10 Star Trek Actors In Seinfeld

Summary There are deep ties between Star Trek and Seinfeld, with over 30 actors appearing in both iconic shows.

Notable actors like Phil Morris and Brian George had roles in both Seinfeld and various Star Trek series.

Connections between Star Trek and Seinfeld continue through current projects, showcasing the lasting impact of these beloved TV shows.

Unsurprisingly, given their prominence throughout the 1990s, there was considerable crossover of actors between the Star Trek franchise and Seinfeld. Premiering in 1989, the Larry David and Jerry Seinfeld-created sitcom left a huge cultural impact that continues to be felt to this day. The same can be said for Star Trek: The Next Generation, which premiered two years earlier in 1987 and launched three further Star Trek TV shows that kept Gene Roddenberry's vision alive throughout the 1990s. As TNG and Seinfeld were two of the most popular shows on TV, it was inevitable that jobbing actors would secure guest roles on both series.

The connection between Star Trek and Seinfeld continues today, with Jack McBrayer, who voices Badgey in Star Trek: Lower Decks, appearing as Steve Schwinn in Jerry Seinfeld's new Netflix movie Unfrosted. Overall, there are around 30 actors who have appeared in both the Star Trek franchise and Seinfeld's nine seasons. For example, Teri Hatcher, who had an uncredited role as Lt. Robinson in Star Trek: The Next Generation season 2, episode 4, "The Outrageous Okona", also appeared as Jerry's girlfriend Sidra Holland in three episodes of Seinfeld.

Related Every Seinfeld Season Ranked Worst To Best Deemed one of the greatest sitcoms ever, Seinfeld was a show about nothing for 9 seasons, but which season contained the best shows about nothing?

10 DS9's Armin Shimerman as Stan

DS9's Quark actor didn't enjoy his experience on "The Caddy."

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In Seinfeld season 7, episode 12, "The Caddy", Cosmo Kramer (Michael Richards) meets Stan (Armin Shimerman), a golf caddy who's convinced he can turn Kramer into a professional. Unfortunately, a car crash caused by Elaine's friend Sue Ellen Mischkie wearing a bra in public puts paid to Kramer and Stan's ambitions. It's a small role for Shimerman that shows flashes of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine's Quark, particularly when he advises Kramer to sue Sue Ellen for her family fortune.

Sadly, Armin Shimerman didn't enjoy his Seinfeld experience (via TheThings) telling a convention audience that the cast were "non-communative, ugly, non-responsive" and "insular". In response, Star Trek fan and Seinfeld's George Costanza actor Jason Alexander said on his podcast, Really? No Really?, that he felt they were always a "welcoming cast". Clearly, Armin Shimerman, himself a member of a huge ensemble cast on Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, disagrees.

9 Phil Morris as Jackie Chiles

Kramer's lawyer had various Star Trek roles between 1966 and 1999.

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Phil Morris is best known as Cosmo Kramer's long-suffering attorney, Jackie Chiles in Seinfeld, but the actor had been appearing in Star Trek since childhood. Phil Morris' first appearance was one of the children in Star Trek: The Original Series, season 1, episode 11, "Miri". Years later, Morris returned to the franchise with a small role as Cadet Foster in Star Trek III: The Search for Spock. Morris' young cadet asked Admiral James T. Kirk (William Shatner) if they might get a hero's welcome, to which Kirk memorably replied "God knows, there should be."

Star Trek: The Original Series Where to Watch *Availability in US stream

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buy Not available Not available Not available Star Trek: The Original Series follows the exploits of the crew of the USS Enterprise. On a five-year mission to explore uncharted space, Captain James T. Kirk (William Shatner) must trust his crew - Spock (Leonard Nimoy), Dr. Leonard "Bones" McCoy (Forest DeKelley), Montgomery "Scotty" Scott (James Doohan), Uhura (Nichelle Nichols), Chekov (Walter Koenig) and Sulu (George Takei) - with his life. Facing previously undiscovered life forms and civilizations and representing humanity among the stars on behalf of Starfleet and the United Federation of Planets, the Enterprise regularly comes up against impossible odds and diplomatic dilemmas.

Phil Morris also appeared alongside the Star Trek: Deep Space Nine cast as two different characters, the Klingon warrior Thopok in "Looking for par'Mach in All the Wrong Places", and Jem'Hadar soldier Remata'Klan in "Rocks and Shoals". Phil Morris' final Star Trek role was as John Kelly, the tragic 21st century astronaut whose corpse the USS Voyager discovers in "One Small Step". Morris gave his best Star Trek performance as Kelly, delivering moving monologues that were later accessed by Seven of Nine (Jeri Ryan) in an attempt to piece together what happened to him.

One of the starships in Star Trek: Picard season 3's Frontier Day parade was the USS John Kelly, named after Phil Morris' Star Trek: Voyager character.

Related Star Trek: Voyager Cast & Character Guide In its seven seasons, Star Trek: Voyager introduced many new faces to the Trek universe. Here is a breakdown of the show's main cast and characters.

8 Voyager's Richard Herd as Mr. Wilhelm

Tom Paris' dad was George Costanza's supervisor in Seinfeld.

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Richard Herd played the recurring role of Admiral Owen Paris in Star Trek: Voyager, the disappointed father of Lt. Tom Paris (Robert Duncan McNeill) and early mentor of Captain Kathryn Janeway (Kate Mulgrew). However, the maverick Tom Paris was a breeze compared to Seinfeld's George Costanza, whom Richard Herd's Mr. Wilhelm supervised in multiple episodes of Seinfeld. Herd made his debut in Seinfeld season 6, episode 18, "The Jimmy", in which George was accused of stealing sports equipment from the New York Yankees.

Star Trek: Voyager The fifth entry in the Star Trek franchise, Star Trek: Voyager, is a sci-fi series that sees the crew of the USS Voyager on a long journey back to their home after finding themselves stranded at the far ends of the Milky Way Galaxy. Led by Captain Kathryn Janeway, the series follows the crew as they embark through truly uncharted areas of space, with new species, friends, foes, and mysteries to solve as they wrestle with the politics of a crew in a situation they've never faced before.

Mr. Wilhelm was already a fairly inept supervisor, but working with George between Seinfeld season 6 and 8 drove him insane. In Seinfeld season 8, episode 7, "The Checks", Wilhelm joined the Sunshine Carpet Cleaning cult, after George hired them to clean the carpets at Yankee Stadium. Mr. Wilhelm later returned for Seinfeld's controversial finale, delivering damning prosecution evidence against George as he and the cast stood trial.

Richard Herd also played L'Kor in Star Trek: The Next Generation's season 6 two-parter, "Birthright".

7 Voyager's Tom Wright as Mr. Morgan

The Tuvix actor was one of George's Yankees colleagues in Seinfeld seasons 5 & 6.

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Another of George's Yankees colleagues in Seinfeld was Mr. Morgan (Tom Wright), with whom Costanza had a series of run-ins. In his first appearance, "The Pledge Drive", Morgan is impressed by George because he eats a candy bar with a knife and fork, a decision he quickly regrets. Ultimately, George accidentally got Mr. Morgan fired with an involuntary wink in Seinfeld season 7, episode 4, "The Wink".

Tom Wright is best known to Star Trek fans as Tuvix from Star Trek: Voyager, the tragic hybrid of Neelix (Ethan Phillips) and Lt. Tuvok (Tim Russ). Much like the unfortunate Mr. Morgan, Tuvix was also unceremoniously ejected from his position aboard the USS Voyager, albeit in a manner more brutal than an involuntary wink. Tom Wright later returned to the franchise as Ghrath in Star Trek: Enterprise season 4, episode 1, "Storm Front". Ghrath was a member of the Na'kuhl, one of the powers involved in the Temporal Wars.

Related Star Trek: Discovery Reveals A Voyager Enemy Played A Big Role In The Temporal Wars Rayner reveals the links between Star Trek: Discovery's time bug and a deep-cut Star Trek: Voyager enemy, tying them to the Temporal Wars.

6 TNG's Michelle Forbes as Julie

Ro Laren was George Costanza's girlfriend in "The Big Salad"

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Julie (Michelle Forbes) was just one of many women who were far too good for George Costanza over the course of nine seasons of Seinfeld. In "The Big Salad", George torpedoes his relationship with Julie because he feels that she took credit for buying lunch for Elaine (Julia Louis Dreyfus). It's a typically petty move from George, and Michelle Forbes' withering delivery of the line "I just handed someone a bag" is a perfectly pitched put-down.

Star Trek: The Next Generation Star Trek: The Next Generation is the third installment in the sci-fi franchise and follows the adventures of Captain Jean-Luc Picard and the crew members of the USS Enterprise. Set around one hundred years after the original series, Picard and his crew travel through the galaxy in largely self-contained episodes exploring the crew dynamics and their own political discourse. The series also had several overarching plots that would develop over the course of the isolated episodes, with four films released in tandem with the series to further some of these story elements.

Julie is a minor entry in the long list of Michelle Forbes' acting roles outside Star Trek, but it's another big 1990s TV show that she can tick off her list. As well as playing Julie in Seinfeld, and Ro Laren in Star Trek: The Next Generation, Michelle Forbes also appeared in multiple episodes of Homicide: Life on the Street as Dr. Julianna Cox. With roles in three of the biggest TV shows of the 1990s, there's little wonder that Michelle Forbes is still in demand to this day.

5 DS9's Brian George as Babu Bhatt

Jerry ruined the life of Dr. Bashir's father.

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Brian George is a well-known British-Israeli actor who has appeared in multiple cult classic shows like Quantum Leap and The X-Files, as well as beloved sitcoms like New Girl and The Big Bang Theory. In Seinfeld, Brian George played Babu Bhatt, who first appeared in "The Café", in which he opened up a restaurant which quickly went under thanks to some unsolicited advice from Jerry. Babu later returned in "The Visa", when Jerry's attempts to make amends only led to Babu being deported. Babu was one of the many prosecution witnesses called in the Seinfeld finale's trial.

Brian George was one of many Star Trek actors who returned for the Seinfeld finale, including Teri Hatcher, Phil Morris, and Richard Herd.

Between his appearance in "The Visa" and his return for the Seinfeld finale, Brian George played Richard Bashir in Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, season 5, episode 16, "Doctor Bashir, I Presume". At the end of the episode, Richard agreed to serve a prison sentence for his role in genetically augmenting Dr. Julian Bashir (Alexander Siddig) as a child. Brian George later returned to the franchise as O'Zaal, the Antarian ambassador who coordinated the race that Tom Paris competes in the Star Trek: Voyager episode, "Drive".

Related 10 Best Dr. Bashir Star Trek DS9 Episodes Julian Bashir's an augment, a doctor, and a secret agent, and his best Star Trek: Deep Space Nine episodes encapsulate these aspects of his character.

Admiral Hayes' interviews George for a job in "The Barber"

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In a classic Seinfeld set-up, George Costanza pretends to have a job at a company after the man interviewing him, Mr. Tuttle (Jack Shearer) dismisses him mid-job interview before telling him if he's been successful. Seinfeld season 5, episode 8, "The Barber" aired a few months after Jack Shearer had made his first of many Star Trek appearances. In Star Trek: Deep Space Nine season 1, episode 17, "The Forsaken", Shearer played the Bolian ambassador who joins Lwaxana Troi (Majel Barrett) on a fact-finding mission to the Gamma Quadrant.

Jack Shearer later appeared in Boston Legal, which starred his Star Trek: Deep Space Nine co-star, Rene Auberjonois, and William Shatner.

Jack Shearer later played a Romulan diplomat called Ruwon, who plotted to destroy the Bajoran wormhole and Deep Space Nine to prevent the Dominion from reaching the Alpha Quadrant. Out of make-up, Jack Shearer played two different Starfleet admirals, Strickler in the Star Trek: Voyager episode "Non Sequitur", and Hayes in both Star Trek: First Contact and the Voyager episodes "Hope and Fear" and "Life Line". As "Non Sequitur" takes place in an alternate reality, it may account for Jack Shearer playing two completely different admirals.

3 TNG's Elizabeth Dennehy as Allison

The Drake's fiancée became The Drakette in Seinfeld season 4.

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In Seinfeld season 4, episode 22, "The Handicap Spot", Star Trek: The Next Generation's Elizabeth Dennehy played Allison, the fiancée of Jerry and Elaine's friend The Drake (Rick Overton). It's a small role, given that Allison and The Drake's relationship ends in a break-up, forcing Jerry and Elaine to try and reclaim their engagement gift. Dennehy made a brief, uncredited performance as "The Drakette" in the finale of Seinfeld season 4, having reunited with her fiancé.

Elizabeth Dennehy's episode, "The Handicap Spot" marks the first appearance of Jerry Stiller as Frank Costanza in Seinfeld.

To Star Trek fans, Elizabeth Dennehy is best known as Lt. Commander Elizabeth Shelby from "The Best of Both Worlds". The arch-rival of Commander William T. Riker (Jonathan Frakes), Shelby became Riker's Number One when Captain Jean-Luc Picard (Patrick Stewart) was assimilated by the Borg Collective. Shelby returned in Star Trek: Picard, becoming the second of the starship Enterprise's three female captains by commanding the USS Enterprise-F during the ill-fated Frontier Day parade.

2 DS9's Melanie Smith as Rachel

Gul Dukat's daughter romanced Jerry Seinfeld.

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Melanie Smith was the third, and longest serving, actress to play Tora Ziyal in Star Trek: Deep Space Nine. From being enslaved by the Breen Confederacy to execution at the hands of Legate Damar (Casey Biggs), Ziyal had a devastating DS9 arc, with Melanie Smith playing the character in seasons 5 and 6. The tragic daughter of Gul Dukat (Marc Alaimo) was miles away from the character of Rachel Goldstein, who appeared in three episodes of Seinfeld.

With three appearances in Seinfeld, including a double episode, Rachel Goldstein was Jerry's longest running on-screen girlfriend in the series.

Rachel and Jerry start dating in the two-part episode "The Raincoats", in which they get caught making out during a screening of Schindler's List. Later, in the episode "The Hamptons", Rachel causes tension between George and his girlfriend Jane by casting doubt on the size of his manhood. Eventually, Rachel dumps Jerry in "The Opposite", but he's not that cut up about it, deciding that someone else will come along.

1 Seinfeld's Jason Alexander as Noum and Kurros

The George Costanza actor appeared in Star Trek: Voyager and Prodigy.

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Jason Alexander is best known for playing George Costanza in all nine seasons of Seinfeld. In a 2011 interview with the official Star Trek website, Jason Alexander spoke of how he was drawn to the "humor and poetry" of Star Trek's stories. The Seinfeld star also cites William Shatner's Captain Kirk as the person who inspired him to become an actor in the first place. Knowing that he was a fan, Star Trek regularly offered Jason Alexander roles, but he turned them down because he wanted to play an alien, and not a human character.

Estelle Harris, who played George's mother in Seinfeld appeared as an unnamed Nechani woman in Star Trek: Voyager season 3, episode 7, "Sacred Ground". Heidi Swedberg, who played George's ill-fated fiancee Susan, appeared in Star Trek: Deep Space Nine as Rekelen in season 2, episode 18, "Profit and Loss".

Jason Alexander finally got his wish when he was cast as Kurros in Star Trek: Voyager season 5, episode 20, "Think Tank". Kurros was part of an interspecies group of alien geniuses, who wanted to add Seven of Nine to their number. More recently, Jason Alexander has voiced the character of Lt. Noum in Star Trek: Prodigy season 1. It's unknown if Noum will return for Prodigy season 2, but it's fair to say that with two alien roles, Jason Alexander's Star Trek ambitions have been well served.

All episodes of Star Trek: Prodigy are available to stream on Netflix.

All other episodes of Star Trek are available to stream on Paramount+.