Few actors outside the main cast members of each Star Trek series have appeared repeatedly throughout the franchise than Jeffrey Combs. Combs, who was born and raised in California, began appearing in several Star Trek series during the mid-1990s. From Star Trek: Deep Space Nine to Star Trek: Enterprise, Combs made guest appearances and even played recurring characters that fans grew to admire.
Jeffery Combs: a varied career
After studying theater arts in California and Washington, Combs set his sights on Hollywood and moved to Los Angeles. He began landing roles quickly, including Whose Life Is It Anyway, The Man With Two Brains, and From Beyond. In 1985, Combs would embody the character of Herbert West in the film adaptation of H.P. Lovecraft’s Reanimator as well as two sequels. He’d enter the Star Trek universe in the mid-1990s.
Combs’ many alien guises
Combs first appeared in the Star Trek franchise in Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, where he plays Tiron, a Serilian who has designs on Kira and wants Quark to design a very private and intimate holosuite program with her as the star. Kira uncovers the plot and stains Quark’s reputation with the wealthy Tiron, who is less than pleased when the Kira hologram of his dreams features her body but Quark’s head. (Talk about nightmare fuel!)
Combs would then reprise two separate roles: one on DS9 and one that is likely his most well-known: that of Thy’lek Shran, Andorian foil and then ally of Captain Jonathan Archer in Star Trek: Enterprise. The DS9 character, Weyoun, was a series of 8 clones who fought on the side of the Dominion War. Combs would portray clones 4-8 more than 2 dozen times. Both Weyoun and Shran continue to stand out as fan favorites.
3 surprising facts about Jeffery Combs
- Jeffery Combs is good friends with fellow Star Trek: Enterprise actor Scott Bakula. They are exactly one month apart in age and enjoyed similar career success throughout the 90s and into the 2000s before working together on Enterprise.
2. After the cancellation of Star Trek: Enterprise, rumors surfaced that Shran would have joined the cast full-time. Combs has said no one ever approached him with the idea. (Oh, what could have been!)
3. He’s voice acted for the DC universe several times. Combs lent his voice to Batman: Rise of Sin Tzu and voiced the villain Scarecrow in The New Batman Adventures.
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