

(written from a Production point of view Real World article

Michael Joseph Alaimo, known professionally as Marc Alaimo (born 5 May 1942; age 78) is an actor best known for his portrayal of Gul Dukat on Star Trek: Deep Space Nine. He also played the role in the video game Star Trek: Deep Space Nine - Dominion Wars. Alaimo also appears in the documentary What We Left Behind.

Alaimo holds the honor of playing the first Romulan seen in the Star Trek: The Next Generation era as well as the first Cardassian seen in the Star Trek saga. Nicknamed "The Neck" for his prominent neck muscles, Alaimo influenced makeup supervisor Michael Westmore's design of the Cardassian makeup, as Westmore based the race's neck ridges on Alaimo's physique.

Several costumes worn by Alaimo in Star Trek were sold off on the It's A Wrap! sale and auction on eBay, including his Breen suit from the episode "Indiscretion", which was later worn by background performer Todd Slayton. [1]

Contents show]

Career

Television

Born in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, Alaimo moved to New York in the early 1970s following stints with the Marquette University Players and the Milwaukee Repertory Theater Company. It was in New York that he acquired his first television role, playing the recurring character of Virgil Paris during the 1972-1973 season of the soap opera Somerset. Alaimo is not the only Star Trek veteran to perform on the soap opera Somerset. Others include Bibi Besch, Nicholas Coster, Bruce Gray, DS9 co-star Barry Jenner, Mark Lenard, Michael Nouri, Percy Rodriguez, and Tucker Smallwood. However, all had either left or were not yet members of the cast during Alaimo's brief tenure.

His work on Somerset was followed with guest appearances on many TV shows, usually playing the villain. Some of the shows on which he appeared include Kojak (in an episode with Yvonne Craig), The Rockford Files, Gunsmoke (with George Murdock and series regular Charles Seel), Barnaby Jones (with series regular Lee Meriwether), Baretta, Starsky & Hutch (several episodes, including one with James B. Sikking and all starring David Soul), The Hardy Boys/Nancy Drew Mysteries (with Phillip Richard Allen, Michael Pataki, and William Schallert), CHiPs (two episodes – one with Ellen Geer and another with DS9 co-stars Michael Dorn and Barry Jenner; both also featured Robert Pine), The Incredible Hulk (several episodes, including one with Charles Napier), Wonder Woman, Charlie's Angels, Quincy M.E. (with Robert Ito and Garry Walberg), Knight Rider, The Fall Guy (two episodes, including one with Marshall R. Teague and Ian Wolfe), T.J. Hooker (two episodes – one with Lloyd Haynes, Robert O'Reilly, and series regular Richard Herd, and both starring William Shatner and James Darren), Hardcastle and McCormick (starring Brian Keith and Daniel Hugh Kelly in the title roles), Hunter (with series regular Bruce Davison), The A-Team (starring Dwight Schultz), Quantum Leap (starring Scott Bakula and Dean Stockwell, in an episode with Ron Taylor), and Walker, Texas Ranger (with Noble Willingham).

Additionally, Alaimo had a recurring role on Hill Street Blues, as Gene Scapizzi, from 1985 through 1987. Besides series regulars Barbara Babcock, Barbara Bosson, Megan Gallagher, and James B. Sikking (whom Alaimo had worked with previously), other Star Trek alumni he worked on the series include Richard Herd, Gregory Itzin, Michael Keenan, David Selburg, Lawrence Tierney, and Kenneth Tigar.

Alaimo has appeared in a number of made-for-TV movies, most notably 1976's Helter Skelter, a drama about murderer Charles Manson and co-starring fellow Star Trek actors Phillip Richard Allen, David Clennon, Bruce French, Skip Homeier, Robert Ito, Roy Jenson, Jonathan Lippe, and Alan Oppenheimer. Alaimo's other TV movie credits include 1976's A Matter of Wife… and Death (with John Colicos), 1977's The 3,000 Mile Chase (with Cliff DeYoung and Roger Aaron Brown), 1981's Broken Promises (starring Chris Sarandon), 1982's The Ambush Murders (with Alfre Woodard, Warren Munson, and Marshall Teague), 1984's No Man's Land (with John Rhys-Davies), 1987's Kenny Rogers as The Gambler, Part III: The Legend Continues (with Jeff Allin, Michael Berryman, Jefrey Alan Chandler, Ann H. Gillespie, Colm Meaney, Tony Plana, Jimmie F. Skaggs, and Dean Stockwell), 1988's Case Closed (with Christopher Neame), 1992's Quicksand: No Escape (with Steven Culp and Jack Shearer), and 1993's Donato and Daughter (with David Gautreaux, Jenette Goldstein, Gregory Itzin, Julianna McCarthy, and Patti Yasutake).

Alaimo spent the majority of the 1990s focusing on his role as Gul Dukat for Deep Space Nine. He has not appeared in any other live-action TV role since Deep Space Nine ended in 1999; his only television performance since then was the voice of "The Dean of the Secret Order of Dirty Joke Writers" in a 2010 episode of Family Guy, created by Star Trek fan Seth MacFarlane.

Film

Alaimo made his feature film debut in the 1976 blaxploitation horror movie Dr. Black, Mr. Hyde, starring fellow DS9 guest actor Bernie Casey. The following year, Alaimo appeared in the Richard Pryor comedy Which Way Is Up, co-starring Morgan Woodward. The year after that, Alaimo appeared in the action thriller Mean Dog Blues, starring Star Trek: Insurrection actor Gregg Henry and also featuring Logan Ramsey, Gregory Sierra, William Windom, and Ian Wolfe. And still the following year, he was seen in the Paul Schrader drama Hardcore, along with Ed Begley, Jr., Bibi Besch, and Gary Graham.

In 1980, Alaimo was seen opposite Chevy Chase and Goldie Hawn in the romantic comedy Seems Like Old Times. In 1984, he had a role in the cult science fiction classic The Last Starfighter, also featuring Barbara Bosson and Meg Wyllie. And in 1988, he appeared in Clint Eastwood's fifth installment of the "Dirty Harry" film series The Dead Pool, also starring Louis Giambalvo, Ronnie Claire Edwards, and Kristopher Logan.

Alaimo co-starred with his fellow DS9 castmates Armin Shimerman and Hamilton Camp in the 1989 science fiction movie Arena. Also in 1989, he had a supporting role opposite Sylvester Stallone and Kurt Russell in the action thriller Tango & Cash. Also starring in the latter movie were Teri Hatcher, Michael J. Pollard, Roy Brocksmith, Phil Rubenstein, Clint Howard, Henry Kingi, Sr. and Glenn Morshower.

Perhaps Alaimo's most notable film role is that of Everett, a Martian security officer, in the 1990 science fiction action thriller Total Recall. His slew of co-stars in this film include Roy Brocksmith, Michael Champion, Robert Costanzo, Ronny Cox, Mel Johnson, Jr., Frank Kopyc, Lycia Naff, Milt Tarver, Parker Whitman and Star Trek: Voyager's Robert Picardo as the voice of the Johnnycab.

Alaimo's latest film credit to date was a brief appearance in the 1994 comedy Naked Gun 33 1/3: The Final Insult. Bill Erwin also appeared in this film. Since then, Alaimo has focused his attention on television (especially on his role as Dukat) and on stage.

Star Trek appearances