"I was so grateful that I got that role back in 1966."
Star Trek: The Original Series featured a who’s who of memorable guest stars and characters over its three-year run from 1966 until 1969. Roger C. Carmel’s Harry Mudd, Frank Gorshin’s Commissioner Bele, and Willaim Campbell’s General Trelane immediately pop to mind, but in the second episode (production order) of the first season both Clint Howard and Ted Cassidy worked on the rather forgettable episode called “The Corbomite Maneuver.” Nonetheless, it's a role Howard is "so grateful" for.
The story wasn't the best, but Howard shined on screen as Balok thanks to his unforgettable performance. So, it shouldn't come as a surprise that Star Trek: Discovery producer and writer Akiva Goldsman wanted the Hollywood icon to play in his new sandbox. Howard said while appearing on The Transporter Room podcast:
“My agent got the call, but then Akiva contacted me and said, ‘I’d really like you to be... I'd like you to be in Discovery here. I’m the showrunner, and we got this great... I’ve got this great idea for you.’ And, oddly enough, as far as Discovery goes, they cut the idea out of the episode. Originally, for all the Trekkies that are, you know, that have seen every episode, I play this creepy Orion guy. You know, kind of blueish green, paint and everything. It was an exotic episode. We were at this strip club, kind of where there were dudes and ladies dancing. I play this lecherous guy, and the ensign on the show [Sylvia Tilly played by Mary Wiseman], she goes to this place and ends up basically getting drugged.”
Howard is, of course, probably best known outside of his impressive body of work for being the brother of famed filmmaker and Happy Days icon, Ron Howard, although his extensive career stands on its own. In “The Corbomite Maneuver,” Clint Howard portrayed the diminutive alien Balok, whose bark is literally worse than his bite. In the Discovery season 1 finale, though, Howard portrays a creepy Orion in "Will You Take My Hand?" Howard continued:
"I give her [Lt. Tilly] this stuff that is vapors. It’s vapors from a volcano, and it whacks her out. I mean a story point in the episode: she literally faints. And it was me doing it to her. And I wasn’t taking advantage of her. I just thought she’d like to have some of this stuff [laughter]. So, in the original script, you meet me, and I’m the creepy guy that hands her the vapors, and she takes a whiff, and she passes out. Well, she comes to, and I’m standing there looking at her, and I turn around, and I grab a glass, and I go, ‘Tranya?'
The actual scene plays out with Lt. Tilly waking up abruptly after having inhaled the volcano vapor earlier. Then Howard's creepy Orion character simply says in his defense, "You were asleep... I'm Orion." Howard added during the same sit-down:
“And that’s why they flew me up to Toronto, to do that bit. They must have ended up deciding the Tranya thing was cutting a little too close to the bone. They didn’t want to throw their episode in that direction, so I don't know, it might be available on some sort of director's cut."
In TOS, Howard's Balok uses a menacing puppet (voiced by The Addams Family’s Ted Cassidy) to conceal his true identity. This is how the character communicates visually with Captain Kirk (William Shatner) and the bridge crew of the USS Enterprise. In the end, Balok isn't creepy at all and breaks bread (drinks) with Kirk on the alien vessel.
Honestly, Howard’s role in Star Trek: Discovery was much less entertaining than his role as Balok in Star Trek: The Original Series. Would you have liked to see Howard's full scene in Discovery, or did the episode play fine without the cut material?
Howard is a former Star Trek guest star of not only TOS and Discovery, but he also shows up as a variety of characters in Deep Space Nine, Enterprise, and Strange New Worlds. Share your thoughts and comments with us on Howard's indelible acting legacy via the Redshirts Always Die Facebook and X pages.
Live long and prosper, Trekkies!