Ethan Phillips
From Memory Alpha, the free Star Trek reference
| This article is written from the Real World point of view |
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| This article is written from the Real World point of view |
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| Ethan Phillips | |
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| Gender: | Male |
| Date of birth: | 8 February 1955 |
| Place of birth: | Long Island, New York, USA |
| Character(s): | Neelix (primary character; see other characters below) |
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Ethan Phillips (born 8 February 1955; age 53) is an actor best known to Star Trek fans for playing the part of Neelix through all seven seasons of Star Trek: Voyager. He also played two different Ferengi characters, one on Star Trek: The Next Generation and another on Star Trek: Enterprise, and made an uncredited cameo as a holographic mâitre d' in the 1996 film Star Trek: First Contact.
Born in Long Island, New York, Phillips graduated with a degree in English Literature from Boston University and a Masters Degree in Fine Arts from Cornell University, Phillips began his on-screen acting career playing "Pete John Downey" on the hit television series Benson. Although the series began airing in 1979, Phillips did not join the series until 1980. Also joining the series in that year was future Star Trek: Deep Space Nine star Rene Auberjonois (Odo), who played "Clayton Runnymede Endicott III". Phillips and Auberjonois co-starred together until 1985, when Phillips left the series. While still acting on Benson, Phillips made his feature film debut with a small role in the acclaimed 1981 drama Ragtime. Starring in this film was Phillips' future Voyager co-star Brad Dourif (Lon Suder).
After leaving Benson, Phillips began to make a major transition towards films. He had a supporting role in the popular 1986 horror movie Critters with TNG guest star Scott Grimes, and the following year, he appeared in the comedy Burglar, starring Whoopi Goldberg. He went on to appear in three films in 1989: the highly-acclaimed Lean on Me (also featuring Tony Todd and Mike Starr), the romantic comedy Bloodhounds of Broadway (co-starring Googy Gress, Stephen McHattie and Alan Ruck), and the Oscar-winning historical war drama Glory (featuring Bob Gunton, Cliff deYoung, Richard Riehle, and Mark Margolis).
Phillips continued to appear on television, however. In 1987, he co-starred with Lance LeGault and Raphael Sbarge in the pilot episode of the short-lived series Werewolf. He also appeared on a number of other TV shows throughout the late 1980s, including an episode of The Twilight Zone with Christopher Carroll.
Phillips continued to appear in films and on television through the early 1990s. He played an agent with the department of immigration in the comedy Green Card in 1990, also starring Bebe Neuwirth, and appeared in Mel Gibson's The Man Without a Face (featuring Zach Grenier) in 1993 and The Shadow in 1994. Phillips also had a role in the 1994 Western comedy Wagons East. Also starring in this film was Robert Picardo. Both Phillips and Picardo began starring together on Star Trek: Voyager later that year. Coincidently, Picardo originally auditioned for Phillips' role of Neelix on Voyager before being cast as The Doctor. Wagons East also featured Ed Lauter and the late Charles Rocket in the cast.
Among the television projects Phillips worked on before joining the cast of Voyager were the TV movie Condition: Critical, co-starring Anne Haney, and guest appearances on such shows as L.A. Law (with Corbin Bernsen, Larry Drake, and Diana Muldaur), Law & Order, and NYPD Blue (with Gordon Clapp).
As Voyager continued its journey, Phillips took on other roles. In 1995, he co-starred with Next Generation star Patrick Stewart and Deep Space Nine guest actor Steven Weber in the comic drama Jeffrey. Two years later, he appeared in the comedy For Richer or Poorer, starring Kirstie Alley. In 1998, he starred in the short film The Battery, written and directed by his Voyager co-star Robert Duncan McNeill. He would also star in McNeill's 9mm of Love, another short film which co-starred Liz Vassey and was made in 2000. Also in 2000, Phillips starred with Alan Ruck in the film Endsville.
Phillips also appeared in the acclaimed 1998 TV mini-series From the Earth to the Moon, as did fellow Star Trek alumni David Andrews, David Clennon, Ronny Cox, Clint Howard, Daniel Hugh Kelly, John Carroll Lynch, Deborah May, Andy Milder, Holmes Osborne, Mark Rolston, Stephen Root, and Alan Ruck. Other television series Phillips appeared on during Voyager's run include Maybe This Time (with Michael Ensign), Chicago Hope (with Gregory Itzin), and Homeboys in Outer Space (with David L. Lander and Star Trek: The Original Series star James Doohan).
Following Star Trek: Voyager's end in 2001, Phillips again began making frequent television guest appearances. Among the shows he appeared on were Providence (with Concetta Tomei), Touched by an Angel (with Scott Thompson), JAG (with Steven Culp), and Las Vegas (with Nikki Cox). He even appeared in an unsold pilot entitled The Danny Comden Project, directed by Robert Duncan McNeill. In October 2006, Phillips made three guest appearances on Boston Legal, playing the father of the boy accused of killing the wife of a judge played by DS9's Armin Shimerman. Besides series regulars William Shatner and Rene Auberjonois, Trek guest actor Ron Canada also appeared in the episode.
More recently, Phillips has guest-starred on such series as Eli Stone (with Bill Smitrovich), Bones (with Geoff Meed), and Bryan Fuller's acclaimed Pushing Daisies (with Stephen Root).
In addition, Phillips played the title character of the 2003 short film Living in Walter's World, co-starring Deep Space 9 star Armin Shimerman. Phillips played the role of "Mr. Gorn" in the short Roddenberry on Patrol. This short film, directed by and co-starring Phillips' fellow Voyager actor Tim Russ (Tuvok), offers a comedic look at how Gene Roddenberry created Star Trek and also featured Robert Beltran, Richard Herd, Walter Koenig, Nichelle Nichols, Robert O'Reilly, Robert Picardo, and George Takei.
Phillips' voice can be heard on the Nickelodeon films The Wild Thornberrys Movie (2002, also featuring the voices of Brock Peters, Keith Szarabajka, and Alfre Woodard) and Rugrats Go Wild! (2003, also with the voice of Tony Jay). He has lent his voice to a number of Star Wars video games, as well. Phillips also continues to make occasional appearances in films, such as the 2003 black comedy Bad Santa and the 2005 science fiction epic The Island (written by Roberto Orci and Alex Kurtzman and featuring Glenn Morshower and Randy Oglesby). He recently completed filming an independent drama with Michael Pataki called Trim.
[edit] Other characters
[edit] External links
- Ethan Phillips at the Internet Movie Database
- Ethan Phillips at the Internet Broadway Database
- Ethan Phillips at Wookieepedia
| Star Trek: Voyager regular cast |
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| Robert Beltran • Roxann Dawson • Jennifer Lien • Robert Duncan McNeill • Kate Mulgrew • Ethan Phillips • Robert Picardo • Tim Russ • Jeri Ryan • Garrett Wang |
