Charles Washburn Charles " Charlie " C . Washburn was an assistant director who worked on and the first season of . Lt . Washburn , portrayed by Richard Compton in the episode , was named after him . His work on " The Original Series " was Washburn ' s first professional job following his apprenticeship at the Director Guild of America ( DGA ) ' s trainee program . Later people nicknamed him " Charlie Star Trek " because of his association with the now legendary series . In an interview for the fan - magazine " Inside " Star Trek " " , Washburn explained that there were two second assistant directors on the production of " The Original Series " ( the other being Tiger Shapiro ) and that it was among his duties to prepare the shooting schedule , creating the call sheets , releasing the calls for the actors , and hire and pay the background extras with the help of Independent Casting . Around 1986 , Washburn considered writing a book about his experiences in television , especially regarding his work on " Star Trek " . However , the book never materialized . In that year though , he did submit a feature article to the magazine " " , that was published , detailing his career . He had also worked with Star Trek alumni Rex Holman and was instrumental in casting him as Morgan Earp for the third season episode , after the original actor cast was fired . In 1987 , Washburn was among the production staff members from " The Original Series " , whom Gene Roddenberry recruited for " Star Trek : The Next Generation " . He worked as a First Assistant Director on the first season of the new series . Outside the official " Star Trek " framework , Washburn joined in 2007 the filming of James Cawley ' s fan film production " Star Trek : New Voyages " , and worked as first assistant director on David Gerrold ' s double episode " Blood and Fire " which was released in 2008 and 2009 . Beside writer and director Gerrold , the two episodes also featured " Trek " alumni Daren Dochterman , Bill Blair , Leslie Hoffman , Fred Steiner , Ronald B . Moore , Denise Crosby , and John Carrigan . Career outside " Star Trek " . Charles Washburn left college in Memphis with a degree in Business Major . Some years later he went to school again in Milwaukee , feeling that writing ads was exciting for him . There he discovered directing . The following years he moved to New York and Los Angeles . In Hollywood he got into an apprentice program . Washburn was the first African - American who applied , and then graduated from the DGA ' s trainee program . Washburn ' s first job following his time on " Star Trek " was the part of the second assistant director on adventure movie " Skullduggery " ( 1970 ) on which he also appeared as a Papuan . The film also featured " Trek " actors Roger C . Carmel and Booker Bradshaw . The following years he worked as assistant director on the comedy series " The Bill Cosby Show " ( 1969 - 1971 ) , the drama " Brother John " ( 1971 , directed by James Goldstone ) , the television science fiction film " Earth II " ( 1971 , with Gary Lockwood and Mariette Hartley ) , the crime drama " Melinda " ( 1972 ) , the music drama " Lady Sings the Blues " ( 1972 ) , the documentary " Wattstax " ( 1973 ) , the comedy " Uptown Saturday Night " ( 1974 ) , the television series " Vega $ " ( 1978 - 1979 ) , and the television drama " Don ' t Look Back : The Story of Leroy ' Satchel ' Paige " ( 1981 , directed by Richard Colla ) . Beside his credits Washburn appeared as a background actor in the crime thriller " Dirty Harry " ( 1971 ) , was the executive in charge of production on " The Six Million Dollar Man " episode " Bigfoot V " ( 1977 ) , and worked as unit production manager on the comedy " Bustin ' Loose " ( 1981 , set decoration by John M . Dwyer ) . He died of kidney disease on 13 April , 2012 in his native Memphis .