Michael Ansara, Star Trek's Klingon 'Kang,' dies at 91 (video)

Michael Ansara, who played Klingon warrior Kang on the original “Star Trek” and reprised the role on later series, has died, according to the Hollywood Reporter. He was 91.

Ansara died Wednesday, July 31 at his Calabasas home after a long illness, his former publicist Michael B. Druxman told the Reporter.

The character Kang appeared on “Star Trek,” as well as subsequent series “Deep Space Nine” and “Voyager,” played by Ansara throughout. Kang first appeared as a commander of a Klingon group that comes into conflict with William Shatner’s Captain Kirk and the rest of the crew of the USS Enterprise.

Ansara appeared on numerous other TV shows, including “Broken Arrow,” “The Untouchables,” “Perry Mason,” “Lost In Space,” “Hawaii 5–0,” “Murder She Wrote,” “The Outer Limits” and more.

He even did voice work on the Batman animated series, playing Mr. Freeze.

On film, he appeared in “Julius Caesar,” “Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea,” “The Greatest Story Ever Told,” “Guns of the Magnificent Seven” and others.

Ansara was born in Syria to American parents, coming to the United States with his parents when he was 2 years old. He moved to California as a teenager and attended Los Angeles City College, studying to become a doctor. He studied acting at the Pasadena Playhouse alongside Aaron Spelling and Charles Bronson, and went on to appear on the stage and in film and television.

Ansara was married to “I Dream of Jeannie” star Barbara Eden from 1958 until 1974. Their son Matthew died in 2001 of a heroin overdose when he was 35 years old.

A private service is scheduled for Ansara, according to the Reporter. In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to Van Nuys’ St. Michael’s Antiochian Orthodox Church in Van Nuys.