Armin Shimerman

Armin Shimerman is the actor who is best known in the Star Trek universe for his portrayal of Quark on . He is one of only seven actors to appear in three different live action Star Trek series (, Deep Space Nine, and ) as the same character. Prior to assuming the role of Quark, however, Shimerman earned the distinction of being among the first to ever portray a Ferengi in the Star Trek franchise when the race first appeared in the Next Generation episode . Shimerman went on to make two more appearances on The Next Generation (including a second time as a Ferengi in the episode ) and to star on Deep Space Nine for its entire seven-year run ( – ). He also co-wrote the Trek The 34th Rule.
==Biography==
Born to immigrant parents in Lakewood, New Jersey, Shimerman and his family moved to Los Angeles at the age of sixteen. There, his mother enrolled him into a drama group to help her son meet new people. After graduating from the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), Shimerman was one of eight people out of nine hundred applicants chosen to become an apprentice at the prestigious Old Globe Theater in San Diego, California. Shimerman participated in numerous regional theater productions before moving to New York and landing roles on the Broadway stage.
Shimerman's Broadway debut came when he played part of an ensemble and served as an understudy in the musical Threepenny Opera, which ran for 306 performances from 1 May, 1976 through 23 January, 1977. co-star Roy Brocksmith was also a part of that play's cast. Shimerman next performed in the play Saint Joan from December 1977 through February 1978 and played the role of Mr. Thorkelson in the musical I Remember Mama in 1979.
Shimerman ultimately moved back to Los Angeles, where he acquired guest spots on such television shows as Cagney & Lacey, Remington Steele, and. From 1987 through 1989, he was a recurring player on the TV series Beauty and the Beast, which starred actor Ron Perlman and Tony Jay. He went on to make appearances on L.A. Law (starring Corbin Bernsen and Larry Drake), Who's the Boss?, (starring Gary Graham, Eric Pierpoint, and Michele Scarabelli), and . Shimerman also became a regular on Brooklyn Bridge during that show's first season (1991-92), playing Uncle Bernie.
Beyond Star Trek, however, he is perhaps best known for his recurring role as on , and Dr. Nefarious in Ratchet and Clank. His character on Buffy was killed by a transformed , played by Trek guest star Harry Groener.
In 1985, Shimerman made a brief appearance in the seventh season premiere episode of The Facts of Life. Other Star Trek alumni who appeared on the series were Roger Perry, Kenneth Tigar, Paul Comi, Robert DoQui, Eve Smith, William Windom, Nicholas Coster, Clyde Kusatsu, Nehemiah Persoff, Clive Revill, Robert Hooks, and Ian Wolfe. Shimerman's other TV credits include guest appearances on , Ally McBeal, The Practice, Charmed, The West Wing, ER, Nip/Tuck, and Warehouse 13. He was seen in an episode of , starring Jason Alexander. In 2006, he co-starred with John Billingsley in the TV movie Dead & Deader.
Shimerman has been lending his voice to the characters of General Skarr and Hector's Stomach on and . In 2005, he appeared on the TV series Invasion, alongside other Star Trek actors such as his Deep Space Nine co-star Cirroc Lofton. He had a recurring role as Judge Brian Hooper on Boston Legal, starring William Shatner and Deep Space Nine co-star and friend René Auberjonois. Deep Space Nine guest star Henry Gibson also played a judge in Shimerman's first episode, "Can't We All Get a Lung?", which aired 19 September 2006. In Shimerman's third episode, Voyager star Ethan Phillips appeared as the father of the boy accused of killing Shimerman's wife. Ron Canada also guest-starred in the episode, also as a judge. In his fourth episode, Shimerman finally shared a scene with René Auberjonois. 
Shimerman was on the set of Deep Space Nine during a large earthquake in Los Angeles (presumably the 17 January 1994 ). He rushed home to check on his family, so he did not have time to get his makeup removed. His Ferengi makeup "scared the living shit out of people" as he says at conventions.
In 2007, Shimerman also voiced various characters in BioWare's Mass Effect, a game also featuring the voices of Marina Sirtis, Raphael Sbarge, and Dwight Schultz. Depending on player choices, Shimerman's primary character may also appear in the game's sequel, which also features Michael Dorn, Robin Sachs, and Keith Szarabajka. Shimerman also voiced the character of Andrew Ryan in the 2007 computer game Bioshock. The developers of the game refused to disclose who voiced this character before the game's release, only hinting that "we wouldn't believe it". Only after the game's release was it confirmed that Ryan was voiced by Shimerman. In gaming circles, this surprised many, for Ryan had a very low voice, very different than what Shimerman had shown in other mediums. Shimerman's frequent Deep Space Nine co-star, J.G. Hertzler, also voiced a character in the game, and both Shimerman and Hertzler reprised their roles for the 2010 sequel, BioShock 2.
Shimerman has also acquired a number of feature film and television film credits throughout his career, including (1986) with Henry Darrow, (1987, with William Daniels), (1989) with Marc Alaimo, Miracle Landing (1990, TV) with James Cromwell, Jeff Allin, Herta Ware, and Matt McCoy, Death Warrant (1990) sharing screen time with Patrick Kilpatrick and Next Generation guest musician performer Abdul Salaam El Razzac, and (1996, with Nicholas Cascone, Robert Clendenin, Natalia Nogulich, Angela Paton, Sierra Pecheur, Wayne Péré and Michael Buchman Silver). He appeared in the 2008 comedy The Urn, co-starring Next Generation guest actor Stanley Kamel. Both Shimerman and Next Generation actor Brent Spiner made their feature film debuts in small roles in (1980). He had a cameo in (2004) and its 2006 follow-up What the Bleep!?: Down the Rabbit Hole.
Shimerman is married to actress Kitty Swink, who guest-starred twice on Deep Space Nine, first as Rozahn in the second season's and then as Luaran in season seven's . Shimerman and Swink also co-starred together in a few projects, including (1987, starring Catherine Hicks and featuring Randy Lowell, Michael Horton, and Dakin Matthews) and (2001, co-starring Virginia Madsen, Robert Joy, Barbara J. Tarbuck, Casey Biggs, Jack Shearer, and John Billingsley).
Shimerman teaches Shakespeare as an adjunct professor at the University of Southern California, and has worked as a Shakespeare scholar on hundreds of productions in the Los Angeles area. 
== Star Trek appearances ==
File:Betazoid gift box.jpg|Betazoid gift box(uncredited)
File:Letek.jpg|Letek (stock footage in the latter)
File:Bractor.jpg|DaiMon Bractor
File:Quark, 2369.jpg|QuarkRecurring
File:Quark (mirror).jpg|
File:Quark dominion simulation 2371.jpg|Quark (simulation)
File:QuarKira surprise.jpg|Quark/Kira Nerys (hologram)
File:Quark illusion 2371.jpg|Quark (illusion)
File:Quark as Audrid Dax.jpg|Quark inhabited by Audrid Dax
File:Quark hologram.jpg|Quark (hologram)
File:Quark hologram with face in food.jpg|Quark (hologram)
File:Quark memory 2366.jpg|Quark (memory) 
File:Quark maths.jpg|Educational computer program on Gaia 
File:Herbert Rossoff.jpg|Herbert Rossoff
File:Quark hologram, 2374.jpg|Quark (hologram)
File:Quark (Holograms All the Way Down).jpg|Quark (hologram)
====Appearances as Quark====
* (All episodes except:)
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* (scenes deleted)
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* (hologram)
=== Video game appearances ===
*Star Trek: Deep Space Nine - Harbinger
*Star Trek: Deep Space Nine - The Fallen
*Star Trek Online
===Books===
* The Merchant Prince
* The Merchant Prince Volume 2: Outrageous Fortune
* Capital Offense: Merchant Prince III
* The 34th Rule
* Illyria: Betrayal of Angels
== Star Trek interviews ==
* TNG Season 1 DVD special feature "Memorable Missions" (as Quark from the set of Deep Space Nine)
* VOY Season 1 DVD special feature Cast Reflections: Season One, interviewed on 
==External links==
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