John Putch John Putch is an actor and director from Chambersburg , Pennsylvania who has played three different characters in the " Star Trek " universe , two of which were Benzite s . Early life . Putch was born and grew up in Chambersburg , Pennsylvania , the son of Emmy - and Golden Globe - winner Jean Stapleton , and producer and director William H . Putch . At the age of five , he appeared in plays at The Totem Pole Playhouse , his parents summer stock company , along with his sister , Pamela . As he grew older , Putch began to assist with the backstage organization , at first helping out by parking cars and running the follow spot for musicals , though his interest eventually turned to directing , on his father ' s encouragement . Although his desire was to have a directing career , Putch ultimately decided to go down the acting route during his junior high , however this was more of a means to an end ; the film school he applied to was full , so he " " went out into the workforce and " [ he ] " worked quite a bit in the ' 80s as an actor . " " Career . As an actor . Putch ' s first ever acting credit was for an episode of " All in the Family " which co - starred his mother , Jean Stapleton . In the episode " Archie Is Branded , " he played the Boy Scout who complained about the way Archie Bunker hung an American flag on his front door to conceal the swastika that vandals had painted on it . He also had guest roles in " Family Ties " , and " Home Improvement " , as well as a recurring role in the sitcom " One Day at a Time " . He later went onto appear in the TV movies " The Wave " ( 1981 , with Bruce Davison ) and " Kenny Rogers as The Gambler : The Adventure Continues " ( 1983 , with Gregory Sierra ) , however his feature film debut came in 1983 in the form of " Jaws 3D , " a film he considers " " one of the worst movies ever made . " " Though he is still happy he was cast in it ; " " It ' s so much fun to see it . . . I ' m proud of it , by the way , being in one of the worst movies ever made . We all thought , ' This is it , our luck ' s going to change now . ' Boy , it sure didn ' t . . . Some people argue that 4 " [ Jaws : The Revenge ] " was even worse , but I really don ' t think it is . " Jaws 3 " was the worst . I was hoping the 3D would enhance my performance , but it didn ' t . " " Later that year , Putch directed and starred in " Waiting to Act " ( with Ed Begley , Jr . ) and went on to appear in in " Impure Thoughts " ( 1986 , alongside Brad Dourif ) . In addition , he performed in " Double Agent " ( 1987 , with Michael McKean ) and " Something is Out There " ( 1988 , with Brian Thompson and Gregory Sierra ) before appearing in " Star Trek " . In 1989 , Putch guest - starred in an episode of " 21 Jump Street " before appearing in the TV movies " Men at Work " ( 1990 , with Leslie Hope ) and " After the Shock " ( 1990 , again alongside Brian Thompson ) . He also played Matt Draughon in every episode of the short - lived series " Room for Two " ( with Max Grodénchik ) . After " Room for Two " , he went to play small roles in " Beyond Suspicion " ( 1993 , with Kelsey Grammer and Corbin Bernsen ) " Clear and Present Danger " ( 1994 , with Vaughn Armstrong , Raymond Cruz and Harris Yulin ) , and " Camp Nowhere " ( 1994 , with Jonathan Frakes , Kate Mulgrew , Christopher Lloyd and Ron Fassler ) . After his role in " Star Trek : Generations " ( 1994 ) , Putch appeared in episodes of " Touched by an Angel " , " The Crew " and " Murder One " ( alongside John Fleck ) , and the TV movies " My Ghost Dog " ( 1997 ) and " The Patron Saint of Liars " ( 1998 ) . During 1998 , Putch appeared in four films ; " City of Angels " , " Freedom Strike " , " Spoiler " ( with Jeffrey Combs ) and " The Souler Opposite . " In 1999 , Putch briefly returned to television with guest star roles in " L . A . Heat " and " Home Improvement . " In 2000 , Putch played Agent Joe Lambert in " Chain of Command " , had a minor role in " Tycus " , and appeared in an episode of " Stark Raving Mad . " The following year he worked with Michael Dorn on " Mach 2 " and J . Patrick McCormack on " Crash Point Zero " , before achieving his final acting credit with " The Confidence Man . " From 2002 onwards , Putch made the decision to focus on directing . As director . Putch took up directing in 1985 , with his directorial debut being the film " Waiting to Act " starring Ed Begley , Jr . , Helen Hunt and Lance Guest . Through the mid - 90s , he continued his passion for directing , gaining work on the episodic television show " Big Bad Beetleborgs " before going on to direct the films " The Boy Who Saved Christmas " ( 1998 ) , " Valerie Flake " ( 1999 ) , " Intrepid " ( 2000 ) and " Tycus " ( 2000 , in which he also appeared ) . From this point on , Putch dropped his acting career - which had been supporting him - in favor of directing . " " I used my acting earnings to support my filmmaking habit , " " Putch recalled in a 2007 interview . " " About the mid - ' 80s I was really hoping it would turn and I would be able to get directing work in the same business I was an actor . It took me about 10 years to break in for my first big job . I found it to be not as easy as for some people , but I finally got in there and started working and , when I was able to , I stopped acting . . . " " Indeed , after directing episodes of " Son of the Beach " and " Madison Heights " , Putch ' s new career soon began to take off . In 2003 , he directed " BachelorMan " and " A Time to Remember " , but probably one of his biggest films was the TV movie remake of " The Poseidon Adventure " ( 2005 ) . In 2006 , he directed guest star Kevin Rahm in " Mojave Phone Booth , " a film Putch also co - wrote with Jerry Rapp . But the film was more than just another directing job for Putch . He also wanted to show that a lot could be accomplished without necessarily sticking to " Hollywood philosophy . " " " I believe that a compelling story can be told without it costing an arm and leg , " " he said in a director ' s statement , " " and I opine that most films have lost touch with the grass roots of that idea . " " In fact , Putch believed so much in the idea that he set the film ' s budget at just $ 38 , 469 . 49 and insisted that all of his cast and crew muck in to get the film made . Putch carried these ideals over to " Route 30 " in 2007 , which he also wrote . In fact , he even hired some of the same actors . Speaking prior to filming , Putch shared ; " " I don ' t even know if it would work trying to do it with new people , and frankly I don ' t want to do it with new people . I loved working with every one of those people and I ' d like to work with them again and I ' d like to share a new experience together of our own . " " And from the technical side of things ; " " I am going to try to use less equipment and tweak it a bit from what I learned in the last round . " " After " Route 30 " , Putch directed " Murder 101 : College Can Be Murder " ( 2007 ) and an episode of " Valentine " entitled " Act Naturally " in 2008 , featuring " Trek " performers Autumn Reeser and Patricia Tallman . The late - 2000s saw Putch direct episodes of the popular television shows " Scrubs " ( with main cast member Ken Jenkins ) , " Ugly Betty , " " My Name Is Earl , " and " Cougar Town . " In 2009 , he directed " American Pie Presents : The Book of Love , " the fourth film in a spin - off series to the three original " American Pie " films ( which co - starred John Cho ) . More recently , Putch has directed episodes of the TV series " Outsourced " and " Friends with Benefits " , as well as the movie " Beethoven ' s Christmas Adventure " ( 2011 ) , which starred Robert Picardo and Kim Rhodes . In Putch ' s latest project , he has written , directed and produced a new " Route 30 " film entitled " Route 30 , Too ! " The film , set to be the second in a proposed trilogy , was shot in Putch ' s home town of Chambersburg , Pennsylvania over a 19 day period in December 2010 . Made with twice the budget of the first , the film is also set to include many more special effects and will be released some time in 2012 . John completed the trilogy with 2014 ' s Route 30 Three ! Which tied up the entire trilogy that is now available on DVD and streaming . In 2016 Putch released a highly personal film that he wrote and directed entitled The Father and The Bear . The film is about a retired actor with diagnosed dementia who longs to perform at his beloved summer theater one more time . The film is still in release and has garnered many film festival awards . Putch continues to direct television . Hour and half hours . Work on " Star Trek " . Putch made his first " Star Trek " appearance in 1988 , playing the Benzite " Mordock . " A fan , Putch was delighted with the chance to appear on ; " " When I got to work on the show it was really fun . I was an alien - of - the - week . Big make - up deal . Michael Westmore made a giant head for me and it was fun . I became a trading card and an action figure . " " In 1989 , he went on to play another Benzite , " Mendon " , awarding him the honor of being the first TNG guest star to play two separate characters from the same species . Though happy with being welcomed back to the show , Putch later understood there was an ulterior motive for his re - casting ; " " I was all very impressed by that . I thought , ' Ah , they love me , they love me . ' What they really loved was that it was me , because they ' d spent all that money on making that blue head and it was form fitted to me . . . I don ' t fault them for that . I would have done the same thing , but it ' s funny how you are naive about these things when you ' re just an actor . " " Putch ' s final " Star Trek " role came in 1994 , when he briefly appeared as a journalist in . Of the experience , Putch recalled ; " " It was the same casting director , Junie Lowry , who ' s been a friend for years . If you work enough for the same casting directors , they call you over and over again . She was casting the movie and she called a lot of people in who did the series and asked for favours for these small parts . It was pretty funny . I ' m on the bridge with William Shatner . I ' ve got so many good stories . Funny stuff . Someday I ' ll write a book . " "