John de Lancie

John de Lancie is an American actor, director, producer, writer, educator, sailor, voice artist, and comedian, best known for his portrayal of Q on , , , and . He also portrayed the character in Star Trek: The Game Show and Star Trek: Borg. In addition, he co-wrote the novel I, Q with Peter David and has narrated audio adaptations of several novels, including Q-in-Law (with Majel Barrett Roddenberry) and Dark Mirror. His Borg costume from his latter video game appearance was sold off on the It's A Wrap! sale and auction on eBay and was also worn by Michael Reilly Burke, Gary Hunter, and Tom Morga. On My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, he performed the voice of Discord, a character inspired by Q.
For "Qpid", he filmed his scenes between Wednesday and Thursday and Tuesday and Friday on Paramount Stage 8, 9, and 16 and on the location shooting at the Descanso Gardens.
In , de Lancie co-founded Alien Voices with Leonard Nimoy and writer-producer Nat Segaloff. The audio production company/troupe produced several sci-fi audio productions (including the two Spock Vs. Q audios), as well as a few televised specials for the Sci-Fi Channel, which co-starred Nimoy, de Lancie, and several other Star Trek alumni.
In and , de Lancie and Robert Picardo co-hosted "Star Trek: The Music," a concert covering the music of all the Star Trek eras.
==Star Trek appearances==
===Appearances as Q===
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==Personal information==
Born John Sherwood de Lancie, Jr. in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania on , he was diagnosed with dyslexia as a child and, as such, did not learn to read until he was 12. Despite this affliction, he began to act at the age of 14, performing in a high school production of William Shakespeare's Henry V.
He went on to study acting at Kent State University (he was in attendance during the Kent State shootings on 4 May 1970) and won a scholarship at Julliard. He has performed in numerous stage productions, participating at such engagements as the American Shakespeare Festival and the Mark Taper Forum, as well as establishing a successful career in film and television.
On 20 March 1984 (on de Lancie's birthday), de Lancie married to Marnie Mosiman, who appeared in the Next Generation episode "." They have two sons: Keegan de Lancie, the oldest, portrayed Q's son Q Junior in the Voyager episode ; Owen de Lancie, their youngest, portrayed Q's son in Star Trek World Tour.
Coincidentally, de Lancie is a long-time friend of Kate Mulgrew, who portrayed Kathryn Janeway in Voyager.
==Acting career==
===1970s===
de Lancie got off to a busy start following his television debut in Captains and the Kings, which also featured Cliff DeYoung, Kermit Murdock, Bill Quinn, and Richard Herd. The following year, he was seen in SST: Death Flight with Barbara Anderson, Brock Peters, Robert Ito, and Richard Derr and The Man with the Power with Persis Khambatta, Noél De Souza, James Ingersoll, Tim O'Connor, Roger Perry, and Jason Wingreen. That same year, he had a role in Testimony of Two Men with Theodore Bikel, Jeff Corey, Logan Ramsey, and star William Shatner. de Lancie later co-starred with Shatner in The Bastard (also starring Kim Cattrall, John Colicos, William Daniels, Ike Eisenmann, James Gregory, and Alex Henteloff) and Little Women (with William Schallert and Logan Ramsey). Also in 1978, de Lancie and Marc Alaimo appeared as divers in the Six Million Dollar Man television special Sharks, produced by Fred Freiberger and Harve Bennett and co-written by Freiberger.
Besides a number of other television films and miniseries, de Lancie also made appearances in various television series, including an episode of Battlestar Galactica (with Ken Lynch, Nehemiah Persoff, and Logan Ramsey) and various episodes of Emergency (with Kevin Tighe). This ultimately culminated in his major motion picture debut, appearing as a police lieutenant in The Onion Field (co-starring fellow Star Trek alumni Phillip Richard Allen, K Callan, Ronny Cox, Richard Herd, Christopher Lloyd, Michael Pataki, and John Savage).
===1980s===
de Lancie's next film appearance occurred the following year in Loving Couples, starring Stephen Collins and Sally Kellerman. He also found himself working on Scruples, co-starring fellow Trek performers Kim Cattrall, Paul Carr, Walker Edmiston, Gary Graham, John Hancock, and Bill Quinn.
He starred in a series pilot entitled Nightside, but the pilot was not sold; this project co-starred Larry Cedar and Vincent Schiavelli. de Lancie later took a role in The Thorn Birds; his many co-stars in this program included Philip Anglim, Antoinette Bower (portraying a relative of de Lancie's character), Brett Cullen, Richard Kiley, Christopher Plummer, Jean Simmons, and Meg Wyllie.
From 1982 through 1986 and again in 1989, de Lancie starred as Eugene Bradford in Days of Our Lives. For his work on this series, he won two Soap Opera Digest Awards, one in 1984 and another in 1985, and was nominated for a third in 1986. Afterward, de Lancie was cast as a regular on CBS' , but this series was cancelled after only eight episodes, premiering in March 1988. Between these projects, he returned to guest-starring on other TV shows, including a 1986 episode of The Twilight Zone, in a segment co-starring Jimmie F. Skaggs, James Lashly, and Brent Spiner. de Lancie and Spiner would work with each other again on Star Trek: The Next Generation, beginning the following year.
===1990s===
de Lancie continued expanding his resume throughout the 1990s, including roles in several popular films. He and his Next Generation co-star Gates McFadden appeared together in Taking Care of Business. The following year, de Lancie appeared briefly as a television executive near the end of The Fisher King. In 1992, he appeared as a doctor in The Hand That Rocks the Cradle (starring Matt McCoy and Charles Lucia) and in 1993, he appeared in (also featuring Steven Culp, Stephanie Erb, Eric Menyuk, and John Towey). He then starred in Evolver, portraying the creator of the title robotic menace. 
On television, he made guest appearances in such television series as L.A. Law (working with Corbin Bernsen, Larry Drake, Diana Muldaur, and Charles Napier), The Young Riders (with his TNG / DS9 co-star Jennifer Hetrick and Anthony Zerbe), and Matlock (in a 1993 episode with Daniel Roebuck). He also voiced Eagleton in two episodes of Batman: The Animated Series, one which also featured the voices of Loren Lester and Paul Winfield and another with the voice of L.A. Law co-star Diana Muldaur.
After TNG ended in , de Lancie was cast as a regular in Legend, created by Michael Piller and Bill Dial and co-starring Richard Dean Anderson of MacGyver and Stargate SG-1 fame (de Lancie had previously appeared on an episode of MacGyver and went on to appear on Stargate SG-1). Katherine Moffat, Stephanie Beacham, Douglas Rowe, and Terry Jackson also appeared in the pilot episode with de Lancie. However, the series lasted only 12 episodes, airing from April through August 1995.
Aside from a supporting role in Multiplicity (co-starring Ann Cusack, George D. Wallace, and Harris Yulin) and an uncredited voice-over role in Saving Private Ryan, the remainder of de Lancie's screen acting credits throughout the 1990s were in television. He made guest appearances on Murder One (with Daniel Benzali, Barbara Bosson, Roy Brocksmith, Juliana Donald, John Fleck, and John Carroll Lynch), Picket Fences (with Louise Fletcher and Ray Walston), Dave's World (with Bruce McGill), and appeared in two episodes of Fired Up, which was executive produced by Kelsey Grammer. He also starred in a number of made-for-television films, including 1997's Final Descent (with Gwynyth Walsh) and its 1999 sequel Final Run.
Off-screen, de Lancie lent his voice to Interstate '76, voicing Antonio Malochio.
===2000s===
In the year 2000, de Lancie starred in an episode of The Outer Limits with series regular Kevin Conway, who portrayed the infamous Control Voice, and was further featured in an episode of UPN's Secret Agent Man with series regular Dina Meyer. In 2001, he portrayed Colonel Frank Simmons in several episodes of Stargate SG-1 during the series' fifth season; he also appeared in an episode of the sixth season the following year. He appeared in two episodes of Gene Roddenberry's Andromeda and later portrayed Odin in several episodes of Charmed (working with Elizabeth Dennehy, Maury Sterling, and Joel Swetow). 
He made guest appearances on such shows as The West Wing, Special Unit 2, The Guardian (starring Raphael Sbarge, in an episode with Vaughn Armstrong), NYPD Blue (starring Gordon Clapp), Without a Trace (starring Enrique Murciano, in an episode with Tracy Middendorf), and Shark (starring Jeri Ryan, in an episode with Ivar Brogger and Michael Buchman Silver). His recent television credits have included recurring roles on The Unit (which starred Abby Brammell and on which de Lancie and Ann Cusack played a married couple), the acclaimed AMC Network drama Breaking Bad which also guest-starred Mark Margolis (including an episode with Jonathan Banks), and the comic drama Greek. 
On film, de Lancie had supporting roles in two romantic comedies: 2000's Woman on Top (with Anne Elizabeth Ramsay) and 2001's Good Advice. In 2004, he worked with George Takei and Tucker Smallwood in The Eavesdropper. He was also seen in Reign Over Me, which also featured Jonathan Banks. In 2008, de Lancie was seen in such films as Pathology (with Larry Drake and Sam Witwer), Quality Time (with Gail Strickland, Rif Hutton, Mary Elizabeth McGlynn, and Jeanette Miller), and the independent film You (with Jerry Hardin, Amy Pietz, and Brenda Strong). 
In 2009, he appeared as a sardonic, atypical newscaster in Crank: High Voltage, which co-starred Clifton Collins, Jr., Keone Young, Menina Fortunato, Nicole Randall, Jimmy Ortega, Henry Hayashi, and Spice Williams. He later had a role in Gamer. He also voiced Santa Claus in Elf Sparkle Meets Christmas the Horse, which also featured the voices of Pamelyn Ferdin and Richard Chaves. He had also filmed a role in the science fiction thriller Recreator.
===2010s ===
In 2011, de Lancie appeared in Torchwood: Miracle Day, the fourth season of the Doctor Who spin-off series, Torchwood as Allen Shapiro. Nana Visitor also appeared in the series, and Jane Espenson and John Shiban wrote some of the episodes; de Lancie appeared in the last three. In 2011, de Lancie also appeared in the drama-comedy television series Franklin and Bash, along with Clayton Landey, Robert Pine, Jason Alexander, Geoffrey Blake, Patrick Fischler, David Gautreaux, J. Patrick McCormack, Mark L. Taylor, Ivar Brogger, Gates McFadden and Malcolm McDowell. He currently plays the Q-inspired near-omnipotent trickster Discord, a recurring antihero in My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic, starting with the character's introduction in the two-part Season 2 episode "The Return of Harmony" . He later , comparing the My Little Pony fanbase (known as Bronies) to that of Star Trek.
de Lancie lent his voice to several video games during this decade; in 2012, he portrayed Professor Fitz Quadwrangle in . He also provided the voice of Assassin leader William Miles, father of protagonist Desmond Miles - voiced by Nolan North - in the fourth and fifth Assassin's Creed games, Assassin's Creed: Revelations, and Assassin's Creed III (Roger Aaron Brown and Robin Atkin Downes also appeared in the games, but de Lancie did not share any scenes with them).
In 2015, he portrayed a demon in the episode "And the Infernal Contract" from The Librarians, directed by Jonathan Frakes, and starred in the film Visions alongside Anson Mount and Gillian Jacobs.
===InAlienable (aka Illegal Alien)===
In 2003, de Lancie was attached to star in a science fiction film called Illegal Alien, executive produced and written by Original Series star Walter Koenig. The film would have co-starred Koenig and Robert Picardo. As time went on, however, de Lancie became unhappy with the changes being made to the film and dropped out. (Picardo also had to drop out due to another commitment.) The film was re-named InAlienable and was released in 2008 with such Trek performers as Marina Sirtis, J.G. Hertzler, Patricia Tallman, Courtney Peldon and Gary Graham.
==Weakest Link==
In 2001, de Lancie participated in the Star Trek edition of the game show Weakest Link along with LeVar Burton, Denise Crosby, Roxann Dawson, Robert Picardo, William Shatner, Armin Shimerman, and Wil Wheaton. De Lancie was the first contestant eliminated with Anne Robinson saying to him "John, I am afraid that's your Q to leave".
==Other Trek connections==
*McMillan & Wife episode "Affair of the Heart" (1977) with Barbara Babcock, John Schuck, and Jason Wingreen
*Emergency: Survival on Charter #220 (1978 TV movie) with Jason Evers, Vince Howard, and Kevin Tighe
*The Six Million Dollar Man episode "Just A Matter of Time" (1978) with Paul Carr
*Black Beauty (1978 mini-series) with Edward Laurence Albert, Ike Eisenmann, Diana Muldaur, and Brock Peters
*Barnaby Jones episode "Terror on a Quiet Afternoon" (1978) with Lee Meriwether
*Nero Wolfe episode "Might as Well Be Dead" (1981) with Bruce Gray and Allan Miller
*It's a Living episode "The Wedding" (1981) with Bert Remsen and Wendy Schaal
*Murder, She Wrote episode "If The Frame Fits" (1986) with Norman Lloyd and directed by Paul Lynch
*On Fire (1987 TV movie) with Bill Erwin
*Hooperman episode "High Noon" (1988) with Barbara Bosson
*Christine Cromwell: Things That Go Bump in the Night (1989 TV movie) with James Cromwell and Ellen Albertini Dow
*Get Smart, Again! (1989 TV movie) with Cecily Adams, Stanley Adams, and Kenneth Mars
*Angel of Death (1990 TV movie) with Brian Bonsall and Ray Walston
*Missing Pieces (1991 film) with Bob Gunton
*Arcade (1993 direct-to-video movie) with Don Stark
*Schemes (1994 direct-to-video movie) with John Glover and George D. Wallace
*Without Warning (1994 TV movie) with Ron Canada and Marnie McPhail
*Raven Hawk (1996 TV movie) with John Fleck and Ed Lauter
*Spy Game episode "And That Concludes Our Session" (1997) with Keith Szarabajka
*You Lucky Dog (1998 TV movie) with James Avery
*Border Line (1999 TV movie) with Michelle C. Bonilla, Len Cariou, Josh Cruze, Christopher Michael, and Mikael Salazar
*The Practice episode "Payback" (2001) with Diane DiLascio and Jeremy Roberts
*Crossing Jordan episode "Payback" (2002) with Susan Gibney
*Judging Amy episode "Picture of Perfect" (2003) with Miriam Flynn
*The Closer episode "Flashpoint" (2005) with Ellen Bry and Raymond Cruz
*Breaking Bad 4 episodes (2009-2010) with Raymond Cruz, Mark Margolis, and Jonathan Banks
==Bibliography==
*"", 1990
*I, Q, 2000 – Co-author with Peter David
*Star Trek: The Visual Dictionary, 2013 – Foreword
==Star Trek interviews==
*TNG Season 1 DVD special feature "The Beginning"
*TNG Season 1 DVD special feature "Selected Crew Analysis" ("Character Notes")
*TNG Season 2 DVD special feature "Departmental Briefing Year Two: Memorable Missions" (), interviewed on 
*TNG Season 3 DVD special feature "Departmental Briefing Year Three" ("Visual Effects "), interviewed on 
*TNG Season 4 DVD special feature "Mission Overview Year Four", interviewed on 21 August 1991
*TNG Season 5 DVD special feature "A Tribute to Gene Roddenberry" ("Gene Roddenberry Building Dedicated to Star Trek's Creator"), interviewed on 
*TNG Season 7 DVD special feature "Special Profiles Year Seven" ("Q"), interviewed on 19 March 2002
*, "John de Lancie - Q", interviewed by Edward Gross
*The Official Star Trek: The Next Generation Magazine, Vol. 3, p. 48, "The Encore of Q", interviewed by Edward Gross
* Blu-ray special feature The Unknown Possibilities of Existence: Making "All Good Things" ()
*"" video interview with Ian Spelling (20 October 2022)
== External links==
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