(written from a Production point of view)
Keye Luke (18 June 1904 – 12 January 1991; age 86) was the actor who played Donald Cory in the Star Trek: The Original Series third season episode "Whom Gods Destroy". He filmed his scenes between Thursday 17 October 1968 and Tuesday 22 October 1968 at Desilu Stage 9 and Stage 10.
According to the Star Trek: The Next Generation Companion, Luke was briefly considered for the role of Doctor Noonian Soong in the Star Trek: The Next Generation fourth season episode "Brothers" when it was thought having Brent Spiner play three roles in the episode would not be feasible.
Brent Spiner made the suggestion of having himself in the role instead, though as he began to consider the implications, he thought about requesting that Luke be called in instead. (Star Trek: The Next Generation Season 4 Blu-ray - Relativity: The Family Saga of Star Trek - The Next Generation - Part Two: Posterity)
Luke was born as 陸錫麟 (Luk Sek Lan or Lù Xílín) in Guangzhou, China. His family emigrated to the United States and settled down in Seattle, when he was a child. He became a naturalized US citizen in 1944. He is most recognized for playing Charlie Chan's #1 son, Lee Chan, in several Charlie Chan films throughout the 1930s and '40s. He's also known for portraying Kato in the original Green Hornet film shorts of the 1940s. He is also remembered for his role as Master Po on the 1970s television series Kung Fu. In 1957, Luke worked with a young George Takei during the English dubbing of Rodan, one of the first Japanese monster movies. Luke and Takei again worked together on the English version of Gigantis, the Fire Monster (1959).
He played the role of Mr. Wing in the 1984 Joe Dante film, Gremlins, and its 1990 sequel, Gremlins 2: The New Batch. Fellow Star Trek alumni Zach Galligan, Dick Miller, Kenneth Tobey, and even composer Jerry Goldsmith appeared in both of these films, while Jonathan Banks and William Schallert appeared in the former and Robert Picardo, John Glover, Henry Gibson, and Ron Fassler were in the latter.
External links
- Keye Luke at Wikipedia
- Keye Luke at the Internet Movie Database