Michael Braveheart

Real world article

(written from a production point of view)

Michael Braveheart (11 September 1950 – 18 May 2022; age 71) was an actor of Native American descent who worked as a regular background actor and stand-in on Star Trek: The Next Generation, Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, Star Trek: Voyager, and Star Trek: Enterprise, as well as in at least two Star Trek films. Braveheart is probably best known for his portrayal of Crewman Martinez on Star Trek: The Next Generation, beginning with the second season episode "The Child". He was seen throughout the series as well as in the films Star Trek: First Contact and Star Trek: Insurrection. In addition, he portrayed various alien characters and Klingons in Deep Space Nine and Voyager. As a background actor he received no credit for his appearances.

On several call sheets of The Next Generation he is listed as "Dr. Death" and he also worked occasionally as stand-in such as an utility stand-in on the fourth season episode "First Contact". According to a call sheets, Braveheart was scheduled to appear in the fourth season episodes "Galaxy's Child" in Ten Forward and "Qpid" in corridor scenes but was not filmed or cut from the final episode. He was also scheduled to appear in the fifth season episodes "Ensign Ro" in Ten Forward and "The First Duty" in sickbay but did not appear in the final episodes.

Braveheart was one of the background actors on the video game Star Trek: Klingon Academy in 2000. A Klingon uniform worn by him was sold off on the It's A Wrap! sale and auction on eBay [1]^(X) as well as his Starfleet uniform. [2]^(X) On Wednesday 4 June 1997, Bravheart was transformed into a Klingon for an official Paramount event, held at 3:30 pm. His makeup call was at 12:30 pm. On Tuesday 10 June 1997, Braveheart was again transformed into a Klingon for an official Paramount event. The call sheet for this day noted his makeup call at 6:30 am.

Braveheart trained acting under Ted Harris, Stella Adler, and Kim Stanley. He performed in stage plays such as "The Undefeated", "Talk To Me like The Rain", and "The Time Of Your Life". He is also experienced with celebrity makeup and hair, as print and web model and as one on one acting coach.

Prior to his work on Star Trek, Braveheart was a regular background performer on Cagney & Lacey in the 1980s. Meg Foster was a regular at the beginning while Stephen Macht and Stanley Kamel had recurring roles. Film work include Always (1989, with James Lashly and Joseph Michael Roth), One Good Cop (1991, with Kevin Conway, Tony Plana, Victor Rivers, Mike Hagerty, Barbara Townsend, and Henry Kingi, Jr.), and The Doors (1991, with Mark Moses, Frank Military, Paul Williams, Titus Welliver, Allan Graf, Peter Crombie, Jad Mager, and Shannon Ratigan). Braveheart also appeared as a bar patron in the Cheers episodes "How to Recede in Business" (1988, with Kirstie Alley, Kelsey Grammer, Lee Allen, Mark Reilly, Rebecca Soladay, Robert Buckingham, Michael Wilkinson, and Lemuel Perry) and "How to Marry a Mailman" (1989, with Kirstie Alley, Kelsey Grammer, Bebe Neuwirth, Lee Allen, Mark Lentry, Jay Crimp, Keith Rayve, and John Rice) and as a Mexican waiter in the Cheers episode "One Happy Chappy in a Snappy Serape" (1988, with Kirstie Alley, Kelsey Grammer, Alex Nevil, Mark Reilly, Lee Allen, Rudy Morrison, Rebecca Soladay, Joseph Paz, Uriah Carr, Melba Gonzalez, and Richard Sarstedt).

Braveheart received special thanks in the end credits of the comedy Scumbag (2016) and worked as director on the short films Prayer for My Daughter (2019) and Fame (2019).

Braveheart died in May 2022 as he suffered from chronic congestive heart failure and arthritis for several years.