D'Marr

File:DMarr.jpg

Trader D'Marr

For the Cardassian, please see Damar. For the Nyrian, please see Dammar.

D'Marr was an alien trader, captain of his own starship.

In 2151, he discovered an apparently abandoned Kantare vessel on an alien planet. D'Marr believed the ship was haunted.

Later that year, D'Marr dined aboard Enterprise NX-01 with Captain Jonathan Archer and Sub-Commander T'Pol, during which time he learned Archer was interested in obtaining raw materials to fix Enterprise. D'Marr was quite fond of coffee, and offered T'Pol some Triaxian silk. In exchange for coffee, he gave the Enterprise crew the coordinates of the planet where he'd found the seemingly deserted Kantare vessel. He told them that no one had salvaged the ship because it was haunted. (ENT: "Oasis")

Background information

D'Marr was played by actor Tom Bergeron. The character's species and origin were not identified, the final draft script of "Oasis" describing him simply as "an exotic-looking alien trader."

The prospect of Tom Bergeron, a Trekkie, appearing in Star Trek: Enterprise came about while he was visiting Paramount Pictures' studio lot and was being given, by ENT co-creator and Executive Producer Rick Berman, a personal tour of the show's sets with Whoopi Goldberg, a friend and colleague of Bergeron's who was meanwhile taking a break from filming Guinan scenes in Star Trek Nemesis. "As we were walking through the various sound stages, I made a comment which showed my knowledge of the Star Trek universe. It was at that moment I was asked the question I've always dreamed of: Rick asked me if I'd ever considered doing a guest appearance on the show, and he was serious," Bergeron recalled. Berman then asked Goldberg if Bergeron could act. Despite never having seen him do so, Goldberg vouched for Bergeron as an amazing actor. He was invited to be a guest star a short while later. "I made two requests: I wanted to have the full Star Trek experience and be transformed into an alien, plus I wanted to be killed at the end of the episode," Bergeron explained. (Star Trek: Communicator issue 139, p. 38)

The role of D'Marr didn't disappoint Tom Bergeron. "When I went into the costume fitting," he said, "I learned that I had many lines and was featured in the entire opening scene of the 'Oasis' episode." Bergeron's alien makeup took four hours, so he was given an 8 a.m. set call. Having watched many behind-the-scenes documentaries about Star Trek makeup, he knew what to expect. Following a dress rehearsal, Bergeron started filming the footage of D'Marr that morning, which went smoothly. "In the afternoon, however, I started getting what I call 'lingo lock' and began having trouble reciting all of the technical lingo that was required of my character," he admitted. "I kept getting alien names and planet names mixed up, or I was mispronouncing them!" Bergeron's day as an ENT guest star came to an end by 5 p.m. He was convinced he would always fondly remember the experience. However, the part he found most gratifying came at the end of that day. Despite being finished for the day, all the other actors had stayed behind to watch the close-ups of D'Marr be filmed. " When my shots were totally finished, the entire cast and crew give me a round of applause. I was on cloud nine after that," he reminisced. "It was a magnanimous gesture for them to do that." (Star Trek: Communicator issue 139, p. 38)

In the course of the day, someone claimed to Tom Bergeron that the name of his ENT character was also the name of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine recurring character Damar, to which Bergeron clarified that the two names are spelt differently. He later joked that D'Marr was the great-great-grandfather of Dammar. (Star Trek: Communicator issue 139, p. 39)

Since D'Marr does not die in "Oasis", Tom Bergeron hoped to reprise the part later in the series run of Star Trek: Enterprise. He even pitched, in person, a story idea to Rick Berman which would have facilitated this happening. "Whether or not I get to do it again, I am very content to have had the experience [of playing the character]," he concluded. (Star Trek: Communicator issue 139, p. 39)