| W. Morgan Sheppard | |
|---|---|
| Born | William Morgan Sheppard 24 August 1932 London, England, UK |
| Nationality | British |
| Occupation | Actor |
| Years active | 1962–present |
William Morgan Sheppard (born 24 August 1932), sometimes credited as Morgan Sheppard or W. Morgan Sheppard, is a British actor.
Sheppard was born in London to an Anglo-Irish family but was educated in Ireland. He graduated from the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art 1956-58 before spending 12 years as Associate Artist with the Royal Shakespeare Company. He appeared on Broadway in 1966 with Marat/Sade and later in 1975 with Sherlock Holmes. He won the Los Angeles Drama Critics Circle Award for The Homecoming in 1995, at the Matrix Theatre. He is the father of actor Mark Sheppard.[1]
He appeared in several episodes of different series of Star Trek, notably "The Schizoid Man" and "Bliss", as well as the feature films Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country (as the warden of a Klingon gulag) and in Star Trek (as a member of the Vulcan High Council, but was uncredited). Outside of Star Trek he is probably best known for his roles as Blank Reg on Max Headroom and Confederate General Isaac Trimble in the films Gettysburg and Gods and Generals.
He has appeared in two roles on the science fiction series Babylon 5 (1994–1998), first as a 'Soul Hunter' in the episode of the same name and secondly as Narn war leader G'Sten, an uncle of main character G'kar, in the 'The Long Twilight Struggle'. He was also a runner-up for the role of Ambassador G'Kar on the show, though the role eventually went to Andreas Katsulas. He also played a computer hologram for an A.I. program during the first and second season of seaQuest DSV.
He was one of several Star Trek actors who voiced characters on the animated series Gargoyles, including playing the father of Jonathan Frakes' character David Xanatos and as the Norse god Odin.
He appeared in two notable episodes of MacGyver, as the incarcerated (and rather insane) serial killer "Dr. Zito" as well as appearing in the show Minder in Series 1 episode "Come in T-64, Your Time Is Ticking Away".
He appeared in the 1978 TV-film The Nativity. He starred alongside John Terry in the 1980 fantasy film Hawk the Slayer. He appeared in the 1992 comedy film There Goes the Neighborhood. He narrated the introductions and mission briefings for the first three installments of the Medal of Honor video game series.
He appeared in the 1988 comedy horror film Elvira, Mistress of the Dark as Elvira's Great-Uncle Vincent Talbot who was an evil warlock.
Sheppard was cast in the 1996 adventure game Zork Nemesis, playing the live-action role of Bishop Francois Malveaux, one of the four alchemists central to the plot of the game.
In 2000, he voiced the character Ignatius Cheese in the game Escape from Monkey Island.
Sheppard played the role of Captain Archibald Witwicky in the 2007 live action film Transformers.
He voiced over for the character John Adams in the Wii game The Conduit, and provided the voice of the keeper of the underworld in the television series Legend of the Seeker throughout its second season.
Sheppard appeared in the TV show NCIS, in episode 06.13 - "Broken Bird".[2]
On August 4, 2010 Sheppard was announced as the voice actor for the video game Civilization 5.[3]
Sheppard appeared on Season 4 of Mad Men, Episode 10, playing the part of Lane Pryce's father.
On December 4, 2010 Sheppard appear on Hallmark Channel Original Movies Farewell Mr. Kringle as Kris Kringle.
In December 2009, Sheppard voiced the part of Santa in Disney's Christmas Special Prep & Landing. Following that, he returned as the voice of Santa in the sequel Prep & Landing: Operation: Secret Santa.
He appeared in the opening episode of series six of Doctor Who, "The Impossible Astronaut" playing the character Canton Everett Delaware III. He portrays an older version of Delaware while his son Mark Sheppard portrays the younger version in the same episodes. He and his son are among the few actors to have appeared in both the Star Trek and Doctor Who franchises.