Missouri-born actor Andreas Katsulas (18 May 1946–13 February 2006; age 59) is best known to Star Trek fans for playing the recurring character of Romulan Commander Tomalak on Star Trek: The Next Generation. He also played Vissian Captain Drennik in the Star Trek: Enterprise second season episode "Cogenitor".
Out of his four appearances as Tomalak, he appeared on a viewscreen in three of them. He once commented: "I felt much more comfortable when he was an incredible giant on a screen, just a face. Suddenly when I had to account for everything else, I didn't feel support and nothing was supporting what I was doing. I was happy not to recur unless it would have gone back to a screen character". (Captains' Logs: The Unauthorized Complete Trek Voyages)
Katsulas is best known for his role as Ambassador G'Kar on J. Michael Straczynski's Babylon 5. Claudia Christian, Bill Mumy, Patricia Tallman, Caitlin Brown, Erick Avari, and Mary Kay Adams also starred in the series, which ran from 1994 through 1998. Walter Koenig had a recurring role on the series.
Katsulas' most recognized film role is that of the murderous one-armed man in The Fugitive (1993, featuring Daniel Roebuck, Richard Riehle and Danny Goldring).
One of his earliest film appearances came in Ragtime (1981, featuring Brad Dourif, Robert Joy, and Ethan Phillips. The following year, he appeared in the made-for-TV movies A Midsummer Night's Dream, based on William Shakespeare's play and co-starring Steve Vinovich, and A Very Delicate Matter, with Zach Galligan. Katsulas would again appear with Galligan (as well as Erick Avari and Lawrence Tierney) in Nothing Lasts Forever (1984). This was followed with roles in such films as Someone to Watch Over Me (1987, with Daniel Hugh Kelly, Mark Moses and John Rubinstein), Sunset (1988, starring Malcolm McDowell), Next of Kin (1989, with Michael J. Pollard), True Identity (1991, co-starring Frank Langella and Michael McKean), and Hot Shots! Part Deux (1993, with Miguel Ferrer, Martin Sheen and Gregory Sierra). He also played the villain in Stuart Baird's Executive Decision (1996, with Joe Morton, Ken Jenkins, Warren Munson, Tim Kelleher, Brad Blaisdell, Charles Hallahan, Richard Riehle, Eugene Roche and Dey Young).
Outside of his appearances on Trek, Katsulas guest-starred on numerous other TV series. One of his earliest was a 1982 episode of General Hospital, along with Deborah May. He followed this with two appearances on Max Headroom along with series regulars Matt Frewer, W. Morgan Sheppard, and Concetta Tomei and fellow guest-star Charles Rocket. He also appeared in episodes of The Equalizer (with Daniel Davis, Robert Lansing and Keith Szarabajka), Alien Nation (starring Gary Graham, Eric Pierpoint, Michele Scarabelli and Ron Fassler and guest starring Sam Anderson, Joel Swetow and Craig Richard Nelson), Murder, She Wrote (with Bruce Gray, Stephen Macht, David Soul, and William Windom), Millennium (starring Terry O'Quinn), and NYPD Blue (with Daniel Benzali, Gordon Clapp, William Dennis Hunt, and Don Stark). Among the made-for-TV movies in which he appeared include The Neon Empire (1989, with Natalia Nogulich) and The Death of the Incredible Hulk (1990, with Barbara J. Tarbuck).
Katsulas, a heavy smoker, was diagnosed with inoperable lung cancer in early 2005. He lost his battle with the disease on February 13, 2006, at the age of 59. His appearance on Enterprise was among his last television appearances.
Star Trek appearances[]
- TNG:
- "The Enemy" as Tomalak
- "The Defector" as Tomalak
- "Future Imperfect" as Tomalak (hologram)
- "All Good Things..." as Tomalak
- ENT: "Cogenitor" as Drennik
External links[]
- AndreasKatsulas.com – official site
- Andreas Katsulas at the Internet Movie Database
- Andreas Katsulas at Wikipedia
- Sci-Fi Wire Obituary(X)