Armin Shimerman

Armin Shimerman

Shimerman at the Star Trek convention, 2008
Born (1949-11-05) November 5, 1949
Lakewood Township, New Jersey, United States
Occupation Actor, voice actor, author
Years active 1979–present
Spouse(s) Kitty Swink

Armin Shimerman (born November 5, 1949) is an American actor, voice actor and author. Shimerman is known for playing the Ferengi bartender Quark in the television series Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, Principal Snyder in Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Kramer's caddy Stan on Seinfeld, voicing Dr. Nefarious in the Ratchet & Clank series, and Andrew Ryan, one of the antagonists of BioShock. He played Dr. Potter in the 2011 movie adaptation of Ayn Rand's Atlas Shrugged. He also voiced the Agori leader Raanu in Bionicle: The Legend Reborn. He is known for voicing General Skarr in The Grim Adventures of Billy & Mandy and Evil Con Carne.

Early life

Shimerman was born to a Jewish family[1] in Lakewood, New Jersey, the son of Susan, an accountant, and Herbert Shimerman, a house painter.[2] When Shimerman was 15, his family moved to Los Angeles, where his mother enrolled him in a drama group in an effort to expand his social circle. He played trumpet in the Santa Monica High School Band. He graduated from the University of California, Los Angeles, then was selected to apprentice at the Old Globe Theater in San Diego. He pursued a dramatic career in theater, eventually moving to New York. Returning to Los Angeles he received roles in two CBS series, launching his television acting career.

Career

Television

Shimerman (center) with Deep Space 9 co-stars Marc Alaimo (left) and Colm Meaney (right)

Shimerman is best known for his role as the Ferengi bar owner Quark in the long-running television series Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, though his involvement with the Star Trek franchise began with appearances as other Ferengi characters in the Star Trek: The Next Generation episodes "The Last Outpost" and "Peak Performance". As the character Quark, Shimerman became one of Star Trek's most widely known characters, and he appeared several times on the cover of TV Guide, either with other actors or alone as part of a collector's series. He says that his favorite episode of Deep Space Nine was "Little Green Men" as it was the only episode where he is shown captaining a ship.

Shimerman (left) and Max Grodénchik (right) played the characters of two Ferengi brothers, Quark and Rom, on Deep Space 9

Along with Marina Sirtis, Jonathan Frakes, John de Lancie, Michael Ansara, and Richard Poe, he is one of only a few actors to play the same character on three different Star Trek series. He played Quark in Star Trek: The Next Generation, Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, and Star Trek: Voyager.

In addition to Star Trek, Shimerman has had roles as Pascal on Beauty and the Beast and as Principal Snyder in Buffy the Vampire Slayer. He also has starred in Stargate SG-1 as one of the Nox, an evil wizard in Charmed, appeared as Stan the caddy in an episode of Seinfeld, and as Dr. Patemkin on Leverage.

Shimerman has appeared as judge Brian Hooper in the third season of Boston Legal, joining fellow Star Trek actors William Shatner, Rene Auberjonois, and Ethan Phillips; Shatner played Captain Kirk on Star Trek, Auberjonois played Odo on Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, and Phillips played Neelix on Star Trek: Voyager. His character even shared a scene with Auberjonois, with the strife between the two characters reminiscent of the conflict between Shimerman's Quark and Auberjonois's Odo.

Shimerman made an appearance as "The Terror" in The Tick live action series.

He appeared in the series Numb3rs episode 'Provenance' as an art expert. He also appeared in the episode "Posse Comitatus" of The West Wing as Richard III, and had a cameo role in both What the Bleep movies.

He also appeared in the episode "Buck the Stud" of Married... with Children.

Shimerman also appeared in the episode "Where and When" of the TV series Warehouse 13. He played the character Charlie Martin, that episode's version of Artie Nielsen.

He also appeared in the episode "A Little Paranoia Among Friends" as radio personality Cecil Carr in the short-lived Tremors TV series.

In 2012 he also appeared on Castle in the episode "The Final Frontier".

In 2016, appeared as Max in the Western web series RED BIRD.

Voice work

He has voiced several video game villains, including Toad in X-Men Legends, Andrew Ryan in BioShock, Razputin's father in Psychonauts, and General Skarr from Evil Con Carne and The Grim Adventures of Billy and Mandy. He lent his voice talent to BioWare for their games Jade Empire (as Emperor Sun Hai) and Mass Effect (as the original Salarian Councillor). He also voices Emil Narud and Mohandar in StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty and the expansion StarCraft II: Heart of the Swarm.

In 2008, he voiced the character of Wilmer in an audio dramatization of The Maltese Falcon that also featured Michael Madsen, Sandra Oh, and Edward Herrmann. In addition, he also voiced the character of Mr. Phillips in Focus on the Family Radio Theatre's production of Anne of Green Gables. He also voiced Raanu in the straight-to-DVD feature animation Bionicle: The Legend Reborn. He also voices Green Goblin in the video game Marvel Ultimate Alliance 2.

In 2011, he also starred in a voice-over part for a character on the MMORPG Star Wars: The Old Republic.

In 2012, he starred in a voice-over part for a character on the MMORPG The Secret World. He also voiced both Dr. Nefarious and Andrew Ryan in the crossover, PlayStation All-Stars Battle Royale.

His most well known voice role is that of Dr. Nefarious in Ratchet & Clank: Up Your Arsenal, Ratchet: Deadlocked, Ratchet & Clank: Quest for Booty, Ratchet & Clank Future: A Crack in Time, and Ratchet & Clank: All 4 One, a role he received much praise for.

The Merchant Prince

Shimerman has co-written a series of books in which he provides a science fictional basis for the life of Dr. John Dee. The first novel in the series, The Merchant Prince, was co-written with Irish author Michael Scott, known for his Nicholas Flamel series. Published in 2000, it features the historical figure John Dee being placed in suspended animation in 1575 by an alien race known as the Roc and awakening in 2099. The cover features Shimerman in Elizabethan garb.

Shimerman commented: "John Dee really did exist. We're pretty sure he was a member of Queen Elizabeth's secret service, which put it in his purview to kill if he needed to. The Elizabethan period was a much more perilous time; you had to be quick with a dagger and nefarious in order to survive".[3]

Shimerman thought there were aspects of both himself and his Star Trek: Deep Space Nine character, Quark, in the novel's interpretation of John Dee. Shimerman commented: "There are aspects of Quark similar to Dr. Dee, and undoubtedly there are aspects of Dr. Dee similar to Armin Shimerman, which would make him seem like Quark as well".[3]

The other novels in the series are Outrageous Fortune (2002), co-written with Chelsea Quinn Yarbro, known for her historical horror novels, and Capital Offense (2003).

Personal life

Shimerman is married to actress Kitty Swink.

Filmography

Year Film Role Notes
1980 Stardust Memories Eulogy Audience
1986 The Hitcher Interrogation Sergeant
Stoogemania Larry II
1987 Blind Date French Waiter
The Verne Miller Story Mortician
Like Father Like Son Trigger's Father
1987, 1989, 1994 Star Trek: The Next Generation Letek, Bractor, Quark Season 1 The Last Outpost, Season 2 Peak Performance, Season 7 Firstborn
1987–1990 Beauty and the Beast Pascal Seasons 1–3
1988 Dangerous Curves Boggs
1989 Arena Weezil
Big Man on Campus Dr. Oberlander
1990 Death Warrant Dr. Gottesman
1991 And You Thought Your Parents Were Weird Contest Judge
1993–1999 Star Trek: Deep Space Nine Quark Seasons 1–7
1994 Slaughter of the Innocents Dr. Mort Seger
1995 Star Trek: Voyager Quark
1996 Eye for an Eye Judge Arthur Younger
Seinfeld Stan The Caddy "The Caddy"
1997 Snide and Prejudice Eckart
Stargate: SG-1 Anteaus Season 1, episode 8, "The Nox"
1997–2000 Buffy the Vampire Slayer Principal Snyder Seasons 1–4, 20 episodes
1998 Looking for Lola Maitre'd
1999 The Auteur Theory Detective Blank
Star Trek: Insurrection Quark Scenes cut
2000 Breathing Hard Conrad
2002 Who Slew Simon Thaddeus Mulberry Pew The Whizzit
2002 Charmed The Wizzard Season 4, episode 18
2003 Living in Walter's World Mr. Krause
2004 What the Bleep Do We Know!? Older Man in subway
The Works Gerald
Eviction The Landlord
2005 Geppetto's Secret Leonardo the paintbrush (Voice)
2006 What the Bleep!?: Down the Rabbit Hole Older Man
2006 Numb3rs The Art-Authentication board member Episode: "Provenance"
2006 Dead and Deader Coroner Flutie
2008 The Um Fiester
Delgo Nohrin Merchant (Voice)
2009 For Christ's Sake The Pope In post-production
2009 BIONICLE: The Legend Reborn Raanu, Villagers/Village leaders
2009 Warehouse 13 Charlie Martin (1961's Artie) 1 episode "Where and When"
2009–2010 Batman: The Brave and the Bold Calculator, Psycho-Pirate, Prof. Mark Haley, Second Guardian Episodes: "Night of the Huntress!"
"Inside the Outsiders!"

"Revenge of the Reach!"

2011 Atlas Shrugged – Part 1 Dr. Potter In the cast credits, his name is spelled "Shimmerman".
2011 Dropping Evil The Boss Man
2012 Castle Benjamin Donnely Episode: "The Final Frontier"
2013 CSI: Crime Scene Investigation Oscar Season 14, episode 9, "Check in and Check Out"
2016 Ratchet & Clank Doctor Nefarious [4][5]
2016 RED BIRD Max

Bibliography

Merchant Prince series

References

  1. ↑ Jewish Journal: "Top 5 Jewish moments in ‘Trek’" by Adam Wills May 7, 2009
  2. ↑ "Armin Shimerman Biography (1949–)". Filmreference.com. Retrieved 2012-08-02.
  3. 1 2 Dilmore, Kevin (2001). "Star Trek Communicator issue 130". Fantastic Media (Denver Colorado): 59.
  4. ↑ Ratchet and Clank [RatchetMovie] (September 17, 2013). "We are excited that @ShimermanArmin has joined the cast for #ratchetandclankmovie! @insomniacgames @Blockade @RainmakerEnt @PlayStation" (Tweet). Retrieved May 13, 2015.
    Paul Robinson [Topottsel] (September 17, 2013). "@RatchetMovie I assume this means Dr Nefarious is making is making an appearance? ;)" (Tweet). Retrieved May 13, 2015.
    Ratchet and Clank [RatchetMovie] (September 17, 2013). "@Topottsel Yep!" (Tweet). Retrieved May 13, 2015.
  5. ↑ Vejvoda, Jim (May 13, 2015). "Ratchet & Clank Animated Movie Lines Up Star-Studded Voice Cast". IGN. Retrieved 13 May 2015.

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