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Mark Lenard

Mark Lenard was an American actor, primarily known for television roles.  He is primarily known for playing Vulcan ambassador Sarek (Spock's father) in "Star Trek: The Original Series" and a number of its spin-offs.

In 1924, Lenard was born under the name "Leonard Rosenson" in Chicago Illinois.  His father was Abraham Rosenson, a Russian-Jewish immigrant who eventually owned his own tourist resort in South Haven, Michigan.  Lenard was primarily raised in South Haven.

Lenard joined the United States Army in 1943, at the age of 19. He was originally trained as a paratrooper, but was eventually given the position of a technical sergeant. He was discharged in 1946, without ever seeing combat.

During his military service, Lenard served as an an amateur actor in theatrical productions. Following the war, he sought a formal acting education at the University of Michigan. He graduated with a master's degree in theater and speech. For several years, he was primarily a theatrical actor in New York City.

In the mid-1960s, Lenard moved to to Los Angeles, where he hoped to find work in film. He made his film debut in the Biblical epic "The Greatest Story Ever Told" (1965), at the age of 41. He played Balthazar, the Persian magus (Zoroastrian priest, magician) mentioned in the Nativity narrative of the Gospel of Matthew.

Lenard first appeared in "Star Trek: The Original Series" in 1966, playing an unnamed Romulan commander in the episode "Balance of Terror" . He first played his character of ambassador Sarek in the episode "Journey to Babel" (1967). He voiced Sarek in the 1973 episode "Yesteryear" of "Star Trek: The Animated Series". He played Sarek again in the episodes "Sarek" (1990) and "Unification: Part 1" (1991) of the sequel series "Star Trek: The Next Generation".

In the film versions of Star Trek, Lenard played Sarek in four films: "Star Trek III: The Search for Spock" (1984), "Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home" (1986), "Star Trek V: The Final Frontier" (1989), and "Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country". He also played an unnamed Klingon captain in "Star Trek: The Motion Picture" (1979).

Lenard had guest star roles in several other series, such as "Mission: Impossible", The Wild Wild West", "Gunsmoke", and "Hawaii Five-O". He had a recurring role in the comedy Western television series "Here Come the Brides" (1968-1970), playing Seattle-based sawmill owner Aaron Stempel.

Possibly due to his experience in Star Trek, Lenard was often cast as an authority figure in science fiction television series. He played General Urko in "Planet of the Apes", Emperor Thorval in "The Secret Empire", Ambassador Duvoe in "Buck Rogers in the 25th Century", and camp commandant Perel Sightings in "Otherworld".

Lenard had a rare villainous role as Catholic bishop Eberhard Hoffman in the historical film "The Radicals" (1990), depicting the persecution of the then-new Anabaptist movement in the 16th century. He mostly retired from television in 1993, as he had a leading role in a theatrical play which was performed on tour, "The Boys in Autum". He played an elderly Huckleberry Finn who gets reacquainted with his childhood friend Tom Sawyer (played by Walter Koenig). It was Lenard's last significant role.

Lenard died in 1996, suffering from multiple myeloma, a cancer of the plasma cells. He was 72-years-old, and had been appearing on film and television for three decades.

Known For

Credits

Cast Credits

Star Trek: The Next Generation (1987)
Guest starring as Sarek (2 episodes)
  • Episode 5x07: Unification I (Nov 4, 1991) [Special Guest Star]
  • Episode 3x23: Sarek (May 14, 1990)
Otherworld (1985)
Guest starring as Commander Perel Sightings
Buck Rogers in the 25th Century (1979)
Guest starring as Ambassador Duvoe (2 episodes)
The Incredible Hulk (1977)
Guest starring as Mr. Slater
Planet of the Apes (1974)
Guest starring as Urko (11 episodes)
Little House on the Prairie (1974)
Guest starring as Peter Ingalls
Chopper One (1974)
Guest starring as Assistant D.A. Jim Dugan
Star Trek: The Animated Series (1973)
Guest starring as Sarek
  • Episode 1x02: Yesteryear (Sep 15, 1973) [Uncredited]
Search (1972)
Guest starring as Karl August Speer
Alias Smith and Jones (1971)
Here Come the Brides (1968)
Starring as Aaron Stempel (52 episodes)
Hawaii Five-O (1968)
Guest starring as Commander Hawkins
Guest starring as Yoshio Nagata
Guest starring as Rogloff
Guest starring as Dan Bok
It Takes a Thief (1968)
Guest starring as Colonel Kessler
Mannix (1967)
Guest starring as Hal
  • Episode 7x06: Desert Run (Oct 21, 1973) [Co-Star]
Judd for the Defense (1967)
Guest starring as Sheriff Mike Galves
Mission: Impossible (1966)
Guest starring as Felipe Mora
  • Episode 1x07: Wheels (Oct 29, 1966) [Co-Star]
Guest starring as Col. Luis Cardoza
  • Episode 2x02: Trek (Sep 17, 1967) [Co-Star]
Guest starring as Aristo Skora
  • Episode 3x21: Nitro (Mar 23, 1969)
Guest starring as Colonel Bakram
Star Trek (1966)
Guest starring as Romulan Commander
Guest starring as Ambassador Sarek
Gunsmoke (1955)
Guest starring as Ira Stonecipher
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