John Crawford John Crawford , born Cleve Allen Richardson , was a film and television actor . He played High Commissioner in the first season episode of entitled . He filmed his scenes on Thursday , Friday and Monday at Desilu Stage 9 . Thirty years after his performance in the " Original Series " , he revealed , still riled , that his experience on the series was less than a pleasant one , and he especially had issues with William Shatner , who played Captain James T . Kirk in the episode , " " William Shatner , the star of the series , was having an ego problem , and every time I walked on the set , I could just see it . I was not allowed to move around the set during the entire scene . He kept saying " No ! No ! No ! No ! This is the bridge of the ship and we can ' t be moving around . " Well , that ' s a lot of bullshit . He always worried about people that were taller than him " [ note : Crawford was 6 ' ½ " ( 1 . 84 m ) tall ] " . He didn ' t want you to tower over him . Well , I needed this like a hole in my head . I had a personal tragedy , my baby had recently passed away . This was in 1966 and then I had trouble with Shatner . " " Crawford was also disappointed by the way how the director , a close personal friend , handled the situation , " " My friend Bob Gist was directing it . Now sometimes Bob can be fun , and sometimes he can be a pain . I think he was playing it safe , didn ' t want to make an enemy of the star , because after all , he might want to do one of these again . Since I was a friend , he could say , " Well , John , why don ' t you take this line right here and hold the whole scene right here . " It wasn ' t free and easy like all the things I did in , where I could do any damned thing I wanted . The first job , I think , of any director is to " free " the actor so that he can act with his head and to give him monumental confidence - hell , you can do anything . " " ( " " , issue 223 , p . 67 ) Career outside " Star Trek " . Crawford has made well over 200 film and television appearances . He is probably best known for portraying Sheriff Ep Bridges on the family drama " The Waltons " ( 1972 - 81 ) and for playing Major ( and later Colonel ) Harry Thompson in the 1979 mini - series " From Here to Eternity " and its subsequent series , which lasted for only one season in 1980 . Both co - starred regular actress Salome Jens , while the mini - series also featured another DS9 actor , Andrew J . Robinson . Besides his role on " Star Trek " , he has also guest - starred on such classic TV shows ( some of which like " Star Trek " Desilu Studios productions ) as " The Lone Ranger " , " Gunsmoke " , " The Twilight Zone " , " The Untouchables " , " Batman " , " Mission : Impossible " , " Bonanza " , " The Bob Newhart Show " , and " Dallas " . Crawford was one of the favorite actors of producer , and appeared in guest roles in all four of Allen ' s television series : " Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea " , " Lost in Space " , starring Bill Mumy , several appearances on " The Time Tunnel " , starring James Darren , Lee Meriwether , and Whit Bissell , and " Land of the Giants " , starring Don Marshall . Crawford also appeared in Allen ' s unsold sci - fi pilot " The Man from the 25th Century " , which also starred Darren . He also had a recurring role on " Dynasty " , starring Joan Collins and Lee Bergere . Crawford ' s latest television appearance was in a 1986 episode of " Hardcastle and McCormick " , starring Brian Keith and Daniel Hugh Kelly . He also appeared in an episode of The Incredible Hulk with fellow Galileo Seven guest actor Don Marshall . His many feature film credits include " Mystery Street " ( 1950 , starring Ricardo Montalban and featuring Frank Overton ) , " Right Cross " ( 1950 , also starring Ricardo Montalban and featuring Kenneth Tobey ) , " Zombies of the Stratosphere " ( 1952 , with Leonard Nimoy ) , " Scaramouche " ( 1952 , with Richard Hale ) , " The Greatest Show on Earth " ( 1952 , with Lawrence Tierney ) , " The Man in the Gray Flannel Suit " ( 1956 , with DeForest Kelley ) , " The Longest Day " ( 1962 , with Richard Beymer and Jeffrey Hunter ) , " Jason and the Argonauts " ( 1963 , with Nancy Kovack ) , " The Americanization of Emily " ( 1964 , with William Windom ) , " The Greatest Story Ever Told " ( 1965 , with Nehemiah Persoff , John Abbott , Michael Ansara , Mark Lenard , and Celia Lovsky ) , " Duel at Diablo " ( 1966 , with John Hoyt ) , " The Poseidon Adventure " ( 1972 , with Elizabeth Rogers ) , " Trouble Man " ( 1972 , starring Robert Hooks and Paul Winfield ) , " The Severed Arm " ( 1973 , with Paul Carr ) , " The Towering Inferno " ( 1974 , with Paul Comi and George D . Wallace ) , " Night Moves " ( 1975 , with Harris Yulin and Kenneth Mars ) , and " The Apple Dumpling Gang Rides Again " ( 1979 , with Kenneth Mars , Robert Pine , Rex Holman , Nick Ramus , John Arndt , and Vince Deadrick ) . Crawford died of a stroke in Newbury Park , California , on 21 September 2010 . He was 90 years old .