Jeffrey Combs
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| Jeffrey Combs | |
 Jeffrey Combs as Harriman Gray from Babylon 5 |
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| Birth name | Jeffrey Alan Combs |
| Born | September 9, 1954 (age 52) Oxnard, California, USA |
| Notable roles | Brunt & Weyoun in Star Trek: Deep Space Nine Shran in Star Trek: Enterprise The Question in Justice League Unlimited Harriman Gray from Babylon 5 Herbert West in Re-Animator |
Jeffrey Alan Combs (born September 9, 1954 in Oxnard, California) is an American character actor best known for his horror film roles and his appearances playing a number of characters in the Star Trek franchise.
Combs was raised in Lompoc. He attended Santa Maria's Pacific Conservatory of the Performing Arts, and later developed his acting talent in the Professional Actor's Training Program at the University of Washington.
After spending several years performing in playhouses all along the West Coast, Combs moved to Los Angeles in 1980 and landed his first role in the 1981 feature film, Whose Life Is It Anyway?, playing an intern. His first horror film role came the next year in Frightmare, which set the path for the much of his career in the genre.
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[edit] Career
Combs' best known film role is Dr. Herbert West, a character in Re-Animator which he has reprised in the film's two sequels. He also portrayed the part of Re-Animator author H. P. Lovecraft in the film Necronomicon: Book of the Dead. His most recent film credits include FeardotCom (2002), House on Haunted Hill (1999), and I Still Know What You Did Last Summer (1998).
He began to appear on the science fiction series The 4400 in August 2005, in what by 2006 became a recurring role. Even Trek fans unfamiliar with Combs' human face immediately recognized him due to his distinctive voice. He also starred as the telepath Harriman Gray, in Eyes, a first season episode of Babylon 5. In early 2007, he played Edgar Allan Poe in "The Black Cat", an episode of Masters of Horror.
On television, Combs enjoyed critical and popular success with his alien characters on the various modern Star Trek incarnations, beginning in 1994 with Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, in 2000 with Star Trek: Voyager, and in 2001 with Star Trek: Enterprise. Combs originally auditioned for the role of Commander William Riker on Star Trek: The Next Generation, but lost out to Jonathan Frakes, though producers kept him in mind for casting in the later series.
His favorite[citation needed] and largest role to date has been the multi-episode, multi-season Vorta clone Weyoun on Star Trek: Deep Space Nine. On the same series, he had a recurring role as the Ferengi Brunt. During the DS9 episode "The Dogs of War", Combs made Trek history as the first guest actor to play two unrelated recurring roles in the same episode.
On Star Trek: Enterprise Combs had a very popular recurring role as Shran, an Andorian military officer (Enterprise producer Manny Coto once mentioned in an interview that he hoped to make Shran and Combs a regular on the show, had the series been renewed for a fifth season).[citation needed] In addition Combs made some non-recurring appearances, including Mulcahey[1] and Tiron on Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, Penk on Star Trek: Voyager, and the Ferengi Krem in Star Trek: Enterprise.
Combs has done extensive voice work; among others, Combs voiced The Scarecrow in the 1997 "revamp" of Batman: The Animated Series. Combs continued his work in the DCAU several years later with a recurring role as The Question in Justice League Unlimited. His portrayal of the Question has been credited with renewing fan interest in the character.[citation needed]
On September 11, 2001, a man named Jeffrey Coombs (note the extra 'o' in the last name) was aboard hijacked American Airlines Flight 11, which was later crashed into the World Trade Center. Having been confused with the passenger on the jet, Combs the actor was pronounced dead by news media outlets and had to announce publicly that he was still alive.[2]
[edit] Selected Filmography
- The Man with Two Brains (1983) - Dr. Jones
- Re-Animator (1985) - Herbert West
- From Beyond (1986) - Crawford Tillinghast
- Bride of Re-Animator (1989) - Dr. Herbert West
- The Pit and the Pendulum (1990)
- Doctor Mordrid (1992) - Doctor Mordrid
- Fortress (1993) - D-Day
- Lurking Fear (1994) - Dr. Haggis
- Castle Freak (1995) - John Reilly
- The Frighteners (1996) - Milton Dammers
- Beyond Re-Animator (2003) - Dr. Herbert West
- Hammerhead: Shark Frenzy (2005) - Dr. Preston King
- Abominable (2006) - Buddy, the Clerk
- The Wizard of Gore (To be Released in 2007) - Geek
- House Of Re-Animator (2008) - Dr. Herbert West
[edit] References
[edit] Footnotes
[edit] External links
- Official website
- Jeffrey Combs at the Internet Movie Database
- Jeffrey Combs at TV.com
- Jeffrey Combs article at Memory Alpha, a Star Trek wiki.
- Jeffrey Combs at b-movies.gr (Greek)
