Shelly Desai (born 3 December 1935; age 88) is the actor who portrayed V'Sal in the Star Trek: The Next Generation fourth season episode "Data's Day".
Desai was born in Bombay, India and started his acting career in the 1970s in projects such as the short film Item 72-D: The Adventures of Spa and Fon (1970), Ginger (1971,with Tracey Walter), Phantom of the Paradise (1974, with Gerrit Graham), the drama Short Eyes (1977, with Bruce Davison and Mark Margolis), and the comedy Imposters (1979).
Throughout the 1980s he appeared in episodes of St. Elsewhere (1985, with William Daniels, Norman Lloyd, Ed Begley, Jr., Christina Pickles, and Keone Young), Hill Street Blues (1985, with James B. Sikking, Barbara Bosson, Gene Dynarski, Stephen Macht, and Joseph Ruskin), Hunter (1985, with Bruce Davison, Jonathan Banks, and Patti Tippo), The A-Team (1986, with Dwight Schultz and Rosalind Chao), Sledge Hammer! (1986, with Brenda Strong and Leslie Morris), and Moonlighting (1988, with Jack Blessing and Marcelo Tubert). He also appeared in Q (1982), Project X (1987, with William Sadler, Robin Gammell, Daniel Roebuck, Ward Costello, Dick Miller, Randal Patrick, and Bob Minor), and A Sinful Life (1989, with Dennis Christopher and Mark Rolston).
In the 1990s, Desai had supporting roles in Maniac Cop 2 (1990, with Clarence Williams III, Charles Napier, Andrew Hill Newman, Roger Aaron Brown, Charlie Croughwell, and Marco Rodriguez), the television movie Before the Storm (1991, with Salome Jens and John Rhys-Davies), Thelma & Louise (1991, with Christopher McDonald and Timothy Carhart), Eddie Presley (1992, with Daniel Roebuck, Lawrence Tierney, and Buddy Daniels Friedman), Toys (1992, starring Robin Williams), the television thriller A Kiss Goodnight (1994, with Brett Cullen, Mark Ginther, Mark Moses, Barbara J. Tarbuck, and Lawrence Tierney), The Silence of the Hams (1994), Clifford (1994, with Jennifer Nash and Richard Fancy), Barb Wire (1996, with Ron Balicki, Clint Howard, Diana Lee Inosanto, Henry Kingi, Sr., Tommy "Tiny" Lister, Jr., Peewee Piemonte, Lou Simon, Patti Tippo, and Nicholas Worth), Escape from L.A. (1996, with Michelle Forbes, Jeff Imada, Leland Orser, James Lew, and Nick Danger), The Crow: City of Angels (1996, starring Mia Kirshner, with Iggy Pop), Street Corner Justice (1996, with Tommy "Tiny" Lister, Jr., Clint Howard, Max Daniels, and Jeff Cadiente), Denial (1999, with Jason Alexander, Nicholas Worth, Jack R. Orend, and Steve Schirripa), Forces of Nature (1999, with Ronny Cox, Jack Kehler, George D. Wallace, Anne Haney, Bert Remsen, and Bill Erwin), and For Love of the Game (1999, with Bill E. Rogers, Tracy Middendorf, Michael Papajohn, and Daniel Dae Kim).
Desai's further television credits include episodes of Thirtysomething (1990), Adam 12 (1990, with Peter Parros and Tony Rizzoli), Hollywood Beat, Murder One (1996, with Daniel Benzali, John Fleck, Kevin Tighe, Barbara Bosson, Roy Brocksmith, James Avery, David Zabel, Ned Vaughn, Deborah May, Maury Ginsberg, Adam Scott, and Spencer Garrett), ER (1994 and 1996, starring Eriq La Salle, with Christine Harnos, Scott Jaeck, Julianna McCarthy, Michael Cavanaugh, Christine Healy, Liz Vassey, Scott Lincoln, Miguel Ferrer, Kirsten Dunst, Lily Mariye, and Ellen Wheeler), and Martin (1997, with John Cothran, Jr. and Judyann Elder).
Since 2000, Desai had guest roles in The District (2002, with Roger Aaron Brown and Deborah Strang), Curb Your Enthusiasm (2001-2002, with Paul Dooley, Don Stark, and Paul Willson), NYPD Blue (2003, with Lori Petty), Girlfriends (2004, with Golden Brooks), Wanted (2005, with Al Rodrigo), It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia (2007), Ugly Betty (2007, with Alan Dale, Tony Plana, and Vanessa Williams), Hung (2009), and Archer (2009, with George Coe and Keith Szarabajka).
Further film work include Everything Put Together (2000, with Matt Malloy, Alan Ruck, Tom McCleister, and Judy Geeson), the drama Zoe (2001), Night at the Golden Eagle (2001, with Vinny Argiro and Ann Magnuson}, the short comedy The Mexican Dream (2003), the drama The Nickel Children (2005, with John Billingsley), the drama Midnight Clear (2006, with K Callan, Richard Fancy, Richard Riehle, Wren T. Brown, Wayne Grace, and Michael Krawic), Delta Farce (2007, with Michael Edward Rose, Glenn Morshower, Michael Papajohn, Ed O'Ross, and Jimmy Ortega), the horror comedy You're So Dead (2007, with Nikki Flux and Robert Miano), the television comedy Starting Under (2008), the drama The Seekers (2008, with Josh Cruze, Joseph Culp, and Ronald F. Hoiseck), the short film The Museum (2008), No Man's Land: The Rise of Reeker (2008, with Robert Pine), the short film Tony (2008, with Amy Benedict and Mike Hagerty), How to Be a Serial Killer (2008, with Jack Donner), Bob Funk (2009, with Ron Canada, Tania Gunadi, Tommy Hinkley, and Stephen Root), and the television comedy Big Red (2009).
Desai also had a recurring role as Carlos in Men of a Certain Age (2009-2011, starring Scott Bakula) and featured parts in the comedy A Thousand Words (2012, with Matt Winston) and Here Comes the Boom (2012, with Reggie Lee).