James Wellman (26 June 1930 – 6 January 1999; age 68) was an actor who played "Professor Starnes" in the Star Trek: The Original Series third season episode "And the Children Shall Lead". He filmed his scenes on Friday 28 June 1968 at Desilu Stage 10.
Born in Quincy, Illinois, Wellman's career began on stage in California around 1950, where he studied for three years at the Pasadena Playhouse. During that time, he appeared in over 60 productions, two television appearances, and a series of radio plays on KFAC. He later transferred home to Quincy College to finish his education around 1953, before joining the US Army during the Korean War. He had returned to acting by 1957.
His first notable television appearance was on The Twilight Zone episode "To Serve Man" (1962), with David Armstrong, John Burnside, Theo Marcuse, Monty O'Grady and Joseph Ruskin. He later appeared in Beach Ball (1965, with Dick Miller and Sid Haig) and Wild Wild Winter (1966; with Loren Janes and Dick Miller).
Wellman next appeared on My Mother the Car (1966; with Charlie Brill and Robert Easton) before he made three consecutive Desilu-based series appearances: The Lucy Show (1966; with Lucille Ball and Joan Swift, Star Trek (1968), and Mission: Impossible (1968; with Tony Dante, Bob Johnson, Phillip Pine, and Warren Stevens).
His work in the early '70s included the film Mrs. Pollifax-Spy (1971; with Nehemiah Persoff), Alexander Singer's Glass Houses (1971, with Phillip Pine and Logan Ramsey), and Showdown (1973, starring Dean Martin, with Ed Begley, Jr.), later followed by two additional television appearances, one on The Snoop Sisters (1973; with Lou Antonio and Logan Ramsey) and his final on-screen appearance in an episode of Police Woman (1975; directed by Alexander Singer, and with Charles Picerni, Davis Roberts, and Paul Sorensen).