Michael Zaslow Michael Joel Zaslow was the actor who appeared in two episodes of . He first appeared as Darnell in , after which he played Jordan in . His first " Trek " role , Darnell , was the first death ever seen on " Star Trek " . It was also for his death that Leonard McCoy almost first uttered his famous phrase , " " He ' s dead , Jim . " " ( What he actually said was " Dead , Jim " ) . Zaslow was also the godfather to Christian Slater , who made a cameo appearance in . Zaslow filmed his scenes for " The Man Trap " on Tuesday and Wednesday at Desilu Stage 10 . He filmed his scenes for " I , Mudd " on Monday at Stage 9 . Zaslow is perhaps best known for playing the villainous Roger Thorpe on the CBS soap " Guiding Light " for nearly twenty years , first from 1971 through 1980 and again from 1989 through 1997 . He received four Daytime Emmy Award nominations for this role during the 1990s , winning the award with his third nomination in 1994 . Zaslow has also starred in such soaps as " Search for Tomorrow " , " Love is a Many Splendored Thing " , and " One Life to Live " and was even a writer on NBC ' s " Another World " . His additional television credits include guest appearances on " Barnaby Jones " ( working with Jason Evers , Meg Foster , Lenore Kasdorf , and series regular Lee Meriwether ) , " Lou Grant " ( in an episode directed by Alexander Singer and co - starring Phillip Richard Allen and Bill Quinn ) , " Falcon Crest " ( working with Robert Foxworth and Fritz Weaver ) , " Spenser : For Hire " ( starring Avery Brooks ) , and " " . He had a recurring role on the latter series in 1997 , during which time he worked with Jude Ciccolella and Keith Szarabajka . Zaslow has only appeared in three feature films . His first was the 1977 romantic drama " You Light Up My Life " , in which he had a lead role . This was followed with a supporting role in the 1979 science fiction thriller " Meteor " , which co - starred Bibi Besch , Brian Keith , and Clyde Kusatsu . Zaslow ' s last credited film appearance was in the 1985 comic drama " Seven Minutes in Heaven " . In addition to his film and television roles , Zaslow has performed on stage , including a number of Broadway productions . These include the original run of the musical " Fiddler on the Roof " and a revival of " Cat on a Hot Tin Roof " . It was while working on " Fiddler on the Roof " that Zaslow met Susan Hufford , whom he would marry in 1975 . They adopted two children together , Marika and Helena . In 1997 , while working on " Guiding Light " , Zaslow began to have difficulty speaking , which interfered with his performance . He was given leave from the show , after which he was diagnosed with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis ( Lou Gehrig ' s disease ) . He never returned to " Guiding Light " , but he was offered the chance to reprise his 1980s role as David Renaldi in the ABC soap opera " One Life to Live " , with his condition written into the storyline . He made several appearances on the show but became too ill to continue . His final episode aired on 1 December 1998 , just five days before Zaslow succumbed to his disease . After Zaslow ' s death , his widow and their adopted daughters founded ZazAngels to raise funds in order to find a cure for Lou Gehrig ' s disease . Hufford also released a book about Zaslow and his fight with ALS , entitled " Not That Man Anymore " . Their daughter , Helena , died in 2004 . Two years later , Zaslow ' s widow , Susan , lost her battle with cancer .