In this episode, we’re going to discuss the most Short Treks, “The Girl Who Made The Stars” and “Ephraim and Dot.” Following that, we’ll share some very sad news in the Star Trek family.
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Sad news in the Star Trek family
Dorothy “D. C.” Fontana (1939-2019) Dorothy “D.C.” Fontana, the first female ‘Star Trek’ writer, died from cancer on December 2 in Burbank, California at the age of 80. Ms. Fontana, was part of the “Star Trek” universe from its early days, was best known for her work on Spock, the half-human, half-Vulcan Starfleet officer portrayed by Leonard Nimoy. D.C. Fontana, helped craft the much of lore “Star Trek” lore. Ms. Fontana worked alongside its creator, Gene Roddenberry, on the series as a story editor and writer. On the original series, Ms. Fontana was wrote episodes such as “Charlie X,” “This Side of Paradise” and “Journey to Babel.” In an interview with Star Trek.com from 2013, Ms. Fontana said she thought her greatest contribution to the franchise had been “primarily the development of Spock as a character and Vulcan as a history/background/culture from which he sprang.”
Ms. Fontana wrote for all three seasons of the original series. She also wrote “Yesteryear,” the second episode of Star Trek: The Animated Series. Later on, Fontana wrote for other science fiction shows, including “The Six Million Dollar Man,” “Babylon 5,” and “Star Trek: Deep Space Nine,” as well as influential shows outside the sci-fi genre, including “Bonanza,” “The Waltons,” and “Dallas.”
Robert Walker, Jr. (1940-2019) Robert Walker, Jr. best known for a classic early Star Trek episode and as the son of Hollywood stars Robert Walker and Jennifer Jones, died on December 5 in Malibu, according to family members. He was 79.
The New York native portrayed the twitchy, callow title character in “Charlie X,” the second episode of Star Trek’s pioneering first season in 1966. It earned Walker his most lasting screen legacy. Walker was 26 when he played the callow 17-year-old Charlie Evans, aka “Charlie X.” The petulant Charlie came aboard the USS Enterprise as a rescued castaway who survived 14 solitary years amid the wreckage of a downed transport ship. The memorable episode, penned by Dorothy Fontana, takes a dark turn when the orphaned teen’s dangerous secret and formidable mental powers are revealed.
Other career credits include the title roles in the notable 1960s feature films “Ensign Pulver” and “Young Billy Young.”
René Auberjonois (1940-2019) René Auberjonois, best known to Star Trek fans as Odo in Deep Space Nine, died on December 8 of lung cancer at his home in Los Angeles. He was 79.
Mr. Auberjonois played hundreds of comic and dramatic characters throughout his long career and moved easily among television, film and the stage. He often played scene-stealing characters who injected comic relief or snark or a plot wrinkle into the proceedings.
In “M*A*S*H” (1970), the first of several Robert Altman films in which Mr. Auberjonois appeared, he was Father Mulcahy, the chaplain for an offbeat medical unit during the Korean War. That same year, in the Broadway musical “Coco,” which starred Katharine Hepburn as Coco Chanel, he played a flamboyantly gay fashion designer, winning a Tony Award.
Major roles on television over three decades in “Benson,” “Deep Space Nine” and “Boston Legal” made him the kind of star whose face was familiar to millions, even if they might not immediately be able to put a name to it. Across almost 60 years as a professional actor, he was rarely not in demand.
Auberjonois was an amateur artist, enjoying drawing, painting, photography and sculpture. At “Star Trek” conventions he would sometimes sell personalized cartoons to fans, the proceeds going to Doctors Without Borders, a favorite charity.
Michael Lamper (1958-2019) Musician, actor and husband to actress Marina Sirtis, Michael Lamper, passed away in his sleep on December 7 at the age of 61.
Lamper was both frontman and musical director of Steely Jam, a Steely Dan tribute band based in California. As a musician he played with the likes of The Allman Brothers, Quiet Riot, and Los Lobos.
As an actor, Lamper played an Acamarian Gatherer in “The Vengeance Factor,” an episode from Season Three of Star Trek: The Next Generation. He met Sirtis through her personal friend Anna Turkel. They clicked and tied the knot on June 21, 1992. The marriage was in traditional Greek ceremony.
We send our thoughts to Marina Sirtis.
Star Trek: Age of Discovery is a fan podcast for the Star Trek Universe shows including CBS All Access shows STAR TREK: DISCOVERY, STAR TREK: PICARD and STAR TREK: LOWER DECKS.
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