William Morgan Sheppard (24 August 1932 – 6 January 2019) was an English actor who appeared in over 100 films and television programmes, in a career that spanned over 50 years.

Stage career

Sheppard graduated from the

Royal Academy of Dramatic Art The Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (RADA; ) is a drama school in London, England, that provides vocational conservatoire training for theatre, film, television, and radio. It is based in the Bloomsbury area of Central London, close to the Senat ...

in 1958, before spending 12 years as an associate artist with the Royal Shakespeare Company. He appeared on Broadway in ''

Marat/Sade ''The Persecution and Assassination of Jean-Paul Marat as Performed by the Inmates of the Asylum of Charenton Under the Direction of the Marquis de Sade'' (german: Die Verfolgung und Ermordung Jean Paul Marats dargestellt durch die Schauspielgrupp ...

'' (1966) and in '' Sherlock Holmes'' (1975). He won the Los Angeles Drama Critics Circle Award for ''

The Homecoming ''The Homecoming'' is a two-act play written in 1964 by Harold Pinter and first published in 1965. Its premières in London (1965) and New York (1967) were both directed by Sir Peter Hall. The original Broadway production won the 1967 Tony A ...

'' in 1995.

Film career

Sheppard starred in several episodes of different series of '' Star Trek'', notably '' The Next Generation''s " The Schizoid Man" and '' Voyager''s "

Bliss BLISS is a system programming language developed at Carnegie Mellon University (CMU) by W. A. Wulf, D. B. Russell, and A. N. Habermann around 1970. It was perhaps the best known system language until C debuted a few years later. Since then, C b ...

". In the feature film '' Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country'', his role was the warden of a Klingon gulag and in the 2009 reboot '' Star Trek'', he played a member of the Vulcan High Council, but was uncredited. Outside of ''Star Trek'', he is best known for his role as Blank Reg on ''

Max Headroom Max Headroom is a fictional artificial intelligence (AI) character portrayed by actor Matt Frewer. Advertised as "the first computer-generated TV presenter", Max was known for his biting commentary on a variety of topical issues, arrogant wit, ...

'' and his role as the Confederate general Isaac R. Trimble in the films '' Gettysburg'' and '' Gods and Generals''. Sheppard appeared in two roles on the science-fiction series ''

Babylon 5 ''Babylon 5'' is an American space opera television series created by writer and producer J. Michael Straczynski, under the Babylonian Productions label, in association with Straczynski's Synthetic Worlds Ltd. and Warner Bros. Domestic Tele ...

'', in the episode titled "Soul Hunter", playing the eponymous character and also played Narn war leader G'Sten, an uncle of main character G'Kar, in "The Long Twilight Struggle". He was also a runner-up for the role of Ambassador G'Kar on the series, though the role eventually went to

Andreas Katsulas Andrew Katsulas (May 18, 1946February 13, 2006), known professionally as Andreas Katsulas, was an American film and television actor, most recognized for portrayals of Narn Ambassador G'Kar on the American science fiction television series ''Bab ...

. Sheppard was one of several ''Star Trek'' actors who voiced characters on the animated series '' Gargoyles'', wherein he played the father of

Jonathan Frakes Jonathan Scott Frakes (born August 19, 1952) is an American actor and director. He is best known for his portrayal of Commander William Riker in the television series '' Star Trek: The Next Generation'' and subsequent films and series. Frakes als ...

' character David Xanatos and the Norse god Odin. Sheppard and his son,

Mark Sheppard Mark Andreas Sheppard (born 30 May 1964) is an English actor and musician. He is often credited as Mark A. Sheppard. Sheppard is known for playing the demon/King of Hell Crowley on ''Supernatural'' and for his recurring roles as lawyer Romo La ...

, acted together in a few productions. Sheppard appeared in the television series '' NCIS'', in the season six episode "Broken Bird", where he played the older version of a man named Marcin Jerek, while his son played the younger version. He appeared in the opening episode of series six of '' Doctor Who'', "

The Impossible Astronaut "The Impossible Astronaut" is the first episode of the sixth series of the British science fiction television series ''Doctor Who''. The episode was written by show runner Steven Moffat and directed by Toby Haynes. It was first broadcast on 23 ...

", playing the character Canton Everett Delaware III. He portrayed an older version of Delaware, while his son portrayed the younger version in the same episode. He and his son are among the few actors who have appeared in both the ''Star Trek'' and ''Doctor Who'' franchises. In December 2009, Sheppard voiced the part of Santa in Disney's Christmas special ''

Prep & Landing ''Prep & Landing'' is a computer animated television special, based on an idea by Chris Williams at Walt Disney Animation Studios and developed by Kevin Deters and Stevie Wermers-Skelton into a half-hour Christmas special. It first aired Decembe ...

''. Following that, he returned as the voice of Santa in the sequels, '' Prep & Landing: Operation: Secret Santa'' and '' Prep & Landing: Naughty vs. Nice''. On 4 December 2010, Sheppard appeared on

Hallmark Channel Original Films A hallmark is an official mark or series of marks struck on items made of metal, mostly to certify the content of noble metals—such as platinum, gold, silver and in some nations, palladium. In a more general sense, the term ''hallmark'' can als ...

''Farewell Mr. Kringle'' as Kris Kringle.

Video game career

Sheppard voiced several characters in video games. He narrated the introductions and mission briefings for the first four installments of the ''

Medal of Honor The Medal of Honor (MOH) is the United States Armed Forces' highest military decoration and is awarded to recognize American soldiers, sailors, marines, airmen, guardians and coast guardsmen who have distinguished themselves by acts of valo ...

'' video-game series. He was cast in the 1996 adventure game '' Zork Nemesis'', playing the live-action role of Bishop Francois Malveaux, one of the four alchemists central to the plot of the game. In 2000, he voiced the character Ignatius Cheese in the game '' Escape from Monkey Island''. Sheppard voiced over for the character

John Adams John Adams (October 30, 1735 – July 4, 1826) was an American statesman, attorney, diplomat, writer, and Founding Father who served as the second president of the United States from 1797 to 1801. Before his presidency, he was a leader of t ...

in the Wii game ''

The Conduit ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the m ...

''. He provided the voice for the character Lucky in the 2002

Xbox (console) The Xbox is a home video game console and the first installment in the Xbox series of video game consoles manufactured by Microsoft. It was released as Microsoft's first foray into the gaming console market on November 15, 2001, in North Ame ...

game '' Whacked!''. On 4 August 2010, Sheppard was announced as the voice actor for the video game ''

Civilization V ''Sid Meier's Civilization V'' is a 4X video game in the ''Civilization'' series developed by Firaxis Games. The game was released on Microsoft Windows on September 21, 2010, on OS X on November 23, 2010, and on Linux on June 10, 2014. In ...

''. and provided the voice overs for loading screens, victory screens, built wonders, and newly researched technologies.

Personal life and death

Sheppard and wife Regina were the parents of actor

. Sheppard died on 6 January 2019, in

Los Angeles, California Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

, aged 86.

Filmography

Film

Television

Video games

References

External links

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W. Morgan Sheppard
(Aveleyman) {{DEFAULTSORT:Sheppard, W. Morgan 1932 births 2019 deaths Alumni of the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art English male film actors English male stage actors English male television actors English male voice actors English people of Irish descent Male actors from London Royal Shakespeare Company members 20th-century English male actors 21st-century English male actors