Richard Libertini (21 May 1933–7 January 2016; age 82) was the actor who played Akorem Laan in the Star Trek: Deep Space Nine fourth season episode "Accession".
Personal[]
Libertini was born in Cambridge, Massachusetts, and graduated from Emerson College in Boston. From 1963 through 1978, he was married to Academy Award-nominated actress Melinda Dillon, with whom he has a son.
Libertini died on 7 January 2016 after a two-year battle with cancer. He was 82. [1]
Career[]
1960s[]
Libertini moved to New York, where, in 1960, he developed an off-Broadway revue called Stewed Prunes, along with two former college classmates. During the early 1960s, he was part of a stand-up comedy act consisting of himself and Paul Dooley known as "Paul Dooley and Dick Liberti". Although the act split up after a short time, Libertini and Dooley later worked on several films and stage productions together. Dooley himself also became a guest star on Deep Space Nine.
In 1966, Libertini made his Broadway stage debut playing Father Drobney in Woody Allen's Don't Drink the Water. He reprised the role in the 1969 film adaptation of the same name, having made his film debut the year before in the comedy The Night They Raided Minksy's. Andrew Laszlo was the Director of Photography on this latter film.
1970s[]
In 1970, Libertini and Paul Dooley performed together in the off-Broadway play, The White House Murder Case. That same year, they had small roles as baggage handlers in The Out-of-Towners (in which Graham Jarvis played a mugger). Libertini also had a supporting role in Paramount Pictures' Catch-22 (1970). He returned to Broadway later that year, acting opposite fellow Deep Space Nine guest actor Hamilton Camp in Paul Sills' Story Theatre. The following year, he continued working with Camp in another Paul Sills production, Ovid's Metamorphoses. In 1974, Libertini was an understudy on the Broadway production Bad Habits, which starred F. Murray Abraham.
In 1975, Libertini appeared in the film I Wonder Who's Killing Her Now?, along with Harvey Jason and Jay Robinson. Libertini's subsequent film credits during the 1970s included small roles in Fire Sale (1977, with Don Keefer) and Days of Heaven (1978, from Paramount Pictures). These were followed by The In-Laws (1979, featuring Ed Begley, Jr., David Paymer, James Hong and Rosana DeSoto).
During the late 1970s, the majority of Libertini's credits were guest appearances on television. Some of the shows on which he appeared were Quincy, M.E. (with Robert Ito and Garry Walberg), Charlie's Angels (with Alfred Ryder), Baretta (with Elisha Cook), The Bionic Woman (starring Lindsay Wagner, with Elisha Cook), The Bob Newhart Show (two episodes, including one with Craig Wasson), Alice (with Victor Tayback), and Laverne & Shirley (with David L. Lander and Michael McKean). He also played the recurring role The Godfather during the first season of Soap and appeared in three episodes of Barney Miller, on which Ron Glass was a regular. One of Libertini's Marney Miller episodes also featured James Gregory and Nehemiah Persoff.
Libertini's other TV credits during the 1970s included a role in a segment of Hallmark Hall of Fame titled Fame, on which he was directed by Marc Daniels. Libertini also had a role in the 1978 TV movie Three on a Date, as did Branscombe Richmond.
1980s[]
Libertini and former stand-up partner Paul Dooley acted together in Popeye (1980). Libertini played George W. Geezil, the greengrocer who constantly argued with Dooley's character, the hamburger-loving Wimpy. This film starred Robin Williams and Shelley Duvall, featuring Ray Walston and Bill Irwin. After Popeye, Libertini and Dooley worked on Going Berserk (1983, featuring Kurtwood Smith) and Big Trouble (1986, with Warren Munson and Barbara J. Tarbuck).
Perhaps Libertini's most notable film role during the 1980s was that of Frank Walker (not to be confused with Frank Welker) in Fletch (1985, with Kenneth Mars, James Avery and Bruce French} Libertini reprised his role as Frank in Fletch Lives (1989, with Jordan Lund and Tom McCleister).
Libertini landed supporting roles in several other comedy films throughout the 1980s, including Soup for One (1982, acting alongside Gerrit Graham, Andrea Martin and Saul Rubinek), Best Friends (1982, with Joan Pringle), Deal of the Century (1983, with Richard Herd, Graham Jarvis and Wallace Shawn), and All of Me (1984, with Michael Ensign). He also appeared in Sharky's Machine (1981, with Bernie Casey, John Fiedler, and Brian Keith), and Betrayed (1988, with David Clennon and Albert Hall).
On television, Libertini was directed by Leo Penn on a two-part episode of Bret Maverick in 1981 and an episode of Trapper John, M.D. (with Anthony De Longis and Madge Sinclair) in 1984. He also played King Murray opposite René Auberjonois' King Boris and Sally Kellerman's Queen Natasha and Queen Farrah in the Faerie Tale Theatre production of Sleeping Beauty. Later, he guest-starred on an episode of Moonlighting with Charles Rocket and made an appearance on Jeannetta Arnette, which starred Jeannetta Arnette. In addition, Libertini had roles in the late 1980s TV movies The Trial of Bernhard Goetz (with Jordan Lund and Andrew Robinson) and Fair Game (with Clancy Brown).
1990s[]
Libertini was the voice of Dijon in DuckTales the Movie: Treasure of the Lost Lamp (1990). His character was the lackey of the film's main villain, the evil magician Morlock, who was voiced by Christopher Lloyd. Libertini had previously voiced Dijon in several episodes of DuckTales on which the movie was based.
Libertini had a supporting role in Awakenings (1990, starring Robin Williams, with Max von Sydow. Libertini was also seen in The Bonfire of the Vanities (1990, starring Tom Hanks, with F. Murray Abraham, Kim Cattrall, Kirsten Dunst, Terry Farrell, Louis Giambalvo, John Hancock, Norman Parker and Saul Rubinek).
During the 1990-1991 television season, Libertini was a regular on NBC's The Fanelli Boys. He then became a regular on Pacific Station, with regulars Megan Gallagher and John Hancock.
In Nell (1994), Libertini played the supporting role of psychologist Alexander Paley. That same year, he worked with David Huddleston and Vincent Schiavelli on a little known comedy film called Cultivating Charlie. Libertini later made an uncredited appearance as a rabbi in Lethal Weapon 4 (1998, featuring Jack Kehler and Richard Riehle).
Throughout the 1990s, Libertini made guest appearances on television shows such as L.A. Law (starring Corbin Bernsen and Larry Drake, in an episode with Joanna Cassidy, John Fiedler and Matt McCoy), Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman (1993, directed by James A. Contner and starring Teri Hatcher, K Callan and Tracy Scoggins), and Chicago Hope (1995, starring Roxanne Hart, with Jim Metzler). He was also a frequent guest star on CBS' Murder, She Wrote (working with Sam Anderson, Kim Darby, Meg Foster, Molly Hagan, Kerrie Keane, Wallace Langham, Tracy Middendorf, Jeffrey Nordling and Gregory Sierra) and Law & Order. In addition, he took on voice-over roles on such cartoons as Animaniacs, Pinky and the Brain, and Duckman (featuring the voice of Jason Alexander).
Libertini was directed from Nicholas Meyer in the 1999 TV movie Vendetta, which also featured Clancy Brown and Bruce Davison. Libertini's other TV movie credits during the 1990s included Extreme Close-Up (with Bibi Besch, Jefrey Alan Chandler, Kerrie Keane and Cristine Rose), House of Frankenstein (1997, with Karen Austin, Steve Rankin and Jennifer Savidge), A Bright Shining Lie (1998, with Ed Lauter, Harve Presnell and Kurtwood Smith), and Columbo: Ashes to Ashes (with Spencer Garrett, Sally Kellerman and Richard Riehle).
2000s[]
In 2000, Libertini appeared NYPD Blue (starring Gordon Clapp, with Marie Caldare and Rino Romano), Once and Again (starring Billy Campbell and Jeffrey Nordling, with Ellen Geer), Nash Bridges (2000, with Melinda Clarke, Caroline Lagerfelt, Kenneth Mars and Marc Worden), and The District. The following year, he was seen on NBC's Cursed, starring fellow Deep Space Nine guest actor Steven Weber and Amy Pietz.
Libertini subsequently appeared on The Drew Carey Show (on which Diedrich Bader and John Carroll Lynch were regulars), Monk (2005, starring Ted Levine, with Daniel Roebuck), and Numbers. He also lent his voice to episodes of Static Shock and The Zeta Project. One of his last guest appearances was on the CW series Supernatural, along with John Rubinstein.
Libertini's later film credits included The 4th Tenor (2002, again working with both Hamilton Camp and Vincent Schiavelli), Grilled (2002, with Jack Kehler), and Everybody Wants to Be Italian (2007). He was also seen in the 2007 TV movie Jane Doe: How to Fire Your Boss, starring Lea Thompson, with Stanley Kamel and Steve Vinovich.
In 2004, Libertini appeared on the Broadway stage for the first time in thirty years when he briefly performed in a revival of Larry Gelbart's play Sly Fox. For this production, Libertini took over the role of Jethro Crouch from his Deep Space Nine (and Sleeping Beauty) co-star, René Auberjonois. Libertini played the role during the last two weeks of the show's performances; it had already been playing for over four months.
2010s[]
In 2010, Libertini appeared in an episode of Sonny with a Chance along with Daniel Roebuck. The following year, he was seen as a fisherman in Dolphin Tale (2011, starring Ashley Judd). He made his final screen appearances in 2015 with a guest role in two episodes of NBC's Aquarius, the second of which was directed by Roxann Dawson.