Jason Wingreen (9 October 1920 – 25 December 2015; age 95) was the actor who played Dr. Linke in the Star Trek: The Original Series third season episode "The Empath". He filmed his scenes on Thursday 25 July 1968 and Wednesday 31 July 1968 at Desilu Stage 10 and Paramount Stage 1.
Wingreen was best known for his role as Harry Snowden on the classic television sitcom All in the Family and its spin-off series, Archie Bunker's Place. He played the character from 1977 until 1983. Bill Quinn also had a role in both of these series.
Prior to this, Wingreen was a regular during the 1960-61 season of The Untouchables, playing Police Captain Dorsett; Nehemiah Persoff had a recurring role on this show. Wingreen also had a recurring role as Judge Arthur Beaumont in Matlock, and has guest-starred in numerous other series, including Mission: Impossible, The Outer Limits, Bonanza, The Rockford Files, and The Fugitive. He also had a supporting role as the 1960 conductor in The Twilight Zone episode "A Stop at Willoughby"
In 1973, Wingreen co-starred with fellow Trek actors Mark Lenard, James B. Sikking, Phillip Pine, and Don Stark in Outrage. In 1979, he was a part of the ensemble cast of Roots: The Next Generations. Also featured in this series were fellow Trek alumni Bernie Casey, Percy Rodriguez, John Rubinstein, Bruce French, Brock Peters, Paul Winfield, and Bill Quinn.
He also had several films to his credit, most of which featured him in small, often uncredited roles. These include The True Story of Jesse James (1957, with Jeffrey Hunter, Frank Overton, Frank Gorshin, Biff Elliot, and Clegg Hoyt), The Bravados (1958, with Joan Collins), A Guide for the Married Man (1967, with Majel Barrett and Jeffrey Hunter), Marlowe (1969, with Kenneth Tobey), The Dunwich Horror (1970, with Dean Stockwell), The Magnificent Seven Ride (1972, with William Lucking, James B. Sikking, and Ed Lauter), The Terminal Man (1974, with James B. Sikking, Ian Wolfe, and Robert Ito), Airplane! (1980, starring Lloyd Bridges, with Jonathan Banks, Gregory Itzin, and Kenneth Tobey), Oh, God! You Devil (1984, with Robert Picardo and James Cromwell), and Arthur 2: On the Rocks (1988, with Kathy Bates and Ron Canada). He also voiced the popular character of Boba Fett in The Empire Strikes Back (1980, with Clive Revill), making him one of the few people involved in both Star Wars and Star Trek. However, he was removed from the 2004 DVD release of the movie: Wingreen's lines were re-dubbed by Temuera Morrison, who had played the cloned Fett's unmasked "father" in the prequel films. (Revill, who had voiced the Emperor during a holographic transmission, was removed as well, replaced by Ian McDiarmid, who played him in Return of the Jedi and the prequels.)
Wingreen also dabbled in screenwriting early in his career, contributing teleplays to programs such as 77 Sunset Strip, The Wild, Wild West, and Boris Karloff's Thriller.
Wingreen passed away at his home in Los Angeles, California on 25 December 2015. [1] [2]
Filmography[]
- Paper Man (1971, with Dean Stockwell and Marcy Lafferty)
- The Man with the Power (1977, with Tim O'Connor, Roger Perry, John de Lancie, James Ingersoll, and Persis Khambatta)