Treknicalities

Mark Lenard was born Leonard Rosenson on October 15, 1924 in Chicago, Illinois. He was the son of Russian Jewish immigrants Abraham and Bessie Rosenson. In 1943 he joined the U. S. Army and trained to be a paratrooper during WWII and was discharged as a technical sergeant in 1946 without having seen actual combat.

The University of Michigan graduate was best known as the actor who played Spock’s father, Sarek, in Star Trek: The Original Series, Star Trek: The Animated Series, and later in Star Trek: The Next Generation. He was the first actor to appear in more than one Star Trek series as the same character as well as the first actor to play more than one character in Star Trek. In the TOS episode “Balance Of Terror” he played the first Romulan to appear on the show and in Star Trek: The Motion Picture he played the first Klingon with a ridged forehead to appear in the franchise. Lenard wanted to appear in The Motion Picture, and, since Sarek was not a character in the film, he was cast as the Klingon commander in the beginning of the film. He did eventually appear as Sarek in The Search For Spock, The Voyage Home, and The Undiscovered Country, as well as two episodes of Star Trek: The Next Generation.

Outside of Star Trek, Lenard was known for several roles. In the 1968 Clint Eastwood movie Hang ‘Em High he played the prosecutor in Fort Grant. He played Arron Stemple in Here Come The Brides and the Urko, the hostile gorilla in the Planet Of The Apes television series. He made guest appearances in Little House On The Prairie, Gunsmoke, as well as several episodes of the original Mission: Impossible (including one with Leonard Nimoy) and a two-part episode of Buck Rogers in the 25th Century.

Lenard died of Multiple myeloma in New York City, New York in 1996 at the age of 72.

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