Riehle appeared in several series, including one of TNG’s best episodes.
Star Trek guest actor Richard Riehle has passed away at the age of 78, and the veteran Hollywood staple appeared in three of the science fiction franchise’s Berman-Era series: The Next Generation, Voyager, and Enterprise. According to TMZ, “friends” of the 78-year-old thespian revealed that Riehle "died of natural causes last Thursday (Oct. 15) in Los Angeles.”
Riehle’s first and arguably most memorable Star Trek role came in the unforgettable Next Gen season 5 episode, “The Inner Light” (1992) as Captain Jean-Luc Picard’s (Patrick Stewart) best friend, Batai. In fact, Batai and Kamin, aka Picard, were so that the later named his son after the former.
Riehle next showed up in two Voyager season 6 episodes as the holodeck character Seamus, which appeared in both “Fair Haven” (2000) and “Spirit Folk” (2000). Fair Haven was, of course, Tom Paris' (Robert Duncan McNeill) inventive Irish village holographic program.
For my money, though, I don’t think Riehle got enough credit for his small but moving and memorable performance as Dr. Phlox’s (John Billingsley) dear friend and colleague, Dr. Jeremy Lucas, in Enterprise’s season 4 trilogy (2004) about the Augments and their father, Arik Soong (Brent Spiner).
Riehle only appeared in the second (“Cold Station 12”) and third (“The Augments”) episodes of the Enterprise Augments trilogy, though.
Outside of Star Trek, most film fans will remember Riehle for playing Tom, who was the older friend and colleague of the three main characters, Peter, Michael, and Samir in one of my favorite movies of all time, Office Space (1999).
However, Riehle’s most prolific work came on the dark yet hilariously dark sitcom Grounded for Life, which ran from 2001 through 2005.
However, I wonder how many television buffs out there remember the late actor portraying none other than Ed Rooney on the TV adaptation of the beloved feature film Ferris Bueller’s Day Off (1986).
The Redshirts Always Die and FanSided teams are deeply saddened to hear of Mr. Riehle’s death, and we all would like to pass on our condolences to those closest to the beloved guest actor, including his family and friends.
For more Star Trek content, and to remember Richard Riehle’s contributions to the beloved sci-fi franchise, please visit the Redshirts Always Die Facebook and X pages.
Rest in peace, Mr. Riehle.
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