumed he stayed with the Maquis in that universe.
If memory serves, he was also the runner-up to LeVar Burton for the role of Geordi LaForge, which may have been what put his name at the top of the casting director's mind for later roles.
I think it's worth mentioning Patricia Tallman. Best known to most perhaps as telepath Lyta Alexander on Babylon 5, she also worked on TNG as Gates McFadden's stunt double and regularly appears as an extra, mainly alongside Worf in security, but also in bigger roles such as one of the team of hijackers alongside Tim Russ as Devor in "Starship Mine". She's also appeard in DS9 as well as the Star Trek: Generations movie in which she was present on both the bridge of the Enterprise and that of the Bird of Prey. Her Memory Alpha entry goes on and on, you could almost do an episode on her appearences in the franchise alone.
What about Marc Alaimo? Star Trek: The Next Generation as Frederick LaRouque, Gul Macet, Cmdr. Tebok, and Badar N'D'D. Star Trek: Deep Space Nine as Gul Dukat and Officer Ryan.
How about Kurtwood Smith? he was in Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country as the fed president, Star Trek: Deep Space Nine as Thrax in things past, voyager as Annorax in episode year of hell, and lower decks as Klaar in the episode Veritas
Dorn 277 (plus movies), Meaney 225 if we're keeping score (he missed a lot of S1 TNG episodes then left in S5). Both well ahead of the pack. And more incoming from Dorn.
Outside of Trek, I wanna give props to Frakes and Sirtis for their excellent work as villains David Xanatos & Demona in the animated "Gargoyles" series. Might as well make a note of De Lancie as Discord in "My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic" too, basically Q in chimeric animal form.
Jeffrey Combs made the list, so it is complete. However, why wasn't Brett Spiner on the list? He has functionally played the ENTIRE Soong family, Well... the male half, since 1987. Adam Soong, Arix Soong, Noonian Soong, Data, Lore, B4, and Alton I. Soong (I still think he's just a polished up Lore). 370 years of Soong all played by one actor.
@@ashedarke Voice only? Spiner was in 3 season 4 episodes and featured quite prominently. Including the final scene where he sets the path towards cybernetics. If you mean voice only in one episode, that would be Voyager where he played an entire race of automatons that kidnapped B'lana. So four series, and a prominent character in 2 of them. The list started with Tim Russ for crying out loud.
@@jonathanrichter4256 I stand corrected. I was sure he was the voice of the automatons in the episode "Prototype". He was not. Still deserves a spot on the list.
Uhmmm… you missed Michael Dorn who holds the record for most Star Trek appearances EVER! He played Colonel Worf in Undiscovered Country and Worf in TNG/DS9 and Films. Nobody beats that and I don’t think anybody will.
You made a point on all the Captains Tim Russ interacted with, but missed mentioning Captain Sulu. Granted this was in a Voyager episode but still a separate Captain.
@@ashedarke And a movie, seeing as they counted those separately. 9 different appearances puts her in the 7+ club they made such a fuss about. Far more significant than Frakes or Sirtis cameoing to make a series "legitimate".
I have chosen to believe all characters played by Tim Russ are actually Tuvok, who get send back in time by Janeway to fix a timeline the Voyager crew accidentally broke.
Michael Westmore: "Okay, Jeff, first we need to make a casting of your face..." Jeffrey Combs: "But you already have one!" Mike: "Yeah...We kinda wore that one out."
Combs, Hertzler, Oglesby, and Armstrong have all had 7+ characters and deserve to be on this list. BUUUUUT so has Thomas Kopache. He's less recognizable, but he deserves to be on a list like this more than series regulars like Sirtis, Frakes, or Russ. There are a ton of actors who've had 5 or more roles over the years, some of which are pretty substantial appearances.
How did Leonard Nimoy as Spock not make this list? Being the only actor/character who was in the original Star Trek pilot to actually return along side the otherwise entirely different cast serving under Pike and Kirk, appearing in multiple movies along side the rest of the original series cast, having guest appearances on The Next Generation, and then being the only original actor to reprise his role in the reboots Leonard Nimoy as Spock has the longest run of any actor in Star Trek.
There is an actor named Brian Thompson who, while not well know, has played more rolls in Star Trek than most. I'd be surprised if he didn't surpass the seven role mark, though I can only think of five right now.
Brian Thompson has also been in an avalanche of roles in other sci-fi/action films & tv, like xfiles, terminator, buffy, etc. He's practically an industry staple for character & support work.
@@animisttoo3890 Yes he is, but I didn't mention those rolls here because this was about Star Trek. Those other rolls don't count here, no matter how many there are or how good he performed them.
Did Nurse Chapel appear in The Menagerie? If so, it would mean she played 3 roles in a single episode (Number One and voice of computer being the others).
@@WeberBaker I knew she was Number One in the "archive footage" from The Cage, the question was whether Chapel had appeared in the episode. I figured probably not, but it would have been cool if she did.
Majel Barrett was actually also in The Voyage Home, where Christine Chapel now was a Commander. You see her as the 6th person in the same row as Spock also is sitting in when they bring in the former Enterprise crew to pass judgment on them. Next she is seen after the trial talking to Sarek as Spock is approaching them
There's also Phil Morris: TOS (Boy in Army helmet in "Miri") Star Trek III (Cadet Foster) DS9 (Commander Thopok in "Looking for par'Mach in All the Wrong Places" & Third Remata'Klan from "Rocks and Shoals") Voyager (Lieutenant John Kelly in "One Small Step")
Pretty sure he got the gig in "Miri" because his dad was working on "Mission: Impossible." "Say, Greg, tomorrow's 'Bring Your Kid to Work Day;' we need extras for that space show we're doing next door."
At 2:22, Tuvok is described as "hirsute", which means hairy or furry. You could call Tuvok many things, but I think that a list of his attributes would have to be quite long before you got all the way down to hairy. Ensign Kim would be described as harry before Tuvok, in my opinion.
This jumped out at me too, Whatculture always let themselves down with simple mistakes that are negligible if by a solo creator churning out videos but Whatculture is a funded organisation that should be checking editing their scripts and catching that stuff. It’s almost like they hire based on personality over who would do the job better 😂
Surprised Worf wasn't on the list, and as mentioned below Tim Russ also played Tuvok on DS9 in the Mirror universe and actually met five captains across several roles. Honorable mentions should include Armin Shimmerman (not only Quark in three shows but many ferengi), Robert Picardo (two shows and one movie), Suzie Plakson (multiple roles), Barclay (two shows and a movie), and MORN (three shows).
With regards J.G. Hertzler, he was also an elderly Klingon in the interactive video game, "Star Trek: Klingon". I know various people have returned for video games, such as Hertzler, Jeffrey Combs and Vaughan Armstrong, I'm only mentioning Hertzler's appearance in STK because we actually see him.
I have noticed many (guest stars)actors play numerous different rolls from the Original to DS9 and Voyager. Some you don't reconze due to make up but can catch them by their voices
The woman who played Polanski revealed herself to me in TOS by her voice. Shame as I had a hard time disassociating her younger self from the Polanski character.
Carolyn Seymour Played In TNG and Voyager. Voyager as Mrs. Templeton, the hologram from one of Capt. Janeway's Holo-novels (2-episodes). TNG as: 1. Subcommander Taris (Romulan) 'Contagion'; 2. Marista Yale (First Contact); 3. Cmdr. Toreth in 'Face of the Enemy' I liked her acting and her voice, deep and strong.
I finished watching TNG again, and now on season 3 of DS9.. The acting, monologue/dialogues are very good.. Even better than many movies. Great job by the the cast, writers and production team.
Lwaxana Troi was a character that really grew on me as I've grown older, her episodes with Odo were particularly touching, but even her antagonistic comedy gets me laughing.
@@spiderweenie true but that one is special as is part of a whole new continuity and was her last performance as the computer before her passing. I just felt it should have got mentioned specifically.
Spinner has done TNG, the movies don't really count, voice only in ENT and Picard. 2 and half doesn't cut it compared to these peeps. And Alaimo has only done 2 shows.
@@ashedarke Yes to only three shows, but no to everything else. He's played three very different Android revisions (B-4, Lore, and Data, in order of age) and four very different Dr. Soongs (Adam, Arik, Noonien, and Altan). Additionally he played at least half a dozen different holo characters in "A Fistful of Datas."
@@joelellis7035 the list is the most shows. It's not roles on the shows but how many shows. He's done 2 shows and a voice appearance on ENT 🤷♂️ sorry this list isn't what you thought it is but it's about the number of shows they have appeared on.
@@ashedarke you keep saying his role on Enterprise was voice only, am I missing something or did I just imagine three episodes of Spiner playing Dr. Arik Soong?
Y’all reached 200,000 subscribers “way ahead of schedule” because of the addition of Ellie Littlechild. Absolutely great addition from Who Culture. Keep up the great work, and live long and prosper. Allons-y!
You forgot to mention John Fleck who played 2 different Romulans (TNG & DS9), a Suliban in Enterprise, a Delta quadrant alien in Voyager and a Gamma quadrant alien in DS9.
No one has been in more Trek then Michael Dorn, literally the most appearances of any actor... and you snub him? Like, sure he's only been in 2 series and 5 movies, but he still deserved a mention.
Honorable mention and perhaps a spot on this should have been given to Aron Eisenberg who, as a guest star appeared on more episodes of DS9 (unless you count the voice of the station's computer) than any other actor, more than Marc Alaimo, Jeffrey Combs, Andrew Robinson, Casey Biggs and J.G. Hertzler. Aron carried two episodes of DS9 ( _Valiant_ and _It's Only a Paper Moon_ ) almost completely by himself. He also played a young Kazon looking for the acceptance of his leaders in an episode of Voyager.
Michael Dorn. Lt. Commander Worf. 11 seasons, 2 shows, 272 episodes, 1 movie. And he’s returning for season 3 of Star Trek Picard. He’s appeared in more Star Trek episodes than any other actor. That he’s not mentioned…that’s a major oversight.
Brent Spiner, James Doohan, LeVar Burton, Armin Shimmerman and Michael Dorn... Spiner played in TNG, Enterprise, 4 movies and Picard, Dorn was the only character to have 2 LONG runs on TV on both TNG and DS9, as a MAIN CHARACTER, and played in 5 Movies (Star Trek VI as Colonel Worf) James Doohan in All of TOS, Most of the male voices on TAS and played in TNG Episode "Relics". LeVar Burton played Geordi in TNG, Made appearances on Voyager and the TNG films, and Armin Shimmerman appeared in TNG as the Ferengi in that episode about the T'Kon Empire, Played Quark on TNG, All of DS9 and on Voyager's Premier... Special shoutout to Robert Picardo on his appearances in DS9, First Contact and all of Voyager...
In which case, Colm Meaney should be on here too. But it's not really character appearances for this list, it's how many series have they shown up in. Both Down and Meaney have only been in two series.
I just bought a Cameo from Brent Spiner for my wife's birthday and asked him if he could name every character that he's ever played in the franchise. Data, Lore, B4, and all the Soongs.
0:13 Pat Tallman who has appeared in TNG, DS9, Voy and Generations .... Not in this list, but ...she has been quite a few characters, but you have seen her much more than you remember, as many of her roles are stunt double for Gates McFadden, Nana Visitor, Terry Farrell and many many others ...including B'Etor, Freya, Rain Robinson ...
I read several comments and so many good points are mentioned. Several actors haven't been mention and some details have been forgotten. I guess, we need a new version with 20 actors. ;)
You might wanna put actor Brian Thompson on this list.He's played a different Klingon in the shows and in the films.And for those that don't know,the Star Trek producers,when they like a particular actor,they bring them back for other characters.
Majel Barrett Roddenberry was also in Star Trek 4 in a "blink and you'll miss her moment". In the Starfleet HQ scenes, she's at a comm station. In general she's talking in the background, but the camera closes in on her for "we need that power to keep the medical and emergency facilities functioning!"
Has there been a show yet on guest episode directors? I especially love seeing that the episode is directed by Levar Burton. I'd be neat to learn more about how directors get chosen or if the directors choose their episodes and why.
