John Burnside (18 August 1928 – 26 August 2010; age 82) was an actor who appeared as background actor in several first season episodes of Star Trek: The Original Series including the first pilot, "The Cage". He received no credit for his appearances.
Burnside started his acting career in the 1950s and had featured and bit parts in episodes of Riverboat (1959, with Ricardo Montalban), The Twilight Zone (1960 and 1962, with Theo Marcuse, Joseph Ruskin, David Armstrong, and Monty O'Grady), Arrest and Trial (1963, with Dave Armstrong and Monty O'Grady), Bonanza (1963, with Bob Miles), Kraft Suspense Theatre (1964, with Reggie Nalder and Paul Comi), The Virginian (1965, with Richard Beymer, Sherry Jackson, Leonard Nimoy, Rex Holman, and Paul Power), and Batman (1966).
His film work included 13 Ghosts (1960, with Roy Jenson and Hubie Kerns, Sr.), North to Alaska (1960, with Stanley Adams, Al Cavens, Lilyan Chauvin, Roy Jenson, Jack Perkins, Charles Seel, Victor Tayback, and Eleanore Vogel), Pepe (1960, with Mark Russell), All Fall Down (1962, with Monty O'Grady), The Horizontal Lieutenant (1962, with Lloyd Kino and Irene Tsu), Birdman of Alcatraz (1962, with Whit Bissell, Noble Chissell, and Pete Kellett), Billy Rose's Jumbo (1962, with Janos Prohaska, Chuck Couch, Shep Houghton, and Paul Power), Ticklish Affair (1963, with Bill Mumy, Bill Couch, Sr., Loren Janes, and Paul Power), and Tickle Me (1965, with Lilyan Chauvin, Lou Elias, Carey Foster, Bob Hoy, William Meader, and Mark Russell).
Following his work on Star Trek, Burnside appeared in episodes of The Mouse Factory (1972), M*A*S*H (1972, with Walter Smith), Barbary Coast (1975, with William Shatner, Gene LeBell, Benjie Bancroft, Dick Cherney, and Victor Paul), and Wonder Woman (1979, with Tim O'Connor, Jeffrey Byron, and Walt Davis).
Among his later appearances are The Nude Bomb (1980, with Norman Lloyd, Robert Bralver, Beverly Hart, Nick Dimitri, Benjie Bancroft, Leslie Hoffman, and Dick Durock), Dynasty episodes "The Trial" (1984, with Joan Collins, Peter Eastman, David Armstrong, Suzanne Lodge, Michael Zurich, and Conroy Gedeon), "The Verdict" (1984, with Joan Collins, Conroy Gedeon, Peter Paul Eastman, and Suzanne Lodge), and "The Solution" (1985, with Joan Collins and Devron Conrad), The Colbys (1986, with Stephanie Beacham, Tracy Scoggins, Ricardo Montalban, Peter White, Judson Scott, Georgann Johnson, Dave Armstrong, Ray Petersen, Bob Davis, Faith Burton, and Tim McCormack), and MacGyver (1986, starring Richard Dean Anderson).
Star Trek appearances[]
TOS: "The Cage", "Where No Man Has Gone Before"
TOS: "The Menagerie, Part I", "The Menagerie, Part II" (archive footage)
(uncredited)
