Good grief! We might be better served by stating all of the franchises that Terry O'Quinn hasn't been a part of! His is such a familiar face, and he's a brilliant character actor whether he's taking part in Harsh Realm or Lost or Star Trek or The X-Files or even Falling Skies. Mr. O'Quinn was born on this day back in 1952, so join me in wishing him a very Happy Birthday!
Ken Lynch is a veteran character actor with over 189 project citations to his name. SciFi fans might best remember him from his work in the memorable first season outing for Star Trek, "The Devil In The Dark" (pictured above right alongside Leonard Nimoy). To his credit, he also appeared in The Twilight Zone, The Invaders, Time Express, Battlestar Galactica, and Galactica 1980. Though he's no longer with us, Lynch was born on this day in 1910.
Richard 'Dick' Geary got the chance to play an Andorian for Star Trek. (FYI: those are the blue aliens with antennae, for those of you uninformed.) He also had a small handful of uncredited parts on the popular late 60's Science Fiction program for good measure. Though he's no longer with us, Geary was born on this day in 1925. [Source: IMDB.com]
In the seminal Science Fiction classic Blade Runner (1982), Joe Turkel (above right) played Dr. Eldon Tyrell, a scientist equally blessed and cursed with having created a whole new race of synthetic life forms. Turkel was born on this day in 1927.
As Stringfellow Hawke, Jan Michael Vincent (pictured above) flew Airwolf, the futuristic combat helicopter from the cult TV series of the same name. Vincent has also appeared in such SciFi projects as Damnation Alley, The Return, Alienator, and X-Tro II: The Second Encounter. Though he's no longer with us, Vincent was born on this day in 1944.
Jesse Ventura -- formerly known as Jesse 'The Body' Ventura from his days in (ahem) professional wrestling -- is a bit of a weird duck. Weird politically. Weird socially. Just plain weird. Still, that doesn't stop him from finding other avenues with which to explore his weirdness, including starring alongside his buddy Arnold Schwarzenegger in The Running Man and Predator (shown above). Ventura was born on this day in 1951.
It was an uncredited role in the phenomenal Star Trek: The Wrath of Khan as Khan's kinda/sorta son and heir Joachim that helped actor Judson Scott's star rise to prominence in the sci-fi community. He followed that work up with some solid genre appearances as part of NBC's V and even more guest work in the Trek community on Star Trek: The Next Generation and Star Trek: Voyager. Scott was born on this day in 1952.
Take note: if you're flown a spaceship, then odds are very good that SciFiHistory.Net is going to find you! Celia Imrie flew a starfighter on behalf of the good people of Naboo in George Lucas's Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace. She's also appeared on the BBC's long-running Doctor Who. Imrie was born on this day in 1953.
Forest Whitaker is an amazingly gifted actor. He's also an amazingly busy actor. (Seriously, check out his profile on IMDB.com some time.) To bad for us he doesn't do a lot of Science Fiction, but he did appear alongside Jude Law in 2010's Repo Men (pictured above). Whitaker was born on this day in 1961.
Initially, I think Hollywood dismissed the lovely Brigitte Nielsen as little more than Sylvester Stallone's gal-pal. But over time she proved that's quite possibly what she was best at. Still, could you imagine the utterly craptastic Galaxis (pictured above) without her headlining performance? I sure couldn't. And she did make Red Sonja palatable. Nielsen was born on this day in 1963.
Great screen villains can be the stuff of cinema legends, but Galyn Görg's Angie in RoboCop 2 (1990) was hamstrung with an uneven script. Still, the actress embraced genre, going on to work in such properties as Twin Peaks, M.A.N.T.I.S., Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, Xena: Warrior Princess, Star Trek: Voyager, Stargate: SG-1, and Lost. Görg was born on this day in 1964.
The great Shari Headley joined Scott Bakula for an episode of NBC's stellar Quantum Leap back in the popular program's second season. Headley was born on this day in 1964.
Hers may not be a household name, but Amanda Foreman has certainly appeared in several motion pictures which are known worldwide, including Star Trek (2009), Super 8 (2011), and Star Trek Into Darkness (2013). Foreman was born on this day in 1966.
At a glance, it would seem noted author Christopher Golden dabbles in a wealth of genre properties. Indeed, the Internet Speculative Fiction Database lists him as tinkering in the realms of Science Fiction, Juvenile Fantasy, the Supernatural, and several others. Shame on me as I was only familiar with his work co-authoring a few classic Battlestar Galactica novels with original BSG star Richard Hatch. (Shows what I know!) Golden was born on this day in 1967.
Actually, Brian Austin Green made a pretty phenomenal addition to the ensemble that was Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles. Now, the show never quite lived up to its potential -- imagine how difficult it is to do something like The Terminator on a weekly scale and you get what I mean -- but the young man brought plenty of machismo to the game while it was on-the-air. Green was born on this day in 1973.
The always interesting Diane Kruger sported a guest spot aboard Fox TV's Fringe during the program's run, but that's really her only foray into Science Fiction that I've stumbled across. Hopefully she'll do more. Kruger was born on this day in 1976.
Back when ABC TV's Lost was still interesting, the delicious Lana Parrilla -- one of the hardest working women in television -- had a role in a few episodes aboard the underwater base. Parrilla was born on this day in 1977.
The addition of Supergirl to the CBS line-up for the fall of 2015 was spectacular (shame on you, CBS, for not renewing it!); and the single greatest reason was that it gave one of the loveliest actresses to grace the Boob Tube in quite some time an entry into the DC Universe ... the fetching Laura Benanti! She played the sometimes duplicitous Astra as well as the gracefully noble Alura Zor-El in a dual role. Benenti was born on this day in 1979.
I've never seen this one, but, with all the praise it's received, I probably should. Here's the synopsis of The Girl Who Leapt Through Time (it was released theatrically on this day in Japan in 2006) from IMDB.com: "A teenage girl finds that she has the ability to leap through time. With her newfound power, she tries to use it to her advantage, but soon finds that tampering with time can lead to some rather discomforting results."
Star Trek: The Next Generation's second season did take a few baby steps away from the largely forgettable first season; unfortunately, it's second season finale, "Shades of Gray" (which aired on this day back in 1989), was pretty awful. It featured up essentially a bloated clip show format with a rather sketchy story centered on Commander William Riker needed the assistance of his negative emotions to fight off some relatively pesky brain microbes. Blech, indeed.
On this day in 1994, Robocop: The Series aired "Illusions." This served as the fifteenth episode in the cult series' only season, and here's the plot summary as detailed by IMDB.com:
"RoboCop guards The Chairman of OCP against a mysterious assassin, while Madigan falls under the romantic spell of a handsome young magician who may be the killer."
"RoboCop guards The Chairman of OCP against a mysterious assassin, while Madigan falls under the romantic spell of a handsome young magician who may be the killer."
On this day in 2005, Stargate: SG-1 aired "Avalon, Part 1." This served as the first episode of the long-running program's ninth season, and here's the plot summary as detailed by IMDB.com:
"With a new commander of the SGC comes a new leader of SG-1, Lt. Col. Cameron Mitchell, a former fighter pilot who flew an F-302 in the battle over Antarctica. However, he is deterred by the fact that all the other members of SG-1 are leaving for other ventures: Teal'c to manage the Jaffa Nation, Carter to Area 51 for alien R&D, and Dr. Jackson to Atlantis as an Ancient expert. Mitchell endeavors to keep the members of SG-1 for himself, but they are increasingly tough to convince."
"With a new commander of the SGC comes a new leader of SG-1, Lt. Col. Cameron Mitchell, a former fighter pilot who flew an F-302 in the battle over Antarctica. However, he is deterred by the fact that all the other members of SG-1 are leaving for other ventures: Teal'c to manage the Jaffa Nation, Carter to Area 51 for alien R&D, and Dr. Jackson to Atlantis as an Ancient expert. Mitchell endeavors to keep the members of SG-1 for himself, but they are increasingly tough to convince."
On this day in 2007, The 4400 aired "Try The Pie." This served as the fifth episode of the program's fourth season, and here's the plot summary as detailed by IMDB.com:
"Now that he knows Kyle is Promicin Positive ("P+"), Tom sets out to track him down. His journey leads him to a town that is no longer on the map and the people of which are not ordinary. Meanwhile, Maia has terrible visions of 4400s and P+es being dragged to prison camps. And her visions always come true."
"Now that he knows Kyle is Promicin Positive ("P+"), Tom sets out to track him down. His journey leads him to a town that is no longer on the map and the people of which are not ordinary. Meanwhile, Maia has terrible visions of 4400s and P+es being dragged to prison camps. And her visions always come true."
On this day in 2012, Falling Skies aired "Homecoming." This served as the sixth episode of the program's second season, and here's the plot summary from IMDB.com:
"Hal stumbles across bodies of de-harnessed kids and finds someone from his past. Tom and Anne grow closer. And Weaver's health deteriorates just as Tom discovers he may have been keeping important matters from the group in order to protect them."
"Hal stumbles across bodies of de-harnessed kids and finds someone from his past. Tom and Anne grow closer. And Weaver's health deteriorates just as Tom discovers he may have been keeping important matters from the group in order to protect them."
