William Windom William Windom was an actor from New York City who is well known for his portrayal of Commodore Matt Decker on the episode . He filmed his scenes between Wednesday and Friday on Desilu Stage 9 and Stage 10 . In 2004 , he reprised the role of Commodore Matt Decker in the " In Harm ' s Way " episode of the fan series " Star Trek : New Voyages " , which also features James Cawley , Jeffery Quinn , Barbara Luna , Malachi Throne , and Leslie Hoffman . The episode was written by Doug Drexler and Erik Korngold . Windom himself said that he was not a " Star Trek " fan before or after filming " The Doomsday Machine " . Windom won an Emmy Award in 1970 for his performance on the short - lived James Thurber sitcom , " My World and Welcome to It " . However , he is probably best remembered for his recurring role as Dr . Seth Hazlett on the hit mystery series , co - starring Michael Horton . Early life . Windom was born in New York City . He was named after his great - grandfather , who served as the US Secretary of Treasury in 1881 and again from 1889 until his death in 1891 . Windom , the future actor , attended several colleges before enlisting in the US Army during World War II . He served from 1943 to 1946 , primarily assigned to the European Theater of Operations as a paratrooper with Company B , 1st Battalion , 508th Parachute Infantry Regiment , 82nd Airborne Division . His final rank was Technician Fifth Grade . At the war ' s end , Windom had amassed an impressive record and was a qualified parachutist as well as having been awarded the Combat Infantryman Badge ( CIB ) , Good Conduct Medal , and the foreign awards of the Order of Wilhelm and the Belgium Croix de Guerre . He was also awarded the campaign ribbons for the European and American Theaters , as well as receiving the Army Occupation Medal for post war service in Germany and the World War II Victory Medal . In the 1980s , Windom also qualified for the Bronze Star Medal , by virtue of his having been awarded the CIB during World War II . Acting career . Broadway . Following his service , he began studying acting , training at the American Repertory Theater . He soon moved on to Broadway , performing with the company in such plays as William Shakespeare ' s " King Henry VIII " and " Alice in Wonderland " . Subsequent Broadway productions include " Mademoiselle Colombe " ( co - starring with Nehemiah Persoff ) and " The Grand Prize " ( with John Newland ) . Television . He began working in television in the 1950s and would become a familiar face in the medium . Among his television credits were four episodes of " Mission : Impossible " : " The Train " ( 1967 ) with William Schallert and directed by Ralph Senensky ; " The Widow " ( 1967 ) with Walt Davis and George Sawaya ; " Blues " , featuring Vince Howard and directed by Reza Badiyi ; and " The Fighter " , featuring Walker Edmiston . Windom also guest starred in an episode of " Fantasy Island " , a series which starred Ricardo Montalban . Windom made guest appearances on numerous other shows , including " Gunsmoke " ( with K . L . Smith ) , " The Twilight Zone " , " The F . B . I . " ( with Ted Knight and James B . Sikking and directed by Ralph Senensky ) , " The Wild Wild West " ( featuring Leslie Parrish and directed by Robert Sparr ) , " The Fugitive " ( directed by John Meredyth Lucas ) , " The Streets of San Francisco " ( featuring Fionnula Flanagan ) , " Insight " ( including an episode directed by Marc Daniels and another directed by John Meredyth Lucas and written by John T . Dugan ) , " Barney Miller " ( featuring George Murdock ) , and " Dallas " ( working with Richard Herd , Susan Howard , Morgan Woodward and Joanna Cassidy ) . From 1963 through 1966 , Windom was a regular on the family sitcom " The Farmer ' s Daughter " . In the 1990s , he had a recurring role on the animated " Sonic the Hedgehog " series as the voice of Sir Charles ' Uncle Chuck ' Hedgehog . Windom has worked with the two stars of the original " Star Trek " , William Shatner and Leonard Nimoy , on other projects : he co - starred with Shatner in a 1969 episode of " CBS Playhouse " called " Shadow Game " , which also featured Jason Wingreen ; and he worked with Nimoy , as well as Lloyd Haynes , Malachi Throne , and John Winston , in the 1971 television movie " Assault on the Wayne " . In addition , both Windom and star Nana Visitor guest starred together in a 1995 episode of " Burke ' s Law " entitled " Who Killed the Tennis Ace ? " , along with Mary Crosby and Michael Nouri . Windom also appeared in the 1993 television movie remake of " Attack of the 50 Ft . Woman " , which also featured Hamilton Camp . Feature films . Windom has many feature film appearances to his credit . He made his feature film debut in the 1962 classic " To Kill a Mockingbird " , which also featured fellow " Star Trek " actors Brock Peters , Frank Overton , John Megna , Richard Hale , Gil Perkins and Paul Fix . The following year he appeared in " For Love or Money " with Leslie Parrish , Julie Newmar , Theo Marcuse , Willard Sage and John Harmon . In 1967 , he played Texas Jack Vermillion in the film " Hour of the Gun " . This film also featured Steve Ihnat , William Schallert , Monte Markham , Robert Phillips and Dave Perna , with music by Jerry Goldsmith . He had a supporting role in the 1969 film " The Gypsy Moths " , a film directed by John Frankenheimer . In 1970 , Windom co - starred with " Trek " actors Rene Auberjonois , Sally Kellerman , and John Schuck in the 1970 fantasy film " Brewster McCloud " . In 1971 , he had a supporting role in " Escape from the Planet of the Apes " , in which Ricardo Montalban , Jason Evers , James B . Sikking and Janos Prohaska also appeared . In 1994 Windom appeared as the CEO of Coles Department store in the remake of the 1947 film , " Miracle On 34th Street " . And in 1999 , both he and Anthony Zerbe had roles in ' s thriller " True Crime " . Windom ' s other film credits include " The Americanization of Emily " in 1964 , as well as " The Man " in 1972 ( with Barry Russo ) , dealing with the assumption of the first African American President of the United States . The film featured fellow " Star Trek " actor Jon Lormer and " Star Wars " voice actor James Earl Jones . One of Windom ' s later appearances was in the 1993 drama " Sommersby " . Death . Windom died of congestive heart failure on 16 August 2012 at his home in Woodacre , California . He was 88 . He is survived by his wife of 37 years , Patricia ( " Pat " ) as well as four children and four grandchildren .