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Brian Phelps (born 5 May 1959; age 65) is the comedian, actor, and broadcaster who played the mutated Mendez in the Star Trek: The Next Generation fourth season episode "Identity Crisis". Together with his co-host Mark Thompson, he told the audience from this experience in their LA-based nationally-syndicated radio show The Mark & Brian Show, which he hosted on KLOS, Disney's FM station, from 1987 to 2012. Thompson and Phelps interviewed cast members Jonathan Frakes, Gates McFadden, Marina Sirtis, and Michael Dorn for their show on their day of shooting, Wednesday 23 January 1991 on Paramount Stage 16.

Mark and Brian interview

Phelps and Thompson interviewing Jonathan Frakes

Phelps and Thompson were also interviewed for the television special Star Trek 25th Anniversary Special on 30 August 1991 and for Denise Crosby's documentary Trekkies in 1997. Both were also interviewed for the TNG Season 4 DVD special feature "Departmental Briefing Year Four" ("Make Up"), also in 1991. They told that they wore the suits and make up for eighteen hours.

Born as Brian Wayne Phelps in Cambridge, Illinois, he attended Illinois State University. He then worked as an improvisation comedian and did several commercials before he met his future partner Mark Thompson. Their show was also brought into the television format with a short living comedy series The Adventures of Mark & Brian in 1991/1992. Star Trek stuntman Dan Koko coordinated the opening stunt sequence of this series.

Phelps had featured parts in Rocky V (1990, with Patrick Cronin and Clay Hodges), Jason Goes to Hell: The Final Friday (1993, with Kane Hodder, Steven Culp, Leslie Jordan, and Michael Buchman Silver), in The Princess Diaries (2001, with René Auberjonois), and in the comedy Totally Baked: A Pot-U-Mentary (2007, with Ivar Brogger).

He also appeared in episodes of Cheers (1990, with Kirstie Alley, Kelsey Grammer, Bebe Neuwirth, Joycelyn Robinson, Lee Allen, Rachen Assapiomonwait, Don Bennett, James Davison, Lee Faranda, Mike Paciorek, Rebecca Soladay, Natalie Wood, Cooper, and K. Uchizono), Ned & Stacey (1995), Perversions of Science (1997, directed and with William Shatner and his daughter Melanie Shatner), Dharma & Greg (1998, with Mitchell Ryan), Reno 911! (2004, with Matt Winston), Phineas and Ferb (2007, with Keone Young), and Criminal Minds (2010).

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