is saddened to report that veteran character actor and iconic Star Trek guest star Michael Ansara passed away on July 31 at the age of 91 following a long illness.

Ansara had a remarkably long and prolific career that spanned from 1944 to 2001 and included Abbott and Costello Meet the Mummy, Alfred Hitchcock Presents, Broken Arrow (on which he starred as Cochise), The Fugitive, Gunsmoke, I Dream of Jeannie, It's Alive, Buck Rogers in the 25th Century, Fantasy Island, Murder, She Wrote, Babylon 5 and such late-career animated projects as Batman, SubZero, Batman Beyond and his final credit, 2001's Batman: Vengeance; he voiced Dr. Victor Fries/Mr. Freeze in all of those Batman iterations.

Star Trek fans, of course, embraced Ansara for his performance as the Klingon commander, Kang, in the Star Trek: The Original Series episode "Day of the Dove." Later, when Star Trek exploded into a cultural phenomenon, Ansara became a favorite at conventions and on cruises. Decades passed and, in 1994, Ansara made a triumphant return to televised Trek, reprising his role as Kang in the Deep Space Nine hour "Blood Oath." Ansara played Kang yet again in the 1996 Voyager episode "Flashback" and portrayed an entirely different character, Lwaxana Troi's Tavnian spouse, Jeyal, in the 1996 Deep Space Nine episode "The Muse."

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Ansara was predeceased in 2001 by Matthew, his son with second wife, I Dream of Jeannie actress Barbara Eden. He is survived by wife, Beverly Kushida. StarTrek.com sends our condolences to Ansara's family, friends, colleagues and many fans.