Ben Slack Ben Slack was the actor who played K ' Tal in , a fourth season episode of in . Slack filmed his scenes on Friday and Monday on Paramount Stage 16 . He reprised this role for the fifth season episode and filmed his scenes in the Great Hall on Tuesday on Paramount Stage 16 . In the latter episode he had no dialogue , no screen credit and was only barely seen in a wide shot . Slack was born in Baltimore , Maryland , where he also died at the age of 67 . Slack had recurring roles on the television series " Cagney & Lacey " , " The Wonder Years " , and " The Practice " . In the latter series , he has worked with such " Star Trek " alumni as Megan Cole , Raymond Cruz , Cliff DeYoung , Albert Hall , James Ingersoll , Jack Kehler , Lawrence Monoson , Tim Ransom , John Rubinstein , and Barry Wiggins . On " Wonder Years " , he worked with series regular Olivia d ' Abo and , on one episode , with star Robert Picardo . Slack was also seen in the pilot episode of the popular medical drama " St . Elsewhere " , which aired in 1982 . Starring on this series were fellow Trekkers Ed Begley , Jr . , Norman Lloyd , Kavi Raz , and Jennifer Savidge . He would appear on the series again the following year , during which time Chad Allen and Jane Wyatt had joined the cast . His many other TV credits include " Kojak " , " All in the Family " ( with Bill Quinn and Jason Wingreen ) , " Barney Miller " ( with Ron Glass , James Gregory , and Kenneth Tigar ) , " Hill Street Blues " ( with Barbara Bosson , George Murdock , Eric Pierpoint , James B . Sikking , Lawrence Tierney , Tracey Walter , and Morgan Woodward ) , " Scarecrow and Mrs . King " ( with Daniel Davis , Anne Haney , and Allan Miller ) , " Moonlighting " ( with Vincent Schiavelli ) , " Hardcastle and McCormack " ( starring Brian Keith and Daniel Hugh Kelly ) , " The A - Team " ( starring Dwight Schultz and Lance LeGault ) , " Hunter " ( with Bruce Davison and Persis Khambatta ) , " Murder , She Wrote " ( with Barbara Babcock , Miriam Flynn , Vince Howard , and William Windom ) , " Night Court " ( with Susan Diol and John Larroquette ) , " L . A . Law " ( with Daniel Benzali , Corbin Bernsen , Larry Drake , and Willie Garson ) , " NYPD Blue " ( starring Gordon Clapp and Sharon Lawrence ) , " Lois & Clark " ( starring K Callan and Teri Hatcher ) , and the Jonathan Frakes hosted " Beyond Belief : Fact or Fiction " . He also made an appearance on the William Shatner series " T . J . Hooker " ( co - starring James Darren and Richard Herd ) in 1983 . He also appeared in an episode of the " Three ' s Company " sequel " Three ' s a Crowd " with " Voyager " s Ethan Phillips and an episode of the short - lived science fiction series " Deadly Games " , starring Christopher Lloyd and TNG co - star Brent Spiner . He has also appeared in numerous TV movies , including 1982 ' s " The Wall " ( with James Cromwell ) , 1983 ' s " Sadat " ( with Nehemiah Persoff , Tony Plana , and John Rhys - Davies ) , 1988 ' s " Baby M " ( with Stephen Liska , Dakin Matthews , Bruce McGill , and Helene Udy ) , 1986 ' s " When the Bough Breaks " ( with Merritt Butrick and David Huddleston ) , 1991 ' s " Changes " ( with Michael Nouri and James Sloyan ) , and 1996 ' s " Death Benefit " ( 1996 , with Penny Johnson , Jack Kehler , Glenn Morshower ) Slack co - starred with TNG and actor Colm Meaney in the films " Come See the Paradise " ( 1990 ) and " October 22 " ( 1998 , with Donna Murphy ) . His other film credits include " Slow Dancing in the Big City " ( 1978 , starring Paul Sorvino ) , " The Seduction of Joe Tynan " ( 1979 ) , " Bachelor Party " ( 1984 , with Coleen Maloney , Arlee Reed , John Bloom , Gerard Prendergast , Brett Baxter Clark , and ) , " An Innocent Man " ( 1989 , starring F . Murray Abraham ) , " Almost an Angel " ( 1990 ) , " S . F . W " ( 1994 ) , " Murder in the First " ( 1995 , starring Christian Slater and Brad Dourif , with Eve Brenner , Stefan Gierasch , and Time Winters ) , and " The Shadow Men " ( 1998 , with Dean Stockwell and Andrew Prine ) . His most prominent film role , however , was that of Dr . Cleveland in the 1989 horror movie " Society " .