Richard Herd Richard Herd is an American veteran film and television actor known to " Star Trek " fans for his appearances as Admiral Owen Paris in the episodes , , , and . He had previously appeared as the Klingon L ' Kor in the sixth season episodes and in . Herd is perhaps best known for his role as the Visitor Supreme Commander John in the science fiction mini - series " V " ( 1983 ) and " V : The Final Battle " ( 1984 ) . He is also known for starring opposite William Shatner in the 1980s police drama " T . J . Hooker " , for playing Admiral Noyce on the series " SeaQuest DSV " , and for his recurring role as Mr . Wilhelm on the hit sitcom " Seinfeld " . At one point , Herd was the 3rd National Vice - President of the . He is a member of the Enterprise Blues Band , a musical group that writes and performs songs about " Star Trek " . The other members are Vaughn Armstrong , Casey Biggs , Steve Rankin , William Jones and Ronald B . Moore . Herd plays the gut box bass , kazoo , and sings some of the back - up vocals . Early life and career . Herd was born in Boston , Massachusetts . He began acting in high school and participated in a two - year apprenticeship - acting program with the Boston Summer Stock Theater . After graduating from high school , Herd enlisted in the Army , serving for less than a year in 1953 and receiving a discharge as a private . He made his film debut playing an athletics coach in the cult 1970 fantasy comedy " Hercules in New York " , which also marked the film debut of Arnold Schwarzenegger . His breakthrough role came in the 1976 Academy award - winning film " All the President ' s Men " . Stephen Collins , Nicholas Coster , Paul Lambert , Gene Dynarski and F . Murray Abraham also had roles in this film . Incidentally , Herd previously appeared with Abraham in an episode of " Kojak " the previous year . Herd ' s subsequent film credits include Norman Jewison ' s 1978 drama " F . I . S . T . " ( with Kevin Conway ) , the Academy Award - nominated 1979 suspense thriller " The China Syndrome " , and the 1979 crime drama " The Onion Field " . Many other " Star Trek " alumni appeared in the latter film , including John Savage in the lead role and Phillip Richard Allen , K Callan , Ronny Cox , John de Lancie , Christopher Lloyd , and Michael Pataki playing supporting roles . " The Onion Field " was edited by John W . Wheeler . Herd and the aforementioned Christopher Lloyd again worked together in the 1980 horror film " Schizoid " , which also starred Marianna Hill and Craig Wasson . That same year , Herd was seen as Brigadier General Foley in the hit comedy film " Private Benjamin " . Lilyan Chauvin , Alan Oppenheimer , and Keone Young had roles in this film , as well . Between 1975 and 1982 , Herd guest - starred on such television series as " The Streets of San Francisco " ( with Andrew Robinson ) , " Eight Is Enough " ( with James Cromwell ) , and " M * A * S * H " ( with David Ogden Stiers ) . He also had a recurring role on the primetime soap opera " Dallas " , during which time he worked with Michael Bell , Joanna Cassidy , Susan Howard , Leigh J . McCloskey , William Windom , and Morgan Woodward . Herd played General of the Army Omar Bradley in the 1979 TV miniseries " Ike " , a role previously played by Karl Malden ( an actor for whom Herd is often mistaken ) in the film " Patton " . ( Jonathan Banks , Whit Bissell , William Boyett , K Callan , Laurence Luckinbill , and William Schallert also had roles in " Ike " . ) Herd played another historical general , Leslie Groves , in the 1980 TV movie " Enola Gay : The Men , the Mission , the Atomic Bomb " , which also featured Kim Darby , Stephen Macht , and Robert Pine . One of Herd ' s best - known roles is that of Police Captain Dennis Sheridan , whom he played for three seasons on the television series " T . J . Hooker " , which starred William Shatner in the title role . James Darren was a regular on this series , as well . Some of the directors Herd worked with on this series included Corey Allen , Cliff Bole , Winrich Kolbe , Leonard Nimoy ( who also made a guest appearance on the show ) , and even Shatner himself . " V " and other genre projects . Outside of " Star Trek " , Herd is also well known for his role in NBC ' s 1983 science fiction mini - series , in which he played John , the Visitors ' Supreme Commander . He reprised this role in the 1984 sequel , " V : The Final Battle " . Both of these projects starred DS9 guest actors Michael Durrell and Andrew Prine . " V : The Final Battle " starred TNG and VOY guest star Mark L . Taylor and TNG / DS9 guest star Dick Miller . Since his role on " V " , Herd has made appearances on several well - known science fiction shows , including with Scott Bakula and Dean Stockwell . He made several appearances as Admiral Noyce on the sci - fi series " seaQuest DSV " alongside other " Trek " guest stars such as Stephanie Beacham , Rosalind Ingledew , and Marco Sanchez . Herd even reunited with his " T . J . Hooker " co - star William Shatner in the " Hide and Seek " episode of " seaQuest DSV . " Some of Herd ' s other genre roles include guest spots on " Beauty and the Beast " ( starring Ron Perlman ) and " Buffy the Vampire Slayer " ( with Willie Garson ) . Herd also played Chairman in the popular 1985 science fiction film " Trancers " . In 1996 , Herd co - starred with LeVar Burton and Malcolm McDowell in the HBO sci - fi movie " Yesterday ' s Target " . In the 1998 TV movie " I Married a Monster " , Herd worked with Vaughn Armstrong and Tim de Zarn . Most recently , Herd had a supporting role in the science fiction film " InAlienable " , written by and co - starring Walter Koenig . This film ' s cast also included Erick Avari , Gary Graham , J . G . Hertzler , Andrew Koenig , Judy Levitt , Lisa LoCicero , Courtney Peldon , Jeff Rector , Alan Ruck , and TNG regular Marina Sirtis . Other works . In addition to the above , Herd had supporting roles in such films as the 1983 crime comedy " Deal of the Century " ( with Graham Jarvis , Richard Libertini , Tony Plana , and Wallace Shawn ) , the 1985 romantic comedy " Summer Rental " ( starring Karen Austin and John Larroquette ) , the 1987 buddy comedy " Planes , Trains & Automobiles " ( with Bill Erwin , Larry Hankin , Michael McKean , and William Windom ) , and the 1987 thriller " Gleaming the Cube " ( with Art Chudabala , Ed Lauter , and starring Christian Slater ) . Some of his more recent films include 1996 ' s " Sgt . Bilko " ( with Pamela Segall ) , 1997 ' s " Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil " ( with Bob Gunton , Anne Haney , and Leon Rippy ) , and 2005 ' s " The Cabinet of Dr . Caligari " ( with Tim Russ and Time Winters ) . On television , Herd portrayed Calvin Kleeger in two 1984 episodes of the primetime soap opera " Falcon Crest " , on which Robert Foxworth was a regular . Foxworth also directed Herd ' s first episode . In between airings of his two " Falcon Crest " episodes , Herd was seen on " Hardcastle and McCormick " , which starred Brian Keith and Daniel Hugh Kelly in the title roles . Herd returned to the series in 1985 , in an episode with Charles Rocket . That same year , Herd appeared on " The A - Team " , the action - adventure series which starred Dwight Schultz . Herd is well - known for his recurring role as Mr . Wilhelm on the hit NBC comedy series " Seinfeld " . His character was the absent - minded boss of George Costanza , played by fellow " Voyager " alum Jason Alexander . Herd appeared in eleven episodes of " Seinfeld " between 1995 and 1998 and won a Screen Actors Guild Award for his performance on the show . Among the other performers he worked with during his time on the show were Ian Abercrombie , Lee Arenberg , Thomas Dekker , Richard Fancy , Teri Hatcher , Harvey Jason , Patrick Kerr , Brian McNamara , Phil Morris , Leon Russom , Armin Shimerman , Brenda Strong , and Heidi Swedberg . His other television credits during the 1990s includes two back - to - back episodes " Knots Landing " ( with Liam Sullivan and Kenneth Tigar ) and an appearance on " China Beach " ( starring Jeff Kober and Robert Picardo , in an episode with Robert Knepper ) , as well as guest - starring roles on " Murder , She Wrote " ( playing the husband of Sally Kellerman in an episode with Gregory Sierra ) , " Walker , Texas Ranger " ( with Marshall Teague and Noble Willingham ) , and " ER " ( with Scott Jaeck and William Utay ) . He also made recurring appearances on " Dr . Quinn , Medicine Woman " ( working with Edward Laurence Albert , Chad Allen , Elinor Donahue , Georgann Johnson , Nick Ramus , and Gail Strickland ) and " Pacific Blue " ( with Manu Intiraymi , Chip Mayer , and Jeremy Roberts ) . Herd was among the many " Star Trek " veterans who participated in the 2003 short film " Roddenberry on Patrol " , which parodies Gene Roddenberry ' s creation of " Star Trek " . This film was directed and produced by Tim Russ , who also appeared in the movie along with Robert Beltran , Walter Koenig , Nichelle Nichols , Robert O ' Reilly , Ethan Phillips , Robert Picardo , and George Takei . More recently , Herd has been seen on such television shows as " The O . C . " ( with Melinda Clarke and Alan Dale ) , " Desperate Housewives " ( with Teri Hatcher and Mark Moses ) , and " Cold Case " ( with Charles Napier ) . He also had recurring roles on " Everwood " ( on which Stephanie Niznik was a regular ) and " NYPD Blue " ( which starred Gordon Clapp ) .