Star Trek is a long-running sci-fi franchise that can only be rivaled by Star Wars as the most famous space-centered fictional universe in movie and television history. Rather than aiming for pure entertainment, Gene Roddenberry created the show to serve as a vehicle for idealistic, counterculture commentary on the social issues of the ’60s. In Roddenberry’s universe, humanity was at peace and morality reigned supreme.
The series’ catalog of programming can be divided into what fans call “old Trek” and “new Trek” (or “nuTrek”). The old era lasted from the premiere of the original series in 1996 until the finale of Star Trek: Enterprise in 2005. The shows and movies produced during this era were marked by an aura of professionalism and camaraderie that made them extremely beloved and popular. This led the shows to have long runs, with three of the series clocking an impressive 7 seasons. Several actors had crossover features, helping them rack up a huge number of appearances in the franchise. Here are Star Trek’s top 10 players who made the greatest onscreen acting contributions to the show.
10
Nana Visitor
176 Episodes
Nana Visitor ties with Avery Brooks (see the next entry) for sheer number of appearances. She plays Kira Nerys on the franchise’s third television installment, Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, which premiered on January 3, 1993, and overlapped with the tail end of the wildly popular Star Trek: The Next Generation.
According to Google, Visitor never missed a show of Deep Space Nine’s 176-episode run. Astoundingly, Visitor even showed up for filming immediately after being the target of a horrifically violent crime. While driving home from the Star Trek set in 1994, Visitor was abducted and sexually assaulted by a duo of armed men. She courageously carried on with her role, and told Mindful in 2018, “After that experience I went back to work on DS9, so I never, ever dealt with it.” The star further revealed that she spent years on prescription drugs for her PTSD before a doctor finally helped her discover the benefits of pharmaceutical-free living.
9
Avery Brooks
176 Episodes
Avery Brooks leads the way as the star of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine. He portrays Benjamin Sisko, who commands the far-flung space station at the center of the show which serves as a base for exploring the Gamma Quadrant through the Bajoran wormhole. It is also used as a defensive outpost. Sisko’s character arc sees him balance his position as a high-ranking officer with his role as a single father.
Sisko appears in all 176 episodes of Deep Space Nine, being promoted to the rank of Captain is the episode “The Adversary” at the end of Season 3. The popular character did not make any crossover appearances, and fans noted that Brooks seemed to take a step back from Hollywood shortly after wrapping his Deep Space Nine run. His last television appearance, a narration job for the documentary Walking With Dinosaurs, was 25 years ago.
8
Alexander Siddig
177 Episodes
As another front-and-center member of the Deep Space Nine cast, Alexander Siddig appears throughout the series as Dr. Julian Bashir. Bashir serves as the chief medical officer for the space station as well as the U.S.S. Defiant. Fans enjoy the character of Bashir for his appealing character arc. He starts off as a young arrogant new graduate of Starfleet Academy who comes across as a know-it-all, slowly maturing into a likable leader by the show’s conclusion.
Siddig portrays Bashir in every episode of Deep Space Nine, and also makes a crossover appearance in the Star Trek: The Next Generation episode “Birthright” in which the Enterprise visits the space station. Bashir’s character stands out in the episode for how he treats Data, an android crew member of the Enterprise. His respectful curiosity highlights a better side of him than fans were used to seeing in the show’s early days when the episode took place.
7
Marina Sirtis
178 Episodes
Marina Sirtis plays Deanna Troi, a senior bridge officer whose mind-sensing empathic superpowers complement her role as the ship’s counselor. Troi immediately stands out for her charming warmth and dazzling beauty. Her cleverness and competence are under-highlighted by the writers, but still manage to shine through, and she takes on more action scenes in the show’s later seasons.
Sirtis earned her place among the franchise’s all-star contributors with an impressive 178 episodes. She appeared in almost all of The Next Generation’s episodes, and made three appearances in Star Trek: Voyager which chronicles the journey of the U.S.S. Voyager on its way home after being hurled into deep space by a disastrous accident. Finally, Troi reunited with her TNG castmates for seven episodes of Star Trek: Picard.
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6
LeVar Burton
178 Episodes
LeVar Burton is probably best known by millennial viewers as “Reading Rainbow,” the name of his popular PBS Kids show that promoted childhood literacy. He is also known for his unforgettable 1977 role as Kunta Kinte in the miniseries Roots, along with his work on Star Trek: The Next Generation. Originally cast as a generic young “redshirt” helm officer, he blossomed into his role as Chief Engineer Geordi LaForge.
Geordi LaForge appears in all but six of The Next Generation’s episodes. He also appears in the Voyager episode “Timeless” and five episodes of Star Trek: Picard. In the final five appearances, his iconic VISOR is gone as he continues to sport the sparkling blue ocular implants seen in The Next Generation films.
5
Jonathan Frakes
194 Episodes
Jonathan Frakes plays the feisty, frolicking Commander Riker in Star Trek: The Next Generation. Together with Captain Picard he creates a perfectly balanced duo, as his boyish ways and levity are juxtaposed by Picard’s solemn presence. Frakes crushes the role in a star turn reminiscent of the spirited, charming performance by William Shatner of the original Star Trek series. Along with acting in the show, he directed several of the franchise’s episodes and movies, earning the name “Two Takes Frakes” for his efficient style.
Frakes appeared in all of The Next Generation’s 178 episodes, a distinction he shares with Sir Patrick Stewart. Frakes reprised his role as Riker for Star Trek: Picard where he put in a total of 13 performances. He has also appeared one time in each of the three series that followed TNG: Deep Space Nine, Voyager, and Enterprise.
4
Brent Spiner
195 Episodes
A huge fan-favorite, Brent Spiner portrays Lieutenant Commander Data (promoted to the rank of Commander by the show’s end), an android with a remarkably advanced positronic brain that makes him uncannily human-like. Data’s technology is the life’s work of genius Noonien Soong, and represents a one-of-a-kind scientific feat never before seen in Star Trek’s futuristic fictional world.
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Spiner missed only one Next Generation episode. He also had a 4-episode arc on Star Trek: Enterprise from 2004-2005. He also became a major player on Star Trek: Picard, joining the show as a series regular and appearing in 14 episodes. Aside from star Patrick Stewart, Spiner was the TNG castmate to receive the most focus in Picard, having been miraculously revived and merged with another android, his evil twin Lore, after sacrificing himself in an explosion at the end of Star Trek: Nemesis.
3
Patrick Stewart
209 Episodes
Sir Patrick Stewart, who was knighted by Queen Elizabeth II on June 2, 2010, is the protagonist of two Star Trek shows: The Next Generation and Picard. When The Next Generation came on the air 18 years after the conclusion of the original show, his serious, no-nonsense personality brought a fresh style of captaining, in contrast to Captain Kirk’s swashbuckling ways.
Although The Next Generation thrived on being an ensemble show, Stewart clearly stood out as the main character if one must be named, and was a relevant presence in each episode’s story. He also made a crossover appearance in the “Emissary” to kick off the third Star Trek series in 1993. Starting in 2020, his iconic character of Jean-Luc Picard was revived for a 30-episode show that spanned three seasons. The show’s final season in which Picard is rejoined by his old Enterprise crew is by far the most popular with fans.
2
Colm Meaney
225 Episodes
Colm Meaney experienced a meteoric rise from unnamed background character to essential castmember during his Star Trek journey. Many fans may have missed him sitting at the helm in The Next Generation’s pilot episode, “Encounter at Farpoint.” Over time, his character started to be spotted more, and was eventually named Miles O’Brien and assigned a job as the transporter chief.
With the dawn of Deep Space Nine, Meaney was transplanted from his former role and became the space station’s chief of operations, appearing in 173 episodes. He has been called “the most important person” due to his massive responsibility of overseeing the station’s functioning.
1
Michael Dorn
272 Episodes
Michael Dorn plays the Klingon character of Worf, who is the Chief of Security on the U.S.S. Enterprise. Worf started his tenure on Picard’s ship as a junior officer, before being promoted to Chief of Security after the sudden and untimely death of Lieutenant Tasha Yar who formerly held the post.
Michael Dorn made the greatest acting contribution to the Star Trek franchise, clocking 272 screen appearances in the shows. He is a main regular character throughout The Next Generation’s run, and joined Deep Space Nine after the former series concluded. He is notable for being one the project’s most tragic but strongest characters, staying true to his Klingon ways as a warrior at heart.