John de Lancie

John Sherwood de Lancie, Jr. (born March 20, 1948) is an American actor, director, producer, writer, and comedian, best known for his role as Q in various ''Star Trek'' series (1987–present); beginning with '' Star Trek: The Next Generation'' and leading right up to the second season of '' Star Trek: Picard'' in 2022.

His other television series roles include Eugene Bradford in ''Days of Our Lives'' (1982–1986; 1989–1990), Frank Simmons in ''Stargate SG-1'' (2001–2002), Donald Margolis in ''Breaking Bad'' (2009–2010), Agent Allen Shapiro in ''Torchwood'' (2011), as well as the voice of Discord in '' My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic'' (2011–2019).

De Lancie has become an outspoken secular activist and was a featured speaker at the 2016 Reason Rally and at CSICon 2019.

Early life and education

De Lancie was born John Sherwood de Lancie, Jr. in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania on March 20, 1948, one of two children born to John de Lancie, Sr. (1921–2002), principal oboist of the Philadelphia Orchestra from 1954 to 1977, and Andrea de Lancie. He has a sister named Christina.

He was diagnosed with dyslexia as a child and, as such, struggled with reading difficulties throughout his school years. He did not learn to read until he was 12. One of his teachers recommended that his parents encourage him to consider a career as an actor. He began to act around the age of 14, performing in a high school production of William Shakespeare's ''Henry V''. De Lancie went on to study acting at Kent State University (he was in attendance during the Kent State shootings on May 4, 1970) and won a scholarship at Juilliard. He performed in numerous stage productions, participating at such engagements as the American Shakespeare Festival and the Mark Taper Forum, as well as establishing a successful career in film and television.

Acting career

Film and TV career (1987–present)

''Star Trek: The Next Generation''

De Lancie portrayed Q in '' Star Trek: The Next Generation'' (1987–1994), and in episodes of several subsequent series taking place during that era. He is notable for his chaotic, mischievous personality. He is one of the few characters appearing in multiple series of the franchise: Eight episodes of '' Star Trek: The Next Generation'' ("Encounter at Farpoint", " Hide and Q", " Q Who", " Deja Q", "Qpid", "True Q", "Tapestry", " All Good Things..."), one episode of ''Star Trek: Deep Space Nine'' ("Q-Less"), three episodes of '' Star Trek: Voyager'' ("Death Wish," "The Q and the Grey," "Q2"), and one episode of ''Star Trek: Lower Decks'' ("Veritas"). De Lancie's son Keegan de Lancie appeared with his father as Q Junior in one episode of ''Star Trek: Voyager'' ("Q2").

Initially, de Lancie was too busy to audition for the part of Q, but Gene Roddenberry (whom he did not know) arranged a second opportunity. De Lancie recognized that even though ''Star Trek'' was only a small part of his career, it opened doors for him. In a 2012 interview, de Lancie stated that he recalled his original audition for Q, after which Roddenberry approached him, touched him on the shoulder, and said, "You make my writing sound better than it is."

In April 2021, it was announced that de Lancie would reprise his role of Q in the second season of '' Star Trek: Picard''.

Other film and television

In addition to his role in ''Star Trek'', de Lancie appeared in many other television series. In 1982, he started his career as a popular actor on ''Days of Our Lives'' as Eugene Bradford.
He also co-starred in Michael Piller's creation ''Legend'' and had recurring roles in ''Stargate SG-1'' as an NID agent. He guest-starred in multiple television series, including ''Breaking Bad'' as Donald Margolis, ''The West Wing'', ''Charmed'', '' Andromeda'', ''The Unit'', ''MacGyver'', '' Law & Order: LA'', '' Torchwood: Miracle Day'', ''Touched by an Angel'', ''Time Trax'', the 1980s revival of '' Mission: Impossible'', and ''Special Unit 2''.

His film credits include '' The Hand that Rocks the Cradle'', ''Get Smart, Again!'', ''The Fisher King'', '' Bad Influence'', ''The Onion Field'', '' Taking Care of Business'', ''Fearless'', ''Arcade'', '' Multiplicity'', ''Woman on Top'', '' Good Advice'', ''Pathology'', '' Evolver'', '' Reign Over Me'', '' My Apocalypse'', '' Crank: High Voltage'', and ''You Lucky Dog''.

De Lancie was a celebrity spokesman for Compaq computers. His son Keegan also appeared in commercials for Dell computers.

Video games

De Lancie voiced Antonio Malochio in '' Interstate '76'', Trias in '' Planescape: Torment'', Dr. Death in ''Outlaws'', William Miles in '' Assassin's Creed: Revelations'' and ''Assassin's Creed III'', Fitz Quadwrangle in '' Quantum Conundrum'', and Q in both the ''Star Trek: The Next Generation'' pinball game and the mobile game '' Star Trek Timelines'', and portrayed Q in '' Star Trek: Borg''. He further voiced the human emperor in '' Master of Orion: Conquer the Stars''. He also voiced Alarak in '' StarCraft 2: Legacy of the Void'' and reprised the role for ''Heroes of the Storm''. More recently, he voiced Geist, the leader of the Templars in the '' XCOM 2'' expansion ''War of the Chosen''. He voiced the narrator wizard of Popup Dungeon.

Stage

De Lancie is a former member of the American Shakespeare Festival, the Seattle Repertory Company, South Coast Repertory, the Mark Taper Forum, and the Old Globe (where he performed Arthur Miller's '' Resurrection Blues''). He performed and directed for Los Angeles Theater Works, the producing arm of KCRW-FM and National Public Radio, where the series ''The Play's the Thing'' originated.

De Lancie co-hosted and appeared in '' Star Trek: The Music'', a touring company, with fellow actor Robert Picardo, who portrayed the Doctor in '' Star Trek: Voyager''. De Lancie and Picardo narrate around the orchestral performance, explaining the history of the music in ''Star Trek''. He performed Pierre Curie in Alan Alda's play ''Radiance: The Passion of Marie Curie'' in 2001 at the Geffen Theater in Los Angeles. De Lancie hosted the children's concerts at Walt Disney Concert Hall during the 2003–04 season; in 2005, he hosted the children's series of the Los Angeles Philharmonic.

Voice acting

Known for his distinctive speaking style, de Lancie lent his voice to a number of projects. In '' My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic'', he voiced Discord, a recurring character. Discord was inspired by Q as an omnipotent being who embodies mischief and chaos, but is genuinely good-hearted and is occasionally helpful to the heroes of the show; another connection to Q is that Discord often uses fewer contractions in his vocabulary. Discord is best described as an anti-hero, also similar to Q. Initially, Lauren Faust wanted to cast someone who could impersonate de Lancie, but Hasbro suggested casting de Lancie himself. Ironically, de Lancie has stated in an interview that, in preparation for his role as Discord, he did not draw from his past experience as Q. De Lancie mentioned during a 2013 convention panel that his voice recordings of Discord are slightly sped up and lose their deep bass sound. Nevertheless, fans still praised de Lancie for his performance. According to Jim Miller in ''The Art of Equestria'', de Lancie's sessions are always done by phone, but his first session as Discord was videotaped.

His other animated television roles included '' The Angry Beavers'', ''Extreme Ghostbusters'', ''Invader Zim'', ''Duck Dodgers'', ''Max Steel'', ''Duckman'', '' Young Justice'', and ''DC Super Hero Girls'' as Mr. Freeze.

Writing

De Lancie co-wrote the ''Star Trek'' novel ''I, Q'' with Peter David, as well as co-writing the novel ''Soldier of Light'' (with Tom Cool). He wrote the DC comic book story ''The Gift''. In 1996, along with Leonard Nimoy and writer-producer Nat Segaloff, de Lancie formed and recorded '' Alien Voices'', a collection of audio dramas based on classic science fiction and fantasy stories, such as ''The Time Machine'' and '' The Lost World''.

Music

De Lancie has performed as narrator with a number of major orchestras including the New York Philharmonic, the Los Angeles Philharmonic, the Philadelphia Orchestra, the Sydney Symphony Orchestra, the National Symphony Orchestra, the Montreal Symphony Orchestra and Symphony Nova Scotia. He provided the narration for the world premiere of Lorenzo Palomo's '' The Sneetches and Other Stories'' (based on the book by Dr. Seuss

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