Charles Rocket

Charles Rocket was an actor who appeared as Jippeq in the fifth season episode . He filmed his scenes between Thursday and Monday on Paramount Stage 8, 9, and 16 and his costume was later sold off on the It's A Wrap! sale and auction on eBay. 
He is one of the few actors who, along with George Takei, have physically acted in both a Star Trek program and lent their voices to some Star Wars spin-off material (in this case, Rocket was the voice of pirate Nym in the Star Wars: Starfighter videogames), making them both one of the few performers to appear in both popular science fiction franchises.
== Early life ==
Rocket was born Charles Adams Claverie in Bangor, Maine, and attended the Rhode Island School of Design in Providence. Before breaking into acting professionally, he made several short films and fronted his own band (The Fabulous Motels). In the 1970s, he anchored local news for KOAA-TV, an NBC-affiliated station in Colorado Springs, and for CBS-affiliated stations in both Colorado (WPRI-TV) and Nashville, Tennessee (WTVF-TV).
In 1979, Rocket submitted a video of his news reports to Lorne Michaels, the producer of the hit NBC variety show Saturday Night Live. Michaels ultimately left SNL due to contract disputes with NBC, but Rocket's tape impressed then-NBC Entertainment head Brandon Tartikoff and new SNL producer Jean Doumanian. They ultimately hired Rocket on as a cast member of SNL.
== Career ==
=== Television ===
==== Saturday Night Live ====
Rocket acquired some early recognition as a cast member on Saturday Night Live during the 1980-1981 season; this was also Joe Piscopo's and Eddie Murphy's first year on the show. During his tenure on SNL (in which Malcolm McDowell and Sally Kellerman hosted), Rocket was an anchor for the show's Weekend Update news segment called "The Rocket Report". Rocket gained some notoriety in February 1981 for uttering the "F" word live on this program, causing some trouble for NBC, who had to apologize on his behalf. He and several other cast members, as well as producer Jean Doumanian, were fired soon after.
==== Recurring and starring roles ====
After his unceremonious exit from SNL, Rocket became well-known for his recurring roles on several television series, appearing as Richard Addison in several episodes of Moonlighting and as Grossberg in three episodes of the cult series Max Headroom, starring fellow Star Trek guest actors Matt Frewer, W. Morgan Sheppard, and Concetta Tomei. He later played Adam, the Angel of Death, on numerous episodes of . The late Paul Winfield was also a recurring performer on this series.
During the 1988-1989 television season, Rocket was a regular on the ABC drama Murphy's Law. He subsequently became a regular on in 1992 and later starred in , which ran during the 1995-1996 television season. His last series as a regular was , which aired in the fall of 2000.
==== Other television work ====
Rocket's first television guest spot came in a 1984 episode of , which starred Branscombe Richmond and Tracy Scoggins. He subsequently appeared in an episode of , which featured Brian Keith and Daniel Hugh Kelly in the title roles. 
Rocket appeared in two episodes of , alongside actors Scott Bakula and Dean Stockwell; in the second episode "A Leap for Lisa", Rocket's character was named Commander Riker. Terry Farrell also appeared in that episode. In 1999, he guest-starred on in an episode with John Billingsley and Michael McKean. His other guest spots include episodes of (with David Clennon), Doctor Doctor (with Matt Frewer), (with Stanley Kamel), (starring Steven Weber), (starring Teri Hatcher), and (with Don Stark and Ray Walston). 
Rocket also appeared in (1993, co-starring Kim Cattrall, Brad Dourif, Bob Gunton, Bebe Neuwirth, and David Warner).
In 2000 he starred as Captain Vance Omega in Jonathan Frakes' Star Patrol!. The pilot was not picked up by 20th Century Fox. On this project he worked with Jason Alexander, Mel Johnson, Jr., Tom Miller, Robin Morselli, Brian Demonbreun, Michael Bailous, and Kathi Cook.
Rocket later guest-starred on and . His final television acting appearance was in a 2004 episode of , the story of which was co-written by Rene Balcer.
=== Film ===
Rocket appeared in a variety of feature films. Some of his earlier film credits included (1985, with Leigh J. McCloskey and Matt McCoy), (1986, with Terri Garr and Christopher Lloyd), (1988, with Michael McKean), and (1989, co-starring Kim Cattrall and Jonathan Banks).
In 1990, Rocket was cast in the film Dances with Wolves, which went on to win numerous Academy Awards. Rocket went on to share a special award as part of the cast of (1993). Among those cast members he shared the award and the screen with were Bruce Davison and Robert DoQui. Zane Cassidy was also part of the film's cast.
Perhaps Rocket's best known film role is that of the villain, Nicholas Andre, in (1994, co-starring Mike Starr and Teri Garr). That same year, Rocket worked alongside Ed Lauter and Voyager regulars Ethan Phillips and Robert Picardo in .
His other films include (1991, with Zach Grenier), (1993, with Doug Jones and featuring the voice of Jason Marsden), (1994, with Julianne Christie), (1995, with David Ogden Stiers, Pamela Winslow, and Natalia Nogulich), and (1997, co-starring Daniel Benzali, Ronny Cox, Harris Yulin, and Tom Wright) and (1997, with Bruce Greenwood). He also co-starred with Michelle Forbes and Vincent Schiavelli in the little-known 1998 film Dry Martini.
Both Rocket and Ron Perlman lent their voices to , which opened in 2000. Rocket's last film appearance was in (2003, co-starring Michael Dorn).
== Death ==
Rocket was found dead near his home in Canterbury, Connecticut, on 7 October 2005; his throat had been cut. The death was later ruled a suicide. Rocket was 56 years old. He was cremated and his ashes were scattered. 
== External links ==
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