Harry Groener Harry Groener is a German - born American actor who played three different roles on three different " Star Trek " series . He first played Tam Elbrun in s . This was followed by the role of the Nechani Magistrate in the episode . He most recently portrayed Minister Nathan Samuels in the episodes and . Hailing from Augsburg , Bavaria , West Germany , Groener emigrated to the United States with his family when he was two years old . He apprenticed at the San Francisco Ballet as a teenager and studied drama at the University of Washington . Upon graduating in 1976 , he embarked on a professional acting career . In 1979 he began working on his first feature film , the 1980 drama " Brubaker " , which also featured Noble Willingham . That same year , he began performing on the Broadway stage in a revival of the musical comedy " Oklahoma ! " . Groener was nominated by the Tony Awards and the Drama Desk Awards for his performance in this show and also won the 1980 Theatre World Award . In 1982 Groener became part of the original Broadway production of " Cats " , which earned him a second Tony Award nomination in 1983 . In 1985 Groener worked with Brent Spiner on the original Broadway production of " Sunday in the Park with George " . That same year , he starred in " Harrigan ' n Hart " , for which he was nominated for a Drama Desk Award as Outstanding Actor in a Musical . His more recent Broadway credits include " Crazy for You " ( for which he received his third Tony Award nomination ) and " Spamalot " ( playing for several months in 2006 ) . When not performing on stage , Groener appeared on such television series as " St . Elsewhere " ( working with Ed Begley , Jr . , Bruce Greenwood , Norman Lloyd , and Cyril O ' Reilly ) , " Spenser : For Hire " ( starring Avery Brooks ) , and " Quantum Leap " ( starring " Enterprise " co - star Scott Bakula and Dean Stockwell ) . From 1988 through 1991 Groener was a series regular in the sitcom " Dear John " , along with fellow " Enterprise " guest star Jane Carr . Throughout the 1990 ' s Groener has had guest spots on such TV shows as " Law & Order " , " Home Improvement " , " Murphy Brown " ( with Concetta Tomei ) , and " Family Law " ( starring Christopher McDonald and Julie Warner ) . He also had a recurring role in the sitcom " Mad About You " . More recent TV credits include guest appearances on " Profiler " ( with Raphael Sbarge ) , " The Drew Carey Show " ( co - starring Diedrich Bader ) , UPN ' s " Roswell " , " Less Than Perfect " ( starring Andy Dick ) , " Huff " ( with Anton Yelchin ) , " Bones " ( with Michael Buchman Silver ) , " How I Met Your Mother " ( with Cristine Rose ) , " CSI : Crime Scene Investigation " ( with Wallace Langham ) , and two episodes of both " The West Wing " and " Medium " . Perhaps Groener ' s best known television role is that of Mayor in . He appeared in fourteen episodes of the series from 1998 through 2003 . s Armin Shimerman also appeared on that series in the recurring role of . In fact , Groener ' s character " ate " Shimerman ' s character at the end of the third season . Other " Trek " actors he appeared with on the show included Robin Sachs , Jeff Ricketts , and Bonita Friedericy . More recently , Groener had a recurring role as the German chef Gunther on " Las Vegas " , working routinely with Nikki Cox and James Wellington . In addition to his television work , Groener has continued appearing in feature films . He played the captain of the Portuguese slave ship " Tecora " in ' s " Amistad " ( his first film since 1980 ' s " Brubaker " ) and then co - starred with Vanessa Williams in the 1998 romantic drama " Dance with Me " , which also features Mike Gomez and Michael McAdam . He was also seen in the hit 1998 film " Patch Adams " ( as were Bob Gunton , Harve Presnell , Richard Kiley , Ellen Albertini Dow , and Randy Oglesby ) and had a supporting role in the 1999 independent thriller " Buddy Boy " ( co - starring Darryl Henriques and Kellie Waymire ) . Groener co - starred with Scott Bakula for the second time ( after an episode of " Quantum Leap " ) in the 2001 dramatic film " Role of a Lifetime " . The two actors worked together again on " Enterprise " in 2005 . In 2001 Groener had supporting roles in the acclaimed , Academy Award - nominated films " About Schmidt " ( with Len Cariou and Matt Winston ) and " Road to Perdition " , both released in 2002 . He also co - starred with Seymour Cassel , Louise Fletcher , and Frank Gorshin in the award - winning 2002 drama " Manna from Heaven " . In 2007 , Groener reunited with that film ' s directors , as well as Cassel , for the comedy " The Happiest Day of His Life " . Julie Cobb also appears in this film .