Memory Alpha
Register
Advertisement
Memory Alpha
Real world article
(written from a Production point of view)

Stefan Gierasch (5 February 19266 September 2014; age 88) was a prolific character actor who appeared as Moseley in the Star Trek: The Next Generation fifth season episode "A Matter Of Time". He filmed his scenes for this episode on Monday 7 October 1991 on Paramount Stage 16.

Gierasch performed on television and in film from the early 1950s until his retirement in 2009, accumulating over a hundred credits. He is also a veteran of the Broadway and off-Broadway stage, performing in numerous productions between 1943 and 1987.

Personal[]

Gierasch was born in New York City. He never attended college, having broken into acting at the age of seventeen. Outside of acting, he served in the American Field Service's ambulance corps in Italy and in India. [1]

Gierasch passed away on 6 September 2014 at the age of 88. [2]

Career[]

Theater work[]

Gierasch made his Broadway debut in 1943, taking over the role of Dexter Franklin in the comedy Kiss and Tell. This was followed later that same year with an appearance in Get Away, Old Man. In 1949, he appeared in the short-lived Broadway production Montserrat, acting with fellow Star Trek alumni John Abbott and Nehemiah Persoff.

In 1951, Gierasch performed with fellow Next Generation guest star Paul Lambert in the short-lived Broadway production Night Music. This was followed in 1953 by the off-Broadway production of Maya with Leo Penn, who directed Gierasch on the television shows Bonanza and Switch in the 1970s (see below). Later in 1953, Gierasch acted with Phillip Pine in The Little Clay Cart, which ran for seven performances off-Broadway.

Gierasch returned to Broadway in 1956, taking over the role of Smith the police constable in the successful revival of The Threepenny Opera. That same year, he acted with Michael Strong in a revival of A Month in the Country, also on Broadway. This was followed by 1957's Compulsion, in which Gierasch played Max Steiner, the older brother of Dean Stockwell's character. From November 1958 through January 1959, Gierasch worked with William Smithers in the Broadway revival of The Shadow of a Gunman.

In late 1959, Gierasch landed the role of Herr Zeller in the original production of the hit Rodgers and Hammerstein musical The Sound of Music. This production's lead male protagonist, Captain George von Trapp, was played by Theodore Bikel. Neither Gierasch nor Bikel returned to their roles for the successful 1965 film version of the musical, which was directed by Robert Wise and starred Christopher Plummer as Captain von Trapp.

After appearing in the Broadway play The Deputy with Ian Wolfe in 1964, Gierasch left New York City and joined the Milwaukee Repertory Theatre Company in Wisconsin. He remained there for the company's 1965-1966 season, performing in such plays as The Tempest (with Robin Gammell), Saint Joan, The Glass Menagerie, The Time of Your Life, and Henry IV, Part I. He returned to New York in 1967 to perform in War and Peace, which also featured Keene Curtis.

Over the years, Gierasch performed at such venues as the American Shakespeare Festival Theatre in Stratford, Connecticut and the Los Angeles Actors Theatre in California. He also continued to act on Broadway, off-Broadway, and in other areas around New York. In 1973 and 1974, he appeared with Stephen McHattie in a revival of Eugene O'Neill's The Iceman Cometh at Broadway's Circle in the Square Theatre. He then acted with Kevin Conway in a production of Of Mice and Men and with Victor Garber and Ray Wise in a production of Tartuffe. His last Broadway credit was a revival of George Bernard Shaw's You Never Can Tell, in which he again worked with Victor Garber and Stephen McHattie.

Television[]

Notable guest appearances[]

One of Gierasch's earliest TV appearances was a 1957 episode of Studio One entitled "Walk Down the Hill", in which he co-starred with Star Trek: The Original Series guest actor William Smithers. Two decades later, Gierasch and Smithers acted together in an episode of the series Lucan.

In the early 1960s, Gierasch appeared in two episodes of The Untouchables, which, like The Original Series was produced by Desilu. Gierasch's first episode also guest-starred Frank Gorshin, Davis Roberts, and Jason Wingreen, while his second episode featured Stanley Adams. Throughout the remainder of the 1960s, Gierasch appeared on such TV shows as Dr. Kildare (with Elinor Donahue and John Fiedler) and Gunsmoke (with France Nuyen and Charles Seel).

In 1971, he appeared on NBC's Nichols, along with Ricardo Montalban. He then appeared on the NBC drama Ironside with Michael Bell and guest-starred on The Mod Squad, on which Tige Andrews and Clarence Williams III were regular cast members. In 1974, Gierasch acted alongside Michael Pataki in a two-part episode of Kung Fu.

In 1976, he guest-starred on Starsky & Hutch, which starred David Soul. The following year, Gierasch and Earl Boen were directed by Marc Daniels in an episode of Hawaii Five-O. In 1979, Gierasch appeared on Dallas with Mary Crosby and Fantasy Island with Ike Eisenmann, John Larroquette, and series regular Ricardo Montalban.

Between 1976 and 1981, Gierasch guest-starred in four episodes of the comic series Barney Miller, working with Ron Glass and James Gregory. Between 1976 and 1984, he was directed by Star Trek: Deep Space Nine director Reza Badiyi on Serpico, The Incredible Hulk (with Sharon Acker), and Falcon Crest (with Robert Foxworth).

Among the other shows on which Gierash appeared during the 1980s were M*A*S*H (starring David Ogden Stiers), The Greatest American Hero (with William Lucking), Quincy, M.E. (with Michael Durrell, Robert Ito, Norman Lloyd, and Garry Walberg), The Twilight Zone (in a segment with Fran Bennett and John Glover), The Colbys (with Joseph Campanella, Ricardo Montalban, and Tracy Scoggins), Murder, She Wrote (with Richard Cox), and Cheers (starring Kirstie Alley and Kelsey Grammer).

In the early 1990s, Gierasch appeared on such shows as Tales from the Crypt (with Mark Rolston, Jeff Yagher, and the voice of John Kassir) and Knots Landing (with Bruce Greenwood). His later TV guest spots included episodes of The Practice (with Robert Clendenin and Gregory Itzin), The Pretender (with Steven Anderson, Cathy DeBuono, Jay Karnes, and Daniel Dae Kim), and ER (with Robert DoQui and Kieran Mulroney).

Regular roles[]

In 1978, Gierasch was a regular on A.E.S. Hudson Street. His fellow cast members on this show included Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country actress Rosana DeSoto, Star Trek III: The Search for Spock actor Allan Miller, and Deep Space Nine guest star Gregory Sierra.

In 1991, Gierasch starred on MGM/NBC's Dark Shadows. He played two characters on this show, Professor Woodward and Joshua Collins. The latter character was the father of Barnabas Collins, who was played by Ben Cross, and the husband of Naomi Collins, played by Jean Simmons.

TV movies and mini-series[]

Gierasch had a supporting role in the 1974 TV movie This Is the West That Was, along with Kim Darby and Lance LeGault. In 1976, Marvin Chomsky directed Gierasch, Bibi Besch, Theodore Bikel, Allan Miller, and Harris Yulin in the TV movie Victory at Entebbe. In 1979, Gierasch was seen in the movie Beggarman, Thief, which starred Jean Simmons.

In the 1980s, Gierasch appeared in such TV movies as My Wicked, Wicked Ways: The Legend of Errol Flynn (1985, starring Duncan Regehr in the title role and co-starring George Coe, Dick Durock, Alan Oppenheimer, and Next Generation regular Denise Crosby), The Million Dollar Face (with William Daniels), and Shannon's Deal (with Miguel Ferrer and Spencer Garrett). Gierasch again worked with Miguel Ferrer in Cruel Doubt (1992, co-starring Jordan Lund and Neal McDonough).

He was also one of the many Star Trek alumni to appear in Dream West (1986). Among his co-stars on this series were F. Murray Abraham, Jeff Allin, Erich Anderson, John Anderson, Lee Bergere, James Cromwell, Michael Ensign, Jonathan Frakes, Alice Krige, Matt McCoy, Glenn Morshower, Fritz Weaver, Noble Willingham, and Anthony Zerbe.

Gierasch appeared in two TV movies in 1996. The first was The Rockford Files: Friends and Foul Play, which co-starred Molly Hagan. The second was Crime of the Century, with Bill Bolender, Jefrey Alan Chandler, Brad Greenquist, and Bert Remsen.

Feature films[]

Gierasch made his film debut in 1957, co-starring with Original Series guest actors Paul Carr and Gene Lyons in the drama The Young Don't Cry. He then played the preacher in the acclaimed 1961 drama The Hustler.

In 1970, Gierasch and Marianna Hill co-starred in The Traveling Executioner, featuring Star Trek alumni Graham Jarvis, Logan Ramsey, and James Sloyan. Gierasch and Hill later acted together in High Plains Drifter (1973, co-starring Mitchell Ryan) and Blood Beach (1980, with Ian Abercrombie).

In 1972, Gierasch was seen as Fritz in What's Up, Doc?. This film also featured Graham Jarvis and starred Deep Space Nine guest actor Kenneth Mars. Later that same year, Gierasch played Del Gue in Jeremiah Johnson. In 1975, Gierasch co-starred with Hal Baylor, Bernie Casey, Thalmus Rasulala, Madge Sinclair, and Logan Ramsey in Cornbread, Earl and Me.

Gierasch played Mr. Morton in Carrie (1976). That same year, he appeared in Silver Streak. He played two roles in this film: an art historian named Professor Schreiner and one of Schreiner's killers, Johnson. Another of Schreiner's killers, named Whiney, was played by fellow Next Generation guest star Ray Walston.

Gierasch's subsequent film credits include The Champ (1979, co-starring Elisha Cook and Allan Miller), Spellbinder (1988, with Richard Fancy and Cary-Hiroyuki), and Mistress (1992). He then appeared in Dave (1993, with Frank Langella, Parley Baer, Robin Gammell, Stephen Root, Charles Hallahan, Dawn Arnemann, Dendrie Taylor, Paul Collins, Peter White, Dan Butler, Tory Christopher, and Pam Pruitt-McGeary) and Junior (1994, with Frank Langella, Alexander Enberg and Lawrence Tierney).

Gierasch next played Warden Humson in Murder in the First (1995, starring Christian Slater and co-starring Brad Dourif. Gierasch co-starred with The Next Generation's Denise Crosby in Legend of the Phantom Rider (2002, featuring George Murdock). He later worked with Conor O'Farrell and Michael Rider in the 2009 independent western The Hunter's Moon.

Other Trek connections[]

Additional credits not mentioned above in which Gierasch worked with other Star Trek alumni include:

Film[]

Theater[]

  • A Moon for the Misbegotten at Ford's Theatre in Washington, DC (1969, with Salome Jens and Mitchell Ryan)
  • Cat on a Hot Tin Roof at the Long Wharf Theatre in New Haven, Connecticut (1984-1985, with Peter Weller)
  • The Marriage of Bette and Bo at the Los Angeles Theatre Center in California (1989-1990, with Angela Paton)

TV mini-series[]

TV movies[]

TV series[]

External links[]

Advertisement