Mark Lenard Mark Lenard was an American actor best known for his role as Vulcan Ambassador Sarek , the father of Spock . He first played Sarek in the second season " " episode . He resumed the role in three of the ( , , and ) and on in the episodes and . He also voiced the role in the episode . Before he was cast as Sarek , Lenard played the first major Romulan character seen on " Star Trek " , that being the Romulan Commander in the original series episode . As such , Lenard is often credited as being the first ever Romulan to appear in " Star Trek " ; however , by strict order of screen appearance , that honor falls to Lawrence Montaigne as Decius , who appeared seconds before Lenard but was wearing a helmet covering his Romulan ears . Lenard was the first Romulan to be fully seen with Vulcan - type ears . Lenard filmed his scenes for " Balance of Terror " on Wednesday and Thursday at Desilu Stage 9 . He filmed his scenes for " Journey to Babel " between Monday and Thursday at Stage 9 . Lenard and Montaigne were at one point considered as a replacement for Spock had Leonard Nimoy not returned for the second season of if contract negotiations had fallen through . Lenard was also the first choice to portray Abraham Lincoln in , but was unavailable due to a regular role on the series " Here Come the Brides " . Lenard also became the first actor to play a Klingon with forehead ridges ( and the first to speak the Klingon language ) when he appeared as the Klingon Captain of the in . Lenard had actually requested to reprise his role as Sarek for this film , but when his request was declined , he was offered the role of the Klingon captain instead . In Lenard appeared for the last time as Sarek in the fifth season episode . He arrived on Monday in Los Angeles and the transportation department picked him up at the airport . On the next day , Tuesday , he had a wardrobe fitting at 9 : 00 a . m . and was picked up at his hotel at 8 : 30 a . m . Lenard finally filmed his scenes on Wednesday at Paramount Stage 16 , was picked up at the hotel at 5 : 15 a . m . , had a make up call at 5 : 30 a . m . and a set call at 8 : 30 a . m . Lenard worked with Ken Penders to write a comic story titles " The Lessons of Life " that was to be published by DC Comics as a prestige hardcover graphic novel tied in with the release of the " " novel from Pocket Books . This project died , but led to Lenard writing " Blood & Honor " , a released in 1995 , where the son of his Romulan character from " Balance of Terror " met a descendant of James T . Kirk ' s on Deep Space 9 . Early life and stage career . Lenard was born Leonard Rosenson in Chicago , Illinois . He graduated from high school in 1941 , when he was only 16 years old . He then enrolled in the University of Michigan as a literature major . He was a veteran of the Second World War , joining the US Army in 1943 and becoming a paratrooper in Europe . He rose rapidly through the enlisted ranks until he was discharged as a Technical Sergeant in 1946 . During his military service , Lenard was chosen for a lead role in an Army presentation of " Volpone " to tour throughout Europe . This was his first acting experience . After being discharged , Lenard traveled Europe and considered joining the foreign service . Ultimately , however , he moved to New York and attended the New School in the hopes of becoming a writer . While in New York , Lenard accepted the lead role in an off - Broadway production of James Joyce ' s play " Exiles " . Afterward , he decided to become an actor . He returned to the University of Michigan and received a Master ' s Degree in Theatre and Speech . He then returned to New York to pursue a career as a Broadway actor . He made his Broadway debut in 1957 as an understudy for actors Philip Abbott and William Smithers in Carson McCullers ' play " The Square Root of Wonderful " . He returned to the Broadway stage in 1959 for a production of William Shakespeare ' s " Much Ado About Nothing " . Graham Jarvis was also a part of this production . In 1962 , he was performing in a play called " We Take the Town " , but this production closed before it could make it to Broadway . Lenard also performed in plays from such noted authors as Henrik Ibsen and Anton Chekhov and earned several awards for his work . Lenard met his future wife , Ann Amouri , in an acting class . They later toured together in a road company production of " A Far Country " , in which Lenard portrayed Dr . Sigmund Freud . Lenard and Amouri married in 1960 , ultimately having two children , daughters Roberta and Catherine . Early television career . In 1959 , while still in New York , Lenard began taking on television roles . He became a main cast member on the CBS soap opera " Search for Tomorrow " , taking over the role of Nathan Walsh . This role had previously been played by four other actors , including Richard Derr and Frank Overton . After his part on " Search for Tomorrow " came to an end in 1960 , Lenard portrayed Rochefort in a TV movie version of " The Three Musketeers " , also airing on CBS . One of his co - stars in this production was fellow " Star Trek " alum John Colicos , who played Porthos . In 1961 , Lenard acted with Christopher Plummer in " The DuPont Show of the Month " production of " The Prisoner of Zenda " . This was followed by appearances on such shows as " The Defenders " , " Lamp Unto My Feet " , and " The Nurses " . During the 1964 - 65 television season , he became a regular on the NBC soap opera " Another World " , portraying Dr . Ernest Gregory . Los Angeles : 1966 - 1970 . Lenard traveled to Los Angeles , California , to seek more acting opportunities . He made his feature film debut in the 1965 biblical epic " The Greatest Story Ever Told " , in which he played Balthazar . Nehemiah Persoff also had a role in this film . In 1966 , Lenard and his family permanently moved to Los Angeles . A month later , Lenard was cast as the Romulan Commander in the " Star Trek " episode " Balance of Terror " . The director of that episode , Vincent McEveety , subsequently directed Lenard in episodes of the western shows " Gunsmoke " and " Cimarron Strip " . Between 1966 and 1970 , Lenard guest - starred in four episodes of " Mission : Impossible " . Like " Star Trek " , this series was produced by Desilu . Incidentally , one of the episodes Lenard appeared in was called " Trek . " Among the performers he worked with on " Mission : Impossible " were Percy Rodriguez and Lenard ' s on - screen " Star Trek " son , Leonard Nimoy . Lenard also managed to acquire roles on such television series as " Jericho " ( with Malachi Throne ) , " The Iron Horse " ( with Don Keefer ) , " Felony Squad " ( with Vic Tayback ) , " The Wild Wild West " ( directed by Marvin Chomsky ) , " Judd for the Defense " ( with Perry Lopez ) , " It Takes a Thief " ( with Peter Brocco and Malachi Throne ) , and " Insight " ( with Diana Muldaur ) . In addition , he appeared in his second film , the 1968 western " Hang ' Em High " , along with Jonathan Lippe , Paul Sorensen , and Bill Zuckert . From 1968 through 1970 , Lenard was a regular on the comedy - adventure series " Here Come the Brides " . On this series , Lenard portrayed sawmill owner Aaron Stempel , the business rival of the show ' s protagonists , the three Bolt brothers . Two of the Bolt brothers were played by fellow " Star Trek " guest actors Robert Brown and David Soul . Post - " Brides " : 1971 - 1981 . Lenard portrayed General Urko , the head of the gorilla military class , in the short - lived " Planet of the Apes " television series which aired on CBS from September through December 1974 . His character on this show took orders from Dr . Zaius , who was played by Booth Colman . The series was photographed by Jerry Finnerman and included directors Ralph Senensky , John Meredyth Lucas and Don McDougall . In 1979 , Lenard played the evil Emperor Thorval in NBC ' s science - fiction / western serial " Cliffhangers : The Secret Empire " . Thorval ' s aide , Hator , was played by fellow " Star Trek " alum David Opatoshu . Lenard had supporting roles in the made - for - television movies " Outrage " ( 1973 ) and " Getting Married " ( 1978 ) . Aforementioned " Star Trek " alumni James B . Sikking and Nehemiah Persoff as well as Don Stark and Jason Wingreen also had roles in the former production , while Christopher McDonald and Vic Tayback were seen in the latter . In addition , Lenard played the lead role in the 1975 film " Noon Sunday " and had a small role in the Academy Award - winning comedy film " Annie Hall " . The latter also featured John Glover and Tracey Walter . In 1981 , Lenard guest - starred on the popular science fiction series " Buck Rogers in the 25th Century " as Ambassador Duvoe in the episodes " Journey to Oasis : Part 1 " and " Part 2 " . Felix Silla also appeared in these episodes as Odee - x ; Paul Carr was a regular on the series at the time , playing Lieutenant Devlin . Later life and career . Outside of his appearances in the " Star Trek " films and on " Star Trek : The Next Generation " , Lenard did little else in film and television during the 1980s and 1990s . He spent much of his time teaching acting in New York City , commuting back and forth between the east and west coasts . For the most part , Lenard had moved on to voice - over work . He was well known as the spokesman for the Saab automobile company in the 1980s . He recorded numerous radio commercials for the company , most of which were taped in New York . When his contract with Saab ended in the early 1990s , Lenard became the national spokesman for Zenith watches . He also lent his voice to local and national commercials for many other companies , in addition to supplying narration and commentary for such television networks as PBS , The Learning Channel , and the Discovery Channel . Lenard did continue making occasional acting appearances , however . He guest - starred in an episode of the short - lived science fiction series " Otherworld " in 1985 , directed by Richard Compton . Jonathan Banks was a regular on this series . Lenard also had a supporting role in the 1990 film " The Radicals " , which was filmed in Europe ( primarily France ) and which co - starred Christopher Neame . This film ' s music was composed by Tim Simonec . During the early 1990s , Lenard toured throughout the country with " Star Trek " regular Walter Koenig in the two - man play " The Boys of Autumn " . In this play , Lenard and Koenig portrayed Huckleberry Finn and Tom Sawyer , respectively , who meet for the first time in 50 years as old men . Lenard and Koenig also worked together in the short play " Actors " . Lenard made his final screen appearance on the television drama series " In the Heat of the Night " in the 1993 episode " Legacy " . In this episode , Lenard played Horace Sloan , Jr . , a wealthy man who intends on giving his estate to Candace Sloan , the descendant of a black sharecropper who worked on the land decades before . This plan does not sit well with Horace Sloan ' s greedy son , Lamar , the heir to the family estate . Candace was played by " Next Generation " guest star Renée Jones , while guest actor Edward Laurence Albert played Lamar . TNG / DS9 guest star Katherine Moffat played Horace ' s daughter and Lamar ' s sister , Amy . Illness and death . In October 1995 , Lenard , then living in Manhattan , complained of a pain in his ribs , but an X - ray revealed nothing of consequence . In December of that year , Lenard began experiencing fatigue and chronic back pain . After a series of medical tests and examinations , it was discovered that Lenard was anemic . Following a bone marrow biopsy , Lenard was diagnosed with . Lenard was initially given a prognosis of at least several years with plasmapheresis and chemotherapy , despite the fact that his disease was already at Stage III . By March 1996 , however , Lenard ' s prognosis had worsened . He had continual bouts of pneumonia and became malnourished and , ultimately , the disease attacked his liver and kidneys . Lenard died of kidney failure at the New York University Hospital in Manhattan on 22 November 1996 ( the same day opened in the US ) at the age of 72 . He was survived by Ann , his wife of 36 years , and their two daughters .