Every Star Trek Actor Who Guest Starred On Columbo

For some of us, there are few things in this world more comforting than classic television. Back before “prestige TV” was really a thing and getting people to tune in was sometimes just a matter of hiring the biggest guest stars possible, things were a little different. (Sure, one could argue that “Columbo” was the precursor to prestige TV, but it’s also pretty darn traditional in its format.) There’s just something about turning on the TV and settling in for a an episode of “Star Trek: The Original Series” or “Columbo” and knowing that matters will be resolved by the end of the show’s runtime and that Lieutenant Columbo (Peter Falk) and Captain Kirk (William Shatner) always get the bad guy. Both are also pretty progressive; Columbo (an idealized lawman) routinely takes down the rich and powerful of Los Angeles, while “Star Trek” has always been socially conscious, aiming for a utopian society.

Columbo ran for a long time and then extended its life through a series of TV movies, meaning it filmed throughout the 1970s, ’80s, and early ’90s. It’s really no surprise, then, that a whole mess of “Star Trek” actors ended up on “Columbo” and vice-versa, ranging from the Captains to the lowliest redshirts. In total, we found a whole lot of actors who had a confirmed role on both a “Star Trek” series and “Columbo,” and we’ve collected them all here for your perusal. We’ll start with the most famous “Star Trek” star to end up on Columbo — Shatner himself.

William Shatner, who played Captain James Tiberius Kirk in “Star Trek: The Original Series,” appears in two different “Columbo” episodes, and he plays two distinctly different killers. In an interview with The Columbophile, Shatner looked back fondly on his time on the series, saying that he “felt honored to be asked to be on” the show. He also said, correctly, that the reason the show had succeeded for so long was because of star Peter Falk, who played the titular detective. Shatner described Falk as “a terrifically nice guy and a joy to work with,” which may have something to do with why Shatner ended up pulling bad guy double-duty.

Shatner first appeared in the 1976 episode “Fade In to Murder,” in which Shatner played an actor who was a television detective on a famous show. He killed a woman who was blackmailing him and then used his knowledge of murder from the show to try and outfox Columbo, who nevertheless caught the charismatic criminal. It’s kind of a silly episode, but it’s clear that both Shatner and Falk are having a blast with the meta aspect of everything and their back-and-forth alone is pure joy.

The second time Shatner appeared was in the 1994 Columbo TV movie “Butterfly in Shades of Grey,” where he had a pencil-thin, prosthetic, John Waters-esque mustache as he portrayed a slimy radio host who kills one of his employees. “Butterfly” is significantly more serious than “Fade In,” but the mustach is really, really distracting. It’s distracting enough that even Shatner called it out in his interview with The Columbophile, saying: “Go back and look at the episode and tell me you’re not distracted by that thing!” Oh well, at least we’ll always have “Fade In to Murder.”

Kirk wasn’t the only “TOS” star getting in on the “Columbo” action. In fact, Leonard Nimoy, who played Spock on “Star Trek,” starred as a killer a few seasons earlier than Shatner, in the season 2 episode “A Stitch in Crime.” In the episode, Nimoy played Dr. Barry Mayfield, an elite surgeon working on a new heart drug with an older colleague, Dr. Heiderman (Will Geer). Mayfield comes up with a scheme to kill Heiderman using faulty stitches in his heart surgery, but a nurse figures it out and Mayfield has to kill her, too. It’s not the best “Columbo” episode by any stretch of the imagination, but it is a lot of fun watching Nimoy play such a devious scumbag. 

Another “Original Series” alum to make an appearance was Walter Koenig, who played navigator and pilot Chekov. He appeared in Shatner’s first episode, “Fade In to Murder,” albeit in a smaller role than his captain. Instead of playing a villain, Koenig played a police sergeant who was getting fed up with the case and Columbo, who never really seemed to get along all that great with his more by-the-book fellow officers. He only gets one scene, but it’s a lot of fun.

Khan Noonien Singh is, arguably, the most influential villain in the entire “Star Trek” franchise, played to perfection by actor Ricardo Montalban. Montalban is one of the only people on the planet that can act as “big” as Shatner, so the two of them bouncing off of one another is pure joy. However, the energy is a bit different on the 1976 episode of “Columbo” called “A Matter of Honor,” which sees Montalban as a legendary bullfighter suspected of murder in Mexico. Montalban’s intensity works surprisingly well opposite Falk’s much more mellow performance, but there are some pretty rough stereotypes in the episode that make it a little tough to watch.

While she was only in one episode of “Star Trek: The Original Series,” “The Glass Cage,” Arlene Martel got a real hold on fans of the franchise as the original T’Pring, the betrothed of Spock. She appeared at least twice on “Columbo” (some stars would do uncredited background roles and she is among those believed to show up despite not being credited), first in the 1972 episode “The Greenhouse Jungle,” and then again in the 1973 episode “A Friend in Deed.” She’s a lot of fun in “Greenhouse Jungle,” where she plays the ditzy friend of a murdered man. Unfortunately, she has less to work with in “A Friend in Deed,” where she plays a salesperson at a jewelry store who helps Columbo solve a mystery with information about watch bands.

Another “Star Trek” movie vet, Laurence Luckinbill from “Star Trek V: The Final Frontier,” made his “Columbo” appearance in the 1978 episode “Make Me a Perfect Murder,” although he didn’t get to play a big-time baddie like Montalban. Instead, he played the episode’s murder victim, a high-ranking TV producer named Mark McAndrews who gets a new gig across the country but fails to name his replacement, Kay Freestone (Trish Van Devere), because they’re sleeping together. Instead of the job she rightfully earned, he gives her a new Mercedes, which ends with Kay shooting him dead and Columbo ending up on the case.

Luckinbill doesn’t get as much screen time as Montalban or some of the other big Columbo villains (which makes sense; the killers were the special guests of each episode), but he still gets a chance to show off his skills in playing a real jerk.

The “Star Trek” crossovers aren’t limited to actors from “The Original Series” and movies featuring the “Original Series” cast. In fact, Penny Johnson Jerald, who portrayed Captain Sisko’s love interest and freighter captain Kasidy Yates on “Star Trek: Deep Space Nine,” appears in one of the later “Columbo” TV movies, “Caution: Murder Can Be Hazardous to Your Health.” In the episode, she portrays Maxine Jarrett, the producer of a show called “Crime Alert.” It’s a small role but she’s one of the best parts of the episode, in which the host of “Crime Alert” murders a man blackmailing him because of his seedy past in the adult film industry. The episode stinks outside of the always magnificent Falk and an appearance by Columbo’s dog, Dog, but Jerald is great (as always). 

Actor Fionnula Flanagan didn’t play a major recurring character on “Star Trek,” but she did appear in three different “Trek” shows. She appeared as human geologist Juliana Tainer in the “Star Trek: The Next Generation” episode “Inheritance,” a Klaestron who had an affair with Curzon Dax in the “Star Trek: Deep Space Nine” episode “Dax,” and Vulcan diplomat V’lar in the “Star Trek: Enterprise” episode “Fallen Hero.” 

She also starred in the 1989 Columbo episode “Murder, A Self Portrait,” playing the ex-wife of a polyamorous artist (Patrick Bauchau) who finally grows tired of his machinations and unfortunately ends up as the episode’s murder victim. The barbs she and Bauchau share back and forth are quite fun, though it’s a shame that her screen time is cut short. 

Another actor who showed up repeatedly on “Star Trek” without playing the same character was Jon Lormer, who appeared in the “Original Series” episodes “The Cage,” “The Menagerie, Part 1,” “The Return of the Archons,” and “For the World is Hollow and I Have Touched the Sky.” He also appeared in the season 1 “Columbo” episode “Lady in Waiting” as a hearing officer who finds the entire hearing rather distasteful. (The episode follows an heiress who murders her brother when he won’t let her get married … it’s kind of a doozy!)

Before you make me a murder victim, “Columbo” purists, know that I am not comparing the short-lived spin-off series “Mrs. Columbo” to the greatness of the original show or counting it as a part of the “Columbo” canon. I would be remiss, however, to ignore the fact that Kate Mulgrew, who played Captain Janeway on “Star Trek: Voyager,” also starred as the titular character in the ill-fated “Mrs. Columbo” series. The show followed the young Mrs. Columbo, who was an investigative reporter solving crimes in a way rather differently than her detective husband. In an interview with /Film, Mulgrew revealed that she wished the show had gone on longer and that she really appreciated the character, because “she had a sort of her own curious eccentricity, her own odd approach, which I thought was quite novel.”

The show only ran for 13 episodes and would disappear in the shadow of its predecessor, but Mulgrew herself was a delight as the smart, curious journalist.

There is a ridiculous amount of “Star Trek” and “Columbo” crossover, so here is a detailed list (but not necessarily an exhaustive one — remember those uncredited roles!):

• Julie Newmar starred in the “TOS” episode “Friday’s Child” and the “Columbo” episode “Double Shock.”
• William Windom starred in the “TOS” episode “The Doomsday Machine” and the “Columbo” episode “Short Fuse.” 
• Joanne Lineville starred in the “TOS” episode “The Enterprise Incident” and the “Columbo” episode “Candidate for Crime.” 
• Antoinette Bower starred in the “TOS” episode “The Catspaw” and the “Columbo” episode “Negative Reaction.” 
• Sandra Smith Janice starred in the “TOS” episode “Turnabout Intruder” and the “Columbo” episode “The Greenhouse Jungle.” 
• John Fielder starred in the “TOS” episode “Wolf in the Fold” and the “Columbo” episode “Blueprint for Murder.”
• James Gregory starred in the “TOS” episode “Dagger of the Mind” and the “Columbo” episode “Short Fuse.” 
• Vic Tayback starred in the “TOS” episode “A Piece of the Action” and the “Columbo” episode “Suitable for Framing.” 
• Susan Howard starred in the “TOS” episode “Day of the Dove” and the “Columbo” episode “The Most Crucial Game.” 
• Brioni Farrell (sometimes known as Xenia Gratsos) starred as Tula in the “TOS” episode “Revenge of the Archons” and in the “Columbo” episode “A Case of Immunity.” 
• Robert Brown starred in the “TOS” episode “The Alternative Factor” and in the “Columbo” episode “Playback.” 
• Don Keefer starred in the “TOS” episode “Assignment: Earth” and in the “Columbo” episode “Death Lends a Hand.”
• Garry Walberg starred in the “TOS” episode “Balance of Terror” and in the “Columbo” episode “Lady in Waiting.”
• Arthur Batarides starred in the “TOS” episode “That Which Survives” and in the “Columbo” episode “Mind Over Mayhem.”
• Jason Wingreen starred in the “TOS” episode “The Empath” and in the “Columbo” episode “Short Fuse.” 
• Bill Zuckert starred in the “TOS” episode “Spectre of the Gun” and in the “Columbo” episodes “Negative Reaction,” “A Case of Immunity,” and “Columbo: Murder in Malibu.” 
• Byron Morrow starred in the “TOS” episodes “Amok Time” and “For the World is Hollow and I have Touched the Sky” and in the “Columbo” episode “A Friend in Deed.” 
• Davis Roberts starred in the “TOS” episode “The Empath” and in the “Columbo” episode “Publish or Perish.”
• Steven Marlo starred in the “TOS” episode “A Piece of the Action” and in the “Columbo” episode “Playback.” 
• Barbara Baldarin starred in the “TOS” episodes “Shore Leave,” “Balance of Terror,” and “Turnabout Intruder!” and in the “Columbo” episode “Death Lends a Hand.”
• Samantha Eggar starred in the “TNG” episode “Family” and in the “Columbo” episode “The Bye Bye Sky High I.Q. Murder Case.”
• Tricia O’Neil starred in the “TNG” episodes “Yesterday’s Enterprise” and “Suspicions,” the “DS9” episode “Defiant,” and in the “Columbo” episode “How to Dial a Murder.” 
• Tim O’Connor starred in the “TNG” episode “The Perfect Mate” and in the “Columbo” episodes “Double Shock” and “Old Fashioned Murder.” 
• Nehemiah Persoff starred in the “TNG” episode “The Most Toys” and in the “Columbo” episode “Now You See Him.” 
• Clive Revill starred in the “TNG” episode “Qpid” and in the “Columbo” episode “The Conspirators.” 
• Theodore Bikel starred in the “TNG” episode “Family” and in the “Columbo” episode “The Bye Bye Sky High I.Q. Murder.”
• Lou Wagner starred in the “TNG” episode “The Chain of Command Part 1” and in the “Columbo” episode “Mind over Mayhem.” 
• Robert Ellenstein starred in the “TNG” episode “Haven” and in “Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home” and in the “Columbo” episode “Any Old Port in a Storm.” 
• Marshall R. Teague starred in the “DS9” episode “Hippocratic Oath” and in the “Columbo” episode “Uneasy Lies the Crown.” 
• Kenneth Mars starred in the “DS9” episode “Shadowplay” and in the “Columbo” episode “The Bye Bye Sky High I.Q. Murder.” 
• Susan Gibney starred in the “TNG” episode “Booby Trap” and in the “Columbo” episode “Sex and the Married Detective.”
• Gregory Sierra starred in the “DS9” episode “Second Skin” and in the “Columbo” episode “Publish or Perish.”
• John Davis Chandler starred in the “DS9” episode “Honor Among Thieves” and in the “Columbo” episode “Publish or Perish.”
• Kenneth Tobey starred in the “DS9” episode “Shadowplay” and in the “Columbo” episode “A Case of Immunity.” 
• Richard Kiley starred in the “DS9” episode “Second Sight” and in the “Columbo” episode “A Friend in Deed.” 
• Ed Begley Jr. starred in the “Voyager” episodes “Future’s End” and “Future’s End: Part II” and in the “Columbo” episode “How to Dial a Murder.” 
• Michael Horton starred in the “Voyager” episode “Retrospect,” in “Star Trek: First Contact” and “Star Trek: Insurrection,” and in the “Columbo” episode “The Conspirators.”

The only uncredited but reported connection worth mentioning is that Majel Barrett, who was “Star Trek” creator Gene Roddenberry’s wife and starred in “TOS,” “TNG,” “DS9,” and even “The Animated Series,” was allegedly the voice of the hospital announcer in “A Stitch in Crime,” the episode with Nimoy. There are other crossovers as well, like Booker Bradshaw, who played Dr. M’Benga on “TOS,” writing the “Columbo” episode “Playback”! Is there any end to the connections between “Star Trek” and “Columbo?” That’s a mystery only our favorite shuffling detective could solve.