Spencer Garrett (born 19 September 1963; age 62) is an actor who portrayed Simon Tarses in the Star Trek: The Next Generation fourth season episode "The Drumhead". He filmed his scenes on Tuesday 19 February 1991 and between Friday 22 February 1991 and Tuesday 26 February 1991 on Paramount Stage 8 and 9. Nine years later, he appeared as Weiss in the Star Trek: Voyager seventh season episode "Flesh and Blood".
Born as Spencer Garrett Heckenkamp in Los Angeles, California to actress Kathleen Nolan and former head of the talent agency Film Artists Associates Richard Heckenkamp, he attended Duke University and Fordham University. He studied acting with Sanford Meisner at The Neighborhood Playhouse, Jeff Perry, Robert Neff Williams at The Juilliard School, and Alfred Molina. In 1996 he received a Dramalogue Award for Best Actor in the stage play "Heartbreak", performed at the Hudson Guild Theatre. In 2007, Garrett was part of the ensemble of the drama Bobby and received a Screen Actors Guild Award nomination for Best Ensemble Cast.
Garrett's career in front of the camera began around the year 1989, when he appeared in a made-for-television film called Love and Other Sorrows, a production that also featured Star Trek: Deep Space Nine guest actor Tim Ransom.
Garrett also had a brief role in the 1996 drama Ghosts of Mississippi which also starred Whoopi Goldberg, Susanna Thompson, Virginia Madsen, Brock Peters, Terry O'Quinn, Jerry Hardin, Bill Cobbs, Richard Riehle, Jordan Lund, and Thomas Kopache.
Since then, Garrett has had numerous television and some film appearances in supporting roles. Garrett has been working as a producer. In cinematic film, he played the Air Force Chief in Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen. Some other Star Trek personalities had similar military roles, with Glenn Morshower and Eric Pierpoint playing a general and NSA officer, respectively. Robert Foxworth, Tony Todd, and Frank Welker also provided voices for the movie.
In 2013, he played the small-town sheriff in Iron Man 3 (with William Sadler, Miguel Ferrer, and Tom Virtue) and also appeared in Mad Men (with Kevin Rahm and Gary Werntz).
In 2021, he was interviewed by StarTrek.com, looking back at "The Drumhead" and his other Star Trek connections. Garrett's godfather was Liam Sullivan, who loaned him a copy of TOS: "Plato's Stepchildren" (guest-starring Sullivan), which was the first episode of Star Trek Garrett watched since his childhood. [1]
Further Trek connections[]
- Murder One (1996, with Barbara Bosson, Clayton Rohner, Jack Kehler, Titus Welliver, Rick Worthy, David Andrews, Jack Blessing, and Ron Canada)
- Dark Skies (1997, starring Eric Close, with Jeri Ryan, Conor O'Farrell, Mitchell Ryan, and Tim Kelleher)
- Air Force One (1997, with Don McManus, Dean Stockwell, and Paul Guilfoyle)
- Newsradio (1998, with Stephen Root and Andy Dick)
- Dill Scallion (1999, starring Billy Burke, with Brad William Henke, Ken Magee and Kenny Koch),
- CSI: Crime Scene Investigation (2001, starring Paul Guilfoyle, with Kelly Connell)
- Crossing Jordan (2003, starring Miguel Ferrer, with Clayton Rohner, and James Avery)
- Without a Trace (2003, starring Enrique Murciano and Eric Close, with Conor O'Farrell)
- Cold Case (2004, with Neil C. Vipond, Jay Karnes and Albie Selznick)
- 24 (2007, with James Cromwell and Tzi Ma)
- Leverage (2010, directed by Jonathan Frakes)
- Major Crimes (2013 & 2016, starring Raymond Cruz and Jonathan Del Arco, former with John Ales)