Jack Crusher

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Lieutenant Commander Jack R. Crusher, a character in the Star Trek fictional universe, is the husband to Beverly Crusher and the father of Wesley Crusher. Throughout Star Trek: The Next Generation, the character is played by actor Doug Wert.

Jack Crusher was the second officer (third in command) aboard the USS Stargazer, Jean-Luc Picard's first command. He was killed while on a mission, which Picard blamed himself for and was troubled by it until he met Beverly Crusher when she first reported on the USS Enterprise. Crusher assured Picard she had signed on the Enterprise-D voluntarily and not due to Picard's influence.

The exact circumstances of Jack's death have never been made clear in official Trek canon. In author Michael Jan Friedman's Trek novel Reunion, Jack and another officer, Stargazer security chief Pug Joseph, are attempting to repair a damaged warp nacelle which explodes. Picard arrives on the scene and must choose which officer to save. Pug is closer and therefore more likely to survive, so Picard chooses him. This incident would later form the basis of a test administered to Wesley during Starfleet Academy prep exams, where Wesley is given a hypothetical situation involving two wounded men, only one of which Wesley can save. This was done because Picard's earlier choice resulted indirectly in Jack's death, and Academy instructors wondered whether Wesley could make a similar choice.

Jack Crusher once made a holographic recording of himself, where he explained his life and recent happenings to his son Wesley shortly after his birth. Jack originally intended this to be the first in a series of messages, one every couple of years, but due to a twist of fate, this was the only recording he ever got a chance to make. By the time Wesley first got to view the recording, Jack was already dead.

While he is mentioned in several episodes throughout the series, Lieutenant Commander Crusher appears in the following Star Trek: The Next Generation episodes: