Len Cariou Len Cariou is the Canadian actor who played an alien taking the appearance of Vice Admiral , father of Captain Kathryn Janeway , in the episode . He is known for his extensive work on Broadway , most notably his Tony Award - winning portrayal of Sweeney Todd in the musical " Sweeney Todd : The Demon Barber of Fleet Street " . He is also known for his supporting roles in numerous feature films . He currently plays Henry Reagan on the CBS police drama series " Blue Bloods " . Stage work . Early stage career . Cariou made his stage debut as part of the chorus in a Canadian production of " Damn Yankees " in 1959 . From 1962 through 1964 , he performed in the Stratford Shakespeare Festival , acting in such plays as " The Taming of the Shrew " , " Macbeth " , and " The Tempest " . In 1966 , he joined the Guthrie Theatre acting company in Minneapolis , Minnesota . His fellow " Voyager " guest performer Ron Glass and guest stars Fran Bennett , Robin Gammell , and Ellen Geer were also members of the Guthrie company at that time . Cariou and Geer acted together in productions of " As You Like It " and " The Skin of Our Teeth " , while Cariou worked with Bennett , Gammell , and Glass in " The House of Atreus " . This production transferred to the Billy Rose Theatre in 1968 , marking Cariou ' s first performance on Broadway . In 1969 , Cariou briefly joined the American Shakespeare Theatre in Stratford , Connecticut , performing in productions of " Henry V " , " Much Ado About Nothing " , and " The Three Sisters " . His production of " Henry V " , which also featured Robert Foxworth , ultimately transferred to Broadway , where it ran for sixteen performances . Cariou received his first Tony Award nomination as Best Actor in a Musical in 1970 for his portrayal of Bill Sampson in " Applause " , which co - starred Robert Mandan . Cariou also won Theatre World Awards for his performances in both " Henry V " and " Applause " . 1971 – 1979 . Cariou returned to the Guthrie Theatre in 1971 , and continued performing there through 1974 . Among the plays he acted in during this time were " Cyrano de Bergerac " , " The Taming of the Shrew " , " Oedipus the King " , and " King Lear " . He also directed productions of " Of Mice and Men " , " The Petrified Forest " , and " The Crucible " , the latter of which featured the aforementioned Fran Bennett in the cast . Cariou continued performing on Broadway throughout the 1970s , as well . In 1972 , he acted alongside Keene Curtis in " Night Watch " . The following year , he starred in the musical " A Little Night Music " , for which he received his second Tony Award nomination as Best Actor in a Musical . In 1979 , Cariou originated the role of Sweeney Todd for the Stephen Sondheim musical thriller " Sweeney Todd : The Demon Barber of Fleet Street " . For his performance in this production , Cariou won the 1979 Tony Award for Best Actor in a Musical , in addition to the 1979 Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Actor in a Musical . One of his co - stars in " Sweeney Todd " was Victor Garber , who played the role of Anthony Hope , a sailor who saves befriends Todd and falls in love with his daughter , Johanna . TNG guest star George Hearn replaced Cariou in the role of Todd later in the year . Later stage career . Cariou returned to Broadway in 1983 to star in the one - night performance of the musical " Dance a Little Closer " . Later that year , he performed off - Broadway in " Up from Paradise " at the Jewish Repertory Theatre . He then returned to Stratford , Ontorio , to perform in the 1984 - 1985 season of the Stratford Shakespeare Festival . He then starred in " Traveler in the Dark " at the Mark Taper Theatre in Los Angeles , California , in which he acted alongside Deborah May ( who played his character ' s wife ) and Scott Grimes ( who played his son ) . From November 1987 through January 1988 , Cariou starred as Teddy Roosevelt in the Broadway play " Teddy & Alice " . In 1989 , he appeared at the Mitzi E . Newhouse Theater , an off - Broadway venue , in Shakespeare ' s " Measure for Measure " , which also featured Paul S . Eckstein . In 1991 , Cariou reappeared on Broadway , starring in " The Speed of Darkness " . He later starred as writer Ernest Hemingway in the one - man play " Papa : The Legendary Lives of Ernest Hemingway " , first in Florida and then off - Broadway . Cariou has since performed on Broadway in the role of Andre in Neil Simon ' s " The Dinner Party " and as Robert in David Auburn ' s " Proof " . He also toured various US cities in a production of " Copenhagen " with Mariette Hartley in 2001 . His other recent stage credits include " The Persians " in New York City and " Kismet " in Los Angeles . Film and television work . Films . Cariou made his film debut in the 1977 Canadian drama " One Man " , for which he won the penultimate Canadian Film Award for Best Performance by a Lead Actor . He made his US film debut later that year in the motion picture adaptation of " A Little Night Music " , reprising his role from the Broadway play of the same name . In 1981 , Cariou had a supporting role in Alan Alda ' s comic drama " The Four Seasons " . This was followed with supporting roles in " Lady in White " ( 1988 ) , " Getting In " ( 1994 ) , and " Never Talk to Strangers " ( 1995 ) . The latter film also featured veteran " Star Trek " guest star Tim Kelleher , who worked with Cariou in his next two feature films . In 1996 , Cariou played the Secretary of Defense in the action thriller " Executive Decision " . This film was directed by Stuart Baird , who later directed . Baird also co - edited the film with " Nemesis " editor Dallas Puett , while Jerry Goldsmith was the film ' s composer . Other " Star Trek " performers to appear in " Executive Decision " with Cariou include Paul Collins , Ken Jenkins , Andreas Katsulas , the aforementioned Tim Kelleher , Warren Munson , Richard Riehle , Eugene Roche , and Dey Young . Cariou later portrayed real - life Secretary of State Dean Acheson in the 2000 drama " Thirteen Days " , which depicted the decision - making process which took place in the White House during the Cuban Missile Crisis . The role of Cariou ' s character was to advise President John F . Kennedy , who in the film was played by actor Bruce Greenwood . Attorney General Robert Kennedy was played by actor Steven Culp , while Jack Blessing , Kevin Conway , Charles Esten , Tim Kelleher , Boris Lee Krutonog , Ed Lauter , Dakin Matthews , and Bill Smitrovich also had supporting roles . Cariou ' s next film was the acclaimed 2002 comic drama " About Schmidt " , in which he played Warren Schmidt ' s best friend who had an affair with Schmidt ' s wife twenty - five years earlier . performers Harry Groener and Matt Winston also had roles in this film . Cariou next played the sheriff in the 2004 thriller " Secret Window " , starring Johnny Depp . He then had a role in Disney ' s 2005 historical sports drama , " The Greatest Game Ever Played " , which also featured Marnie McPhail from . That same year , Cariou co - starred with Sally Kellerman and Michael Nouri in " The Boynton Beach Bereavement Club " . Cariou appeared in the 2006 war epic " Flags of Our Fathers " , as did Gordon Clapp , David Clennon , Michael Cumpsty , Neal McDonough , Harve Presnell , and the aforementioned George Hearn , who replaced Cariou in " Sweeney Todd : The Demon Barber of Fleet Street " twenty - seven years earlier . Cariou then played John Cusack ' s father in the 2007 horror thriller " 1408 " . The following year , he was seen in the direct - to - video comedy " The Onion Movie " , which was actually filmed in 2003 . Others who appeared in this film include Daniel Dae Kim , Richard Fancy , Scott Klace , Randy Oglesby , and Tom Wright . Most recently , Cariou was seen in the acclaimed 2013 drama " Prisoners " , starring Hugh Jackman and Jake Gyllenhaal . The two supervising sound editors of this film , Bub Asman and Alan Robert Murray , had previously supervised the sound editing on . Television . Episodic . Between 1985 and 1992 , Cariou played the recurring role of Michael Hagerty on the mystery series " Murder , She Wrote " , which starred his " Sweeney Todd " co - star Angela Lansbury . He appeared in seven episodes of the series , including an episode that also guest - starred Theodore Bikel and Mitchell Ryan , both of whom also played the fathers of regular " Star Trek " characters . Other performers Cariou worked with on this series include Richard Beymer , Louis Giambalvo , John Glover , Lenore Kasdorf , Brian McNamara , John Rhys - Davies , and Joseph Ruskin . Two of Cariou ' s episodes were directed by Vincent McEveety . Cariou was nominated for a Gemini Award for his performance in Kurt Vonnegut ' s " Monkey House " . He has also guest - starred on such series as " Gabriel ' s Fire " ( on which Madge Sinclair was a regular ) , " The Practice " ( in an episode with Joseph Campanella , John Cothran , Jr . , and Jeff Yagher ) , " The Outer Limits " ( two episodes , one with Chris Sarandon and another with Mitchell Ryan ) , and " CSI : Crime Scene Investigation " ( with Wallace Langham and Liz Vassey ) . In a 2000 episode of " The West Wing " , Cariou and Michael Cavanaugh played a pair of pharmaceutical executives . In addition , Cariou appeared in three episodes of " Law & Order " between 1993 and 2008 , the first of which featured George Coe and Josh Pais . Besides his guest appearances , Cariou was also a regular on the short - lived UPN series " Swift Justice " . He also played the role of Alan in the original pilot for the CBS drama series " Numb3rs " , but the pilot was reshot with Judd Hirsch in the role . The new pilot was picked up as a series , which is currently in its sixth season ; the original pilot with Cariou was never aired . From 2006 through 2007 , Cariou had a recurring role as Judd Fitzgerald on the Showtime Network series " Brotherhood " , on which Fionnula Flanagan was a regular . Scottie Thompson had a recurring role on this series , as well . In early 2010 Cariou appeared as scammer Louis Tobin on the FX drama series " Damages " . Among those he worked with on this series were Mädchen Amick , Keith Carradine , Michael Nouri , and Timothy Olyphant . Currently , Cariou is a regular on the CBS drama series " Blue Bloods " , on which he plays retired police commissioner Henry Reagan . TV movies and mini - series . Over the years , Cariou has acted in numerous made - for - TV movies , the first of which was the CBS drama " Who ' ll Save Our Children ? " in 1978 . In 1981 , he was seen in the NBC movie " Madame X " , which co - starred Robert Hooks , Tony Plana , and Granville Van Dusen . In the 1985 movie " Surviving " , Cariou portrayed the father of a 17 - year - old boy played by fellow " Voyager " guest star Zach Galligan . This movie also featured Paddi Edwards , Paul Sorvino , and William Windom . The following year , Cariou appeared in the NBC thriller " Killer in the Mirror " , along with Parley Baer , Jeff O ' Haco , and Bill Zuckert . Throughout the 1990s , Cariou ' s TV movie credits included " Miracle on Interstate 880 " ( directed by Robert Iscove and co - starring Roger R . Cross and John Pyper - Ferguson ) , " The Sea Wolf " ( with Clive Revill ) , " Border Line " ( with John de Lancie , Mikael Salazar , Christopher Michael , Michelle Bonilla and Josh Cruze ) , and " In the Company of Spies " ( with Clancy Brown and Alice Krige ) . In 2000 , he appeared in the mini - series " Nuremberg " , along with Christopher Plummer and Robert Joy . Cariou again worked with Robert Joy in the 2004 TV movie " Sex Traffic " . In 2009 , Cariou was nominated for an Emmy Award as Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Miniseries or a Movie for his performance in the TV movie " Into the Storm " as President Franklin Delano Roosevelt .