Gary Graham Played More Star Trek Characters Than You May Have Realized
On the morning of January 23, 2024, actor Gary Graham, star of the "Alien Nation" TV series, the cult classic "Robot Jox," and multiple-time "Star Trek" supporting player, passed away at the age of 74. Graham had a prolific acting career, appearing in single episodes of many of the hottest TV shows of his day, including "Starsky & Hutch," "The Incredible Hulk," Knots Landing," "CHiPs," "T.J. Hooker," "Hunter," "M.A.N.T.I.S.," "Diagnosis Murder," "Ally McBeal," "JAG," and "Nip/Tuck." He had an easy demeanor, allowing him to play comedic affable characters just as well as intense, serious ones.
Trekkies likely know Graham best for playing Soval on "Star Trek: Enterprise." Soval was the snippy Vulcan ambassador who oversaw Earth's very, very slow transition from post-war ruin to a thriving society ready for space exploration. In the timeline of "Star Trek," humanity discovers warp-speed flight while the world is recovering from nuclear devastation. On the very first Earth warp flight, humans attracted the attention of some passing Vulcans who landed to say hello. Vulcans then began visiting Earth regularly, helping the planet recover and ensuring we were prepared for long-range space missions. This process took a century. Soval was there at the start of "Enterprise" to express his continued concern for humans' inability to traverse the heavens confidently.
Soval appeared in 11 episodes of "Enterprise," eventually admiring humans' tenacity and adaptability on their first space flight. Graham played Soval as an insufferable killjoy, eager to point out flaws in humans and criticize their abilities to do just about anything. When he softened, it meant a lot.
But that wasn't the first time Graham was on "Star Trek," nor was it his last. Indeed, Graham became one of the more prolific participants in "Star Trek" fan films in the extensive Trekkie filmmaker community.
Cold Fire
In the "Star Trek: Voyager" episode "Cold Fire" (November 13, 1995), Captain Janeway locates a second Caretaker, a powerful alien that could return the stranded U.S.S. Voyager to Earth. The Caretaker is surrounded by a society of Ocampa, the same species as the Voyager's guest Kes (Jennifer Lien). The leader of the Ocampa is Tanis, played by Gary Graham. Tanis explains to Kes that Ocampans all have powerful psychic powers that they merely need to hone and strengthen. Kes tries out a few of her psychic powers, but doesn't quite have a handle on them: she accidentally sets fire to the Voyager's hydroponics bay and boils the blood of security chief Tuvok (Tim Russ).
Eventually, the Caretaker alien (represented by Lindsay Ridgeway) reveals that she is distrustful of the Voyager crew due to incorrect rumors in this part of the galaxy. Kes will have to use her newfound psychic powers to attack Tanis, allowing the Voyager to escape.
Graham played a somewhat archetypal character for "Star Trek," in that he played a seemingly benevolent alien who had a secret, insidious agenda. Because "Star Trek" tends to remember its guest stars and offer them additional jobs in the future, Graham was called six years later when "Enterprise" debuted.
The actor said at conventions that he was considered for the role of Benjamin Sisko (before the showrunners of "Star Trek: Deep Space Nine" decided that the character should be Black) and for the role of Captain Janeway (before the showrunners of "Star Trek: Voyager" decided the character should be a woman). Given Graham's history of sci-fi, these are easy claims to believe.
The hoary world of Star Trek fan films
After "Enterprise," however, Graham continued to show up in non-canonical "Star Trek" films. It should be noted that the realm of "Star Trek" fan films is an enormous community unto itself, and several filmmakers have gotten central "Star Trek" actors to reprise their roles. James Cawley and Jack Marshall launched the 2004 series "Star Trek: New Voyages," a 10-episode series that claimed to be the fifth and final season of the original "Star Trek." George Takei, Walter Koenig, Grace Lee Whitney, and Denise Crosby appeared on the show, although new actors played most of the classic "Trek" characters.
Graham appeared in a non-sanctioned 2006 "Trek" fan film "Star Trek: Of Gods and Men," playing a character named Ragnar. "Of Gods and Men" was not backed by Paramount but secured the participation of a dozen known "Trek" actors, as well as a few of the performers from "New Voyages." "Of Gods and Men" starred Koenig, Nichols, and Whitney, as well as Ethan Phillips, Cirroc Lofton, Alan Ruck, Chase Masterson, Garrett Wang, William Wellman, Jr., J.G. Hertzler, and Tim Russ (who also directed). "Of Gods and Men" is not canonical, but it feels like more than a fan film.
Graham's character, Ragnar, was the shape-shifting right-hand man of Captain John Harriman (Ruck), the commander of a ship called the Conqueror in a violent alternate timeline.
"Of Gods and Men" spun off into a separate fan-made movie called "Star Trek: Renegades" in 2015. Graham reappeared as Ragnar and he was joined by Russ, Koenig, and Lofton, as well as other newly participating "Trek" actors like Robert Picardo and Manu Intraymi.
These "Trek" fan films are only dubiously legal, so finding them may be hard. But I think they oughtta count, dangit.