James Cromwell James Oliver Cromwell is a highly respected actor and a veteran " Star Trek " performer . While he has made several appearances on three of the " Star Trek " series , he is best known to " Trek " fans for his portrayal of Zefram Cochrane in the film . He would go on to make an uncredited cameo as Cochrane in , the pilot episode of . Cromwell had earlier made guest appearances on and . He was interviewed on for the TNG Season 6 DVD special feature " Departmental Briefing Year Six " – " Make Up " . Personal life . Born in Los Angeles , California and raised in New York , Cromwell studied engineering at the Carnegie Institute of Technology ( now Carnegie Mellon University ) . Appropriately , he has played the part of a warp drive inventor ( " Star Trek " ) and a visionary cyberneticist ( , a film adaptation of Isaac Asimov ' s " Robot Series " ) . He began his acting career on television in 1974 , but had some difficulty breaking into feature films because of his height . At a staggering 6 ' 7 " ( 200 cm ) , many filmmakers were afraid to give him any roles as he would tower over their stars . This soon changed , however . Cromwell was married to actress Julie Cobb , who played Yeoman Leslie Thompson in the episode . Cromwell ' s step - daughter , Rosemary Morgan , is also a " Trek " alumna , having played Piri in the episode . Acclaimed roles . Cromwell has become a highly recognizable figure outside of " Star Trek " . He earned an Academy Award nomination for his performance as Farmer Hoggett in the 1995 family film , a role which he reprised in the 1998 sequel , . He also acquired praise for playing a crooked police captain in the highly acclaimed 1997 neo - noir thriller . Another cast member was one - time TNG guest actor Matt McCoy , whom Cromwell had worked with twice before in two television projects and would work with again on the short - lived TV series " Citizen Baines " in 2001 . Other cast members in " L . A . Confidential " were Bob Clendenin , Steve Rankin , Symba Smith , Brenda Bakke , John Mahon and Colin Mitchell as well as stuntmen Steven Lambert , Jim Metzler , Don Pulford and Allan Graf . Cromwell would star as future disgraced United States Senator Charles Keating in the 1996 biopic " The People vs . Larry Flynt " costarring fellow TNG guest star Vincent Schiavelli . Other works . Film . 1970s – 1992 . One of his earliest films was 1978 ' s , in which he co - starred with other future " Trek " alumni such as Louise Fletcher ( Winn Adami ) , David Ogden Stiers ( Timicin ) , and Jonathan Banks ( Shel - la ) . Cromwell followed this with roles in such films as 1983 ' s , with David Warner , Jeffrey Combs , and Earl Boen , and 1984 ' s " Oh , God ! You Devil " , with regular Robert Picardo . The following year , Cromwell appeared in the film , which also featured Picardo as well as Dick Miller . In 1988 , Cromwell would make an appearance in the pilot episode of TV ' s , starring not only Robert Picardo but " Trek " alumni Megan Gallagher , Jeff Kober , and Concetta Tomei as well . Cromwell has become widely recognized for playing Mr . Skolnick , the father of the main character , in the 1984 comedy " Revenge of the Nerds " . This film starred fellow " Star Trek " actors Bernie Casey and Brian Tochi . Cromwell would reprise the role of Skolnick in three sequels : 1987 ' s " Revenge of the Nerds II : Nerds in Paradise " ( with Ed Lauter , Tom Hodges , and Raymond Forchion ) ; 1992 ' s " Revenge of the Nerds III : The Next Generation " ( with Casey , Tochi , Clancy Brown , and Viola Kates Stimpson ) ; and " Revenge of the Nerds IV : Nerds in Love " ( with Casey , Tochi , and Robert Picardo ) . 1995 – current . Cromwell has been particularly busy following his Oscar - nominated role for " Babe " , starring in such major Hollywood films as " Deep Impact " ( 1998 , with Denise Crosby , Tucker Smallwood , Kurtwood Smith , and Concetta Tomei ) , " The General ' s Daughter " ( 1999 , with Clarence Williams III ) , the highly praised 1999 drama " The Green Mile " ( with William Sadler and Paula Malcomson ) , " The Sum of All Fears " ( with Bruce McGill as one of his Cabinet members ) and the 2004 sci - fi / action epic " I , Robot " ( co - starring Bruce Greenwood ) . However , Cromwell has also found time to participate in smaller films as well , such as 1998 ' s " Owd Bob " , in which he co - starred with Colm Meaney ( Miles O ' Brien on TNG and DS9 ) . He has worked on the occasional " art house " film as well : in 2006 , he played Prince Philip , Duke of Edinburgh , in the acclaimed biographical drama " The Queen " . In addition , Cromwell appeared as Captain George Stacy in the blockbuster film " Spider - Man 3 " , opposite Kirsten Dunst . Another film he can be seen in is " Becoming Jane " , a biography of novelist Jane Austen , which was released in the UK in March 2007 and in the US in August 2007 . Also in 2007 Cromwell voiced the character of Virgil in an animated adaptation of " Dante ' s Inferno " . John Fleck , another frequent " Trek " guest actor , voices a role in this film . In 2008 , Cromwell appeared as George Herbert Walker Bush in Oliver Stone ' s " W " , a biographical drama about former President George W . Bush . He currently has another project in the works in which he will play another former President of the United States : he is attached to portray Lyndon B . Johnson in the film " Flying Into Love " . In 2012 he was again nominated for Best Supporting Actor in " The Artist " ( also featuring Malcolm McDowell ) . Television . As extensive as his film credits are , his television credits are even more so . In 1976 , Cromwell co - starred with fellow " Star Trek " actors George Murdock , Andrew Robinson , William Windom , and Anthony Zerbe on the mini - series " Once an Eagle " . Ten years later , Cromwell was among the cast of the mini - series " Dream West " . Among the actors in this project were Cromwell ' s " Star Trek : First Contact " co - stars Jonathan Frakes and Alice Krige , as well as F . Murray Abraham , Michael Ensign , the aforementioned Matt McCoy , Noble Willingham , and Anthony Zerbe . In 1990 , Cromwell once again starred with Matt McCoy in the TV movie " Miracle Landing " , which featured DS9 regular Armin Shimerman ( Quark , etc . ) and Herta Ware ( Yvette Picard ) . More recent TV projects include the 2000 TV movie " Fail Safe " ( with Bill Smitrovich ) and 2002 ' s " RKO 281 " , a TV movie written by scribe John Logan which garnered Cromwell an Emmy nomination . In 2003 , Cromwell had a role in the highly acclaimed , multiple Emmy Award - winning mini - series " Angels in America " . That same year , he had guest - starring roles on the HBO series " Six Feet Under " , which led to his earning another Emmy nomination and becoming a regular cast member on the series from 2004 until it ended in 2005 . Cromwell also received an Emmy nomination for a guest appearance on the TV series " ER " . Cromwell guest - starred in the sixth season of the FOX series " 24 " . He played Phillip Bauer , the father of main character Jack Bauer . DS9 regular Alexander Siddig was also a member of the show ' s guest cast that season ; other actors to appear in Cromwell ' s episodes include Michael Reilly Burke , Gregory Itzin , Natalia Nogulich and Maury Sterling . Cromwell also starred in the " Masters of Science Fiction " episode " Watchbird " , with Sally Kellerman voicing the title role . Activism . Cromwell is known for his work with animal rights causes and for fighting climate change . Recently Cromwell was sentenced to spend a week in the Orange County jail for blocking access to a nuclear power plant in Wawayanda , New York . Other " Trek " connections . Additional projects in which Cromwell appeared with other " Star Trek " performers include :