The great Tony Todd has a career stretching over 35 years. With the release of the new Candyman, fans have turned back to look at the best of his over 225 accredited roles. Among them are a number of memorable Star Trek parts. Trek has a long-standing tradition of hiring the same actors for multiple roles, often disguised behind prosthetics and make-up. Todd has appeared as three different characters on Star Trek, each one a memorable part of the story being told. A brief summary of each one follows.
Todd first appeared in the franchise in Star Trek: The Next Generation Season 3, Episode 17, “Sins of the Father.” He played Kurn, a Klingon commander temporarily assigned to the Enterprise-D as part of an exchange program with the Empire. As it turns out, there is an ulterior motive for his visit. He is Worf’s brother and has come to ask for help in defending their dead father’s honor. Over the course of three more appearances, he becomes the foil by which Worf deals with his Klingon heritage.
The two-part “Redemption” arc -- The Next Generation Season 4, Episode 26, and Season 5, Episode 1 -- saw him side with Chancellor Gowron during the Klingon Civil War, only to lose it all a few years later when Worf turned against Gowron. The character’s final appearance -- Star Trek: Deep Space Nine Season 4, Episode 14, “The Sons of Mogh,” saw a disgraced Kurn return and beg Worf for death. It ends with Kurn’s memory erased as he joins another Klingon House, leaving Worf alone and persona non gratia in the Empire.
Todd played Kurn with deep passion and conviction, enhancing the tragedy of a figure forced to pay the price for his brother’s honor. It was a strong indicator of things to come from the actor. Season 4, Episode 2, “The Visitor,” found him playing an adult Jake Sisko, haunted by the apparent loss of his father and his lingering sense of responsibility for it despite being blameless. The emotional blow cripples his writing career and sends him on a lifelong journey to locate his father. Todd’s moving performance elevated an already strong script, and today, the episode is routinely cited not just as one of the best Deep Space Nine episodes ever but one of the best episodes of the entire franchise. Todd was the centerpiece that made it all happen.
Star Trek: Voyager produced a bumper crop of memorable villains, among them the Hirogen: a Predator-like species whose entire culture centered around hunting. They viewed other sentient beings as prey to be pursued and sought out individuals they felt would make good sport. Season 4, Episode 16, “Prey,” sees a pair of them hunting a member of Species 8472. Todd plays the senior member of the duo, rescued by Voyager when the hunt doesn’t go as planned and his junior partner is killed. The figure serves as an object example of applying compassion regardless of whether it’s returned in kind.
Todd’s intensity sells the character, and by extension, the lesson. He fervently believes in his culture and, as the surviving member of Species 8472 becomes a threat to Voyager, a counterargument to Janeway’s insistence on peaceful negotiations first. The ship has to find a way to save both it and Alpha without getting killed in the process. The dilemma relied on the strength of Todd’s performance. Without him, it all would have been little more than an academic exercise.
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