Andrew Robinson Andrew Jordt Robinson is an actor who is best known to " Star Trek " fans for portraying Elim Garak on . He also provided the voice of Garak in the video game " " and wrote the novel " A Stitch in Time " . Personal . Born in New York City , Robinson graduated from with a BA in English . After graduation , however , he turned his focus to theater and drama , having spent a year performing at the London Academy for Music and Dramatic Arts in England . He performed in theater throughout the 1960s and began acting in television in the latter part of the decade . Robinson married his wife , Irene , in 1970 . Their daughter , Rachel Robinson , appeared ( as Melanie , an aspiring writer ) in , an episode of , and was also a leading candidate for the role of Ezri Dax on DS9 . Andrew also directed his daughter in an episode of " Judging Amy " called " The Long Run " – the last episode he directed . Career . 1970s . Robinson made his feature film debut playing the psychotic serial killer in the 1971 action film . Robinson ' s portrayal of the chilling " Scorpio Killer " led to him receiving serious death threats via telephone after the film ' s release . The film also featured fellow " Trek " alumni Vince Deadrick , Chuck Hicks , and Angela Paton . Robinson went on to have a two - year stint as " Senator Frank Ryan " on television soap opera " Ryan ' s Hope " from 1976 through 1978 , which earned him a Daytime Emmy Award nomination . actress Kate Mulgrew was also a regular on this series at the time , as was Catherine Hicks . ( actor Daniel Hugh Kelly took over Robinson ' s role in 1978 ; Robinson himself was the second actor to play the role . ) Robinson ' s other film credits during the 1970s include supporting roles in the 1973 thriller " Charley Varrick " , co - starring TOS and DS9 guest star William Schallert , and the 1975 thriller " The Drowning Pool " , with DS9 guest actress Gail Strickland and TOS guest actor Richard Derr . Note that this latter movie should not be confused with 1988 ' s " The Dead Pool " , a sequel to Robinson ' s " Dirty Harry " . In the early 1970s , Robinson was seen in two made - for - TV movies co - starring future " Deep Space Nine " castmembers . The first was 1973 ' s " Incident at Vichy " , which starred DS9 ' s Rene Auberjonois as well as Lee Bergere , Ed Bakey , Joseph Hindy , and Harris Yulin . The second was " House of Evil " the following year , which co - starred Salome Jens . Robinson later co - starred with Jens in the 1979 mini - series " From Here to Eternity " , which also featured David Spielberg , and John Crawford . Another mini - series Robinson appeared in was 1976 ' s " Once an Eagle " , co - starring the likes of Geoffrey Binney , Darleen Carr , James Cromwell , David Huddleston , John Anderson , George Murdock , Cliff Potts , William Windom , and Anthony Zerbe . Robinson also appeared on numerous TV programs throughout the 70s , including " Bonanza " ( with Roy Jenson and Jay D . Jones ) , " Kung Fu " ( with John Anderson , Eric Server , and Keye Luke ) , " The Rookies " ( two episodes , including one with Gerrit Graham and another directed by Ralph Senensky ) , " Kojak " ( two episodes ; one in 1975 with Richard Carlyle , another in 1978 with Tige Andrews and Antoinette Bower ) , " S . W . A . T . " ( with Bert Remsen ) , " The Streets of San Francisco " ( two episodes , one in 1975 with Allan Miller and Fritz Weaver and another in 1977 with Richard Herd ; both starred Darleen Carr ) , " Kolchak : The Night Stalker " ( with Paul Baxley , Kathie Browne , John Hoyt , and John Fiedler ) , " Barnaby Jones " ( with Lee Meriwether , Laurence Luckinbill , Ken Lynch , and Kenneth Tobey ) , and " The Incredible Hulk " . In 1979 , he was seen in an episode " CHiPs " , a series starring his future DS9 co - star Michael Dorn and " Voyager " and guest actor Robert Pine . He was also seen on Kate Mulgrew ' s " Mrs . Columbo " that same year . In 1978 , Robinson auditioned for the role of Commander Will Decker in , but the part was given to Stephen Collins instead . ( " " , p . 104 ) 1980s . During the 1980s , he was seen on such TV shows as " Vega $ " ( two episodes with Byron Morrow ) , " The Dukes of Hazzard " , " Hart to Hart " ( two episodes , including one with Gary Lockwood ) , " Falcon Crest " ( starring Robert Foxworth and also featuring Biff Elliot ) , one episode of " The Greatest American Hero " and two episodes of " The A - Team " in 1983 . The latter series starred s Dwight Schultz along with Lance LeGault , William Lucking , and Melinda Culea , while one of the episodes also featured Scott Lincoln , and another Marc Alaimo . Robinson also appeared twice in the 1980s remake of TV series . The first time , he played and co - starred with Mark L . Taylor , David Sage , Jerry Hardin , and Louis Giambalvo . Robinson also took part in the short - lived NBC anthology series " This Is the Life " in 1983 . Other " Star Trek " alumni to participate in this series include Jonathan Frakes , Richard Carlyle , Kim Darby , Henry Darrow , Nehemiah Persoff , Brock Peters , and Joan Pringle . In 1987 , Robinson starred as Larry Cotton in Clive Barker ' s popular horror movie . That same year , he and his future " Deep Space Nine " co - star Armin Shimerman appeared in " The Verne Miller Story " . Other films he appeared in during this decade include 1985 ' s " Mask " ( with Lawrence Monoson and Wayne Grace ) , 1986 ' s " Cobra " ( with Brian Thompson , Roger Aaron Brown , Laura Drake , Leslie Morris , and Kurt V . Hulett ) , and 1988 ' s " Shoot to Kill " ( with Kirstie Alley and Clancy Brown ) . Robinson also appeared in the 1985 mini - series " The Atlanta Child Murders " along with Tige Andrews , Gary Graham , Percy Rodriguez , and Noble Willingham . He also co - starred with John Savage and Meg Foster in the TV movie " Desperate " and with Richard Libertini in " The Trial of Berhard Goetz " , also made for television in 1988 . That same year , Robinson gave an acclaimed performance in the title role of the television biopic " Liberace " ; John Rubinstein co - starred in this movie . 1990s . In the early 1990s , prior to assuming the role of Garak , Robinson was seen on such shows as " Matlock " , " L . A . Law " ( starring Corbin Bernsen and Larry Drake ) , and ( in an episode with Keith Szarabajka ) . He also appeared with Casey Biggs and Robert Hooks in the 1990 TV movie " Appearances " and starred in the 1991 horror movie sequel " Child ' s Play 3 " along with Brad Dourif , Dakin Matthews , and Ron Fassler . While " Deep Space Nine " was in production , Robinson continued to take on guest roles on such series as " Murder , She Wrote " ( two episodes , one with Fionnula Flanagan , Dakin Matthews , and Mark Rolston , and another with David Ogden Stiers ; both featured William Windom ) , " M . A . N . T . I . S . " ( with Gary Graham and Robert Hooks ) , " Wings " ( starring Steven Weber , in an episode also guest - starring Danny Goldring and Tucker Smallwood ) , " Nothing Sacred " ( with Rosemary Forsyth , Javier Grajeda , and Leonard Kelly - Young ) , " The Pretender " ( with Leigh Taylor - Young ) , and ( with Melinda Culea ) . In 1999 , following the end of " Deep Space Nine " , Robinson appeared in an episode of " JAG " entitled " Rogue " playing the role of Admiral Thomas Kly . He reprised the role in 2004 , by which time Scott Lawrence was a regular , in an episode called " Whole New Ball Game " , which also guest - starred David Andrews , Ed Lauter , and Dean Stockwell . In 1994 , Robinson starred in the horror movie " Pumpkinhead II : Blood Wings " . He also appeared in another horror movie , " The Puppet Masters " , that same year . This latter film also included Julie Warner , Sam Anderson , J . Patrick McCormack , Nicholas Cascone , William Wellman , Jr . , Michael Shamus Wiles , and Todd Bryant . And in 1998 , Robinson co - starred with " Voyager " actor Robert Picardo as well as Michael McKean , Ann Gillespie , and Spice Williams in Les Landau ' s independent feature " Archibald the Rainbow Painter " . As Garak . When Robinson first came to the staff of " Deep Space Nine " , he had actually auditioned for the part of Odo . However , he was ultimately chosen for the recurring role of Garak instead , making his debut in the show ' s third episode , . Robinson had actively worked with writers in developing Garak ' s character . Like his fictional counterpart , Robinson suffers from claustrophobia , which made wearing the Cardassian makeup unsettling at first . Another similarity with his character involves his passion for gardening ; Robinson is an avid gardener , and Garak mentioned he had posed as a gardener . Robinson ' s contributions ultimately inspired him to write Garak ' s " memoirs " entitled " A Stitch in Time " . Robinson had such a close relationship with some of his fellow castmates that he became the godfather of Nana Visitor and Alexander Siddig ' s son , Django El Tahir El Siddig . 2000s . In 2000 , he and Michael Dorn guest - starred in an episode of " Martial Law " entitled " No Quarter " . That same year , Robinson appeared on " Profiler " with Gregory Itzin . He also appeared on two episodes of " Presidio Med " in 2002 : one with his fellow DS9 co - star Chase Masterson and another with Mark Moses . Both featured John Rubinstein . And in 2004 , he co - starred with star William Shatner – as well as Loren Lester and Bill Smitrovich – in one of the final episodes of " The Practice " entitled " The Firm " . Directing . In the early 1990s , Robinson co - founded The Matrix Theatre Company . In addition to acting in several of the company ' s productions , he also directed such productions as " Endgame " ( 1995 ) and " The Homecoming " ( 1996 ) . These productions not only earned Robinson much acclaim , but two awards from the Los Angeles Drama Critics Circle as well . This enabled him make his television directorial debut with the " Deep Space Nine " episode . Following this , Robinson directed two episodes of " Star Trek : Voyager " as well as multiple episodes of the drama series " Judging Amy " . Among those " Star Trek " actors he directed on " Judging Amy " were Barbara Babcock , Bob Gunton , Jack Gwaltney , Chris Sarandon , and Michael Welch . Along with Lawrence Dobkin and Richard Compton , Robinson is one of only three " Star Trek " non - regulars to both appear in and direct an episode of " Star Trek " . Writing . In 2000 , Robinson wrote the novel " A Stitch in Time " , which gave an account of Garak ' s past . It was his great love of the character which persuaded him to write the novel . Robinson later wrote " The Calling " story of the " Prophecy and Change " anthology . He and Alexander Siddig also wrote " The Dream Box " , a stage play which they perform at conventions . Regarding his writing , Robinson was interviewed by Jeff Ayers for the " Voyages of Imagination " book . In 2015 , Robinson published a memoir titled " Stepping into the Light : Sources of an Actor ' s Craft " . It covers his life and career from childhood to the mid - 1980s . Other " Trek " connections . Additional film and television projects in which Robinson appeared with other " Star Trek " performers include :