Celebrity Biographies
Michael Ansara
Michael Ansara was an old acquaintance of the most recalcitrant ‘trekkies’. He played Commander Kang, an iconic Klingon, in a legendary episode of “Star Trek: The Original Series” in 1968. He reprized the character on a couple of subsequent occasions. The actor passed away on Wednesday, July 31, 2013, at his residence in Calabasas, California.
Born in a small town in Syria on April 15, 1922, Michael George Ansara’s family moved to the United States when he was 2 years old. His family lived in Lowell (Massachussetts) for a decade, until they finally settled in California. There he graduated in Arts from Los Angeles City College.
After several chapters of Alfred Hitchcock Presents , Michael Ansara gained some popularity in the United States for playing the Indian Cochise in the popular small screen production Broken Arrow (1956) . Fox’s publicity department set him up on a much-hyped media date with another star of the day, Barbara Eden , who was starring in Fairy Tail . Love materialized and they both got married in 1958. In addition, Ansara appeared in several episodes of her series.
Ansara and Eden also appeared together in the film Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea . Although they ended up divorcing in 1978, they had a son, fellow actor Matthew Ansara, who died in 2001 from a heroin overdose. Michael Ansara was married two other times, to actresses Jean Byron ( Invisible Invaders ) and Beverly Kushida ( Kung Fu ), who has accompanied her until her death.
The actor is best remembered for his work as the Klingon Commander Kang, in the Star Trek: The Original Series episode “Day of the Dove . ” Later he would return to interpret the character in Star Trek: Deep Space Nine and Star Trek Voyager , other television productions of the ‘trekkie’ universe.
The actor lavished himself mainly on television, although he has occasionally been seen on film in titles such as The Fury of the Magnificent Seven or Greed Fever . He remained active for many years until he retired in 2001.