Real world article
(written from a production point of view)
Charles Gunning (12 April 1951 – 11 December 2002; age 51) was the actor who played the third alien miner in the Star Trek: The Next Generation fifth season episode "The Perfect Mate". He filmed his scenes on Friday 21 February 1992 on Paramount Stage 8.
He was born as Charles Douglas Gunning in Waxahachie, Texas, USA.
He is noted for his roles in several films by director Richard Linklater including Slacker (1991), The Newton Boy (1998), and Waking Life (2001). He also had roles in Miller's Crossing (1990, with Mike Starr) and The Haunting (1999, with Virginia Madsen).
Gunning died in 2002 in Desert Hot Springs, California, of complications following a car accident.