Brad Weston

Brad Weston, the stage name for Donald Wayne Beltz , was the actor who played Ed Appel in the first season episode .
Weston was also briefly considered by Gene Roddenberry for the then-unspecified role of the "young male crewmember to attract teen-aged female viewers", which eventually grew into Ensign Pavel Chekov, played by Walter Koenig. (These Are the Voyages: TOS Season One)
== Biography ==
Weston, a World War II veteran, attended the Advertising Commercial Art School in Portland, Oregon, in 1948, before transferring to Jean Turner School of Commercial Art in San Francisco, California, where he studied painting and commercial art before going into acting beginning in the early 1960s. 
Weston appeared on numerous television Westerns, including Lawman (in an episode with Ian Wolfe), Riverboat (two episodes – one with Charles Cooper, another with Arthur Batanides), The Rifleman (featuring Paul Fix and Bill Quinn), Maverick, Cheyenne (two episodes, including one with Richard Webb), Temple Houston (starring Jeffrey Hunter), Destry (in an episode with George Murdock), and Gunsmoke (with Roy Jenson and Charles Seel). He was seen in multiple episodes of Have Gun – Will Travel, a western series on which Star Trek creator Gene Roddenberry served as writer. Weston and his "Devil in the Dark" co-star Ken Lynch guest-starred in one episode of this series, entitled "Fight at Adobe Wells", which aired in 1960. Weston appeared in two other episodes the following year, one with Perry Lopez and another with John McLiam and Ed Peck.
Another western on which Weston appeared frequently was The Virginian. Weston also worked alongside Ken Lynch on an episode of this series entitled "The Exiles", which aired in 1963. Another episode, 1964's "The Hero", teamed him up with fellow Original Series guest actors Steve Ihnat and Warren Stevens; yet another, 1965's "The Brothers", saw him appear with Hal Baylor, Robert Lansing, and Bill Quinn.
Weston appeared on other series besides those of the western genre, however. He made frequent appearances on the crime series 77 Sunset Strip, and has also guest-starred on Wanted: Dead or Alive (with Lawrence Dobkin), Alfred Hitchcock Presents (including one episode with Clegg Hoyt and Ricardo Montalban), 87th Precinct (starring Robert Lansing), Surfside 6 (including an episode with Bert Remsen), and The Outsider.
His film career, on the other hand, consisted entirely of westerns. His first film was 1963's Savage Sam, a family adventure from Disney starring Brian Keith. This was followed three years later with a role in Stagecoach and in 1967 with a role in Rough Night in Jericho. This latter film also starred guest actress Jean Simmons. His last two films were Barquero in 1970 and Hot Lead and Cold Feet in 1978, both featuring Ed Bakey.
Also known as Brad von Beltz, his daughter, stuntwoman Heidi von Beltz, was engaged to Bobby Bass in 1981 when the two worked on the film Cannonball Run, where Heidi was paralyzed from a failed stunt. She was represented by Melvin Belli in the ensuing lawsuit against Bass and Hal Needham. 
After being out of the business for a dozen years, Weston made his final on-screen appearance in the film The Doors (1991; with Michael Braveheart, Allan Graf, Frank Military, and Titus Welliver).
In 1999, Weston, who unable to live without his wife Patricia, who had died two years earlier, committed suicide. According to Heidi, one of the last things he said to her was, "Do you want to go, too?" 
== External link ==
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