William Morgan Sheppard (24 August 1932 – 6 January 2019), also credited by his full name or as Morgan Sheppard, was an English actor who appeared in over 100 films and television programmes, in a career that spanned over 50 years.

Early life and stage career

Sheppard served in the

British Merchant Navy The British Merchant Navy is the collective name given to British civilian ships and their associated crews, including officers and ratings. In the UK, it is simply referred to as the Merchant Navy or MN. Merchant Navy vessels fly the Red Ensi ...

during the

Korean War The Korean War (25 June 1950 – 27 July 1953) was an armed conflict on the Korean Peninsula fought between North Korea (Democratic People's Republic of Korea; DPRK) and South Korea (Republic of Korea; ROK) and their allies. North Korea was s ...

.Exclusive Interview With William Morgan Sheppard

WhatCulture WhatCulture Ltd. is a British online entertainment news website and magazine which was launched in 2010. The site offers news in the field of professional wrestling, television, films, music, video games, and board games. History Originally star ...

. Retrieved July 31, 2023. He graduated from the

Royal Academy of Dramatic Art The Royal Academy of Dramatic Art, also known by its abbreviation RADA (), is a drama school in London, England, which provides vocational conservatoire training for theatre, film, television, and radio. It is based in Bloomsbury, Central London ...

in 1958, before spending 12 years as an associate artist with the

Royal Shakespeare Company The Royal Shakespeare Company (RSC) is a major British theatre company, based in Stratford-upon-Avon, Warwickshire, England. The company employs over 1,000 staff and opens around 20 productions a year. The RSC plays regularly in London, Stratf ...

. He appeared on Broadway in ''

Marat/Sade ''The Persecution and Assassination of Jean-Paul Marat as Performed by the Inmates of the Asylum of Charenton Under the Direction of the Marquis de Sade'' (), usually shortened to ''Marat/Sade'' (), is a 1963 play by Peter Weiss. The work was firs ...

'' (1966) and in ''

Sherlock Holmes Sherlock Holmes () is a Detective fiction, fictional detective created by British author Arthur Conan Doyle. Referring to himself as a "Private investigator, consulting detective" in his stories, Holmes is known for his proficiency with obser ...

'' (1975). He won the Los Angeles Drama Critics Circle Award for ''

The Homecoming ''The Homecoming'' is a two-act play written in 1964 and published in 1965 by Harold Pinter. Its premières in London (1965) and New York (1967) were both directed by Sir Peter Hall. The original Broadway production won the 1967 Tony Award ...

'' in 1995.

Film and television career

Sheppard appeared in several episodes of different series of ''

Star Trek ''Star Trek'' is an American science fiction media franchise created by Gene Roddenberry, which began with the Star Trek: The Original Series, series of the same name and became a worldwide Popular culture, pop-culture Cultural influence of ...

'', notably '' The Next Generation''s " The Schizoid Man" and ''

Voyager Voyager may refer to: Computing and communications * LG Voyager, a mobile phone model manufactured by LG Electronics * NCR Voyager, a computer platform produced by NCR Corporation * Voyager (computer worm), a computer worm affecting Oracle ...

''s "

Bliss BLISS is a system programming language developed at Carnegie Mellon University (CMU) by W. A. Wulf, D. B. Russell, and A. N. Habermann around 1970. It was perhaps the best known system language until C debuted a few years later. Since then, C ...

". In the feature film '' Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country'', his role was the warden of a Klingon gulag and in the 2009 reboot ''

'', he played a member of the Vulcan High Council, but was uncredited. Outside of ''Star Trek'', he is best known for his role as Blank Reg on ''

Max Headroom Max Headroom is a fictional character played by actor Matt Frewer. Advertised as "the first computer-generated TV presenter", Max was known for his biting commentary on a variety of topical issues, arrogant wit, stuttering, and pitch-shifting ...

'' and his role as the Confederate general

Isaac R. Trimble Isaac Ridgeway Trimble (May 15, 1802 – January 2, 1888) was a United States Army officer, a civil engineer, a prominent railroad construction superintendent and executive, and a Confederate general in the American Civil War. He was born in Virg ...

in the films '' Gettysburg'' and '' Gods and Generals''. Sheppard appeared in two roles on the science-fiction series ''

Babylon 5 ''Babylon 5'' is an American space opera television series created by writer and producer J. Michael Straczynski, under the Babylonian Productions label, in association with Straczynski's Synthetic Worlds Ltd. and Warner Bros. Domestic Tel ...

'', in the episode titled "Soul Hunter", playing the eponymous character and also played Narn war leader G'Sten, an uncle of main character G'Kar, in "The Long Twilight Struggle". He was also a runner-up for the role of Ambassador

G'Kar G'Kar ( ) is a fictional character in ''Babylon 5'' played by Andreas Katsulas. He is a Narn and initially appears as a villainous diplomat opposite Londo Mollari, being constantly engaged in insidious, if petty, and often comical schemes. He ...

on the series, though the role eventually went to

Andreas Katsulas Andrew Katsulas (May 18, 1946February 13, 2006), known professionally as Andreas Katsulas, was an American film and television actor, most recognized for portrayals of Narn Ambassador G'Kar on the American science fiction television series ''Bab ...

. Sheppard was one of several ''Star Trek'' actors who voiced characters on the animated series '' Gargoyles'', wherein he played the father of

Jonathan Frakes Jonathan Scott Frakes (born August 19, 1952) is an American actor and director. He is best known for his portrayal of William Riker in the television series ''Star Trek: The Next Generation'' and subsequent films and series. He has also hosted th ...

' character David Xanatos and the Norse god

Odin Odin (; from ) is a widely revered god in Norse mythology and Germanic paganism. Most surviving information on Odin comes from Norse mythology, but he figures prominently in the recorded history of Northern Europe. This includes the Roman Em ...

. Sheppard and his son,

Mark Sheppard Mark Andreas Sheppard is an English actor and musician. Sheppard is known for playing the demon/King of Hell Crowley on ''Supernatural'' and for his recurring roles as lawyer Romo Lampkin on the ''Battlestar Galactica'' reboot, Interpol inves ...

, acted together in a few productions. Sheppard appeared in the television series ''

NCIS NCIS or N.C.I.S. may refer to: Law enforcement * National Criminal Intelligence Service, the predecessor to the Serious Organised Crime Agency of the United Kingdom * Naval Criminal Investigative Service, a United States law enforcement and intelli ...

'', in the season six episode "Broken Bird", where he played the older version of a man named Marcin Jerek, while his son played the younger version. He appeared in the opening episode of series six of ''

Doctor Who ''Doctor Who'' is a British science fiction television series broadcast by the BBC since 1963. The series, created by Sydney Newman, C. E. Webber and Donald Wilson (writer and producer), Donald Wilson, depicts the adventures of an extraterre ...

'', "

The Impossible Astronaut "The Impossible Astronaut" is the first episode of the sixth series of the British science fiction television series ''Doctor Who''. The episode was written by showrunner Steven Moffat and directed by Toby Haynes. It was first broadcast on 23 ...

", playing the character Canton Everett Delaware III. He portrayed an older version of Delaware, while his son portrayed the younger version in the same episode. He and his son are among the few actors who have appeared in both the ''Star Trek'' and ''Doctor Who'' franchises. In December 2009, Sheppard voiced the part of Santa in Disney's Christmas special '' Prep & Landing''. Following that, he returned as the voice of Santa in the sequels, '' Prep & Landing: Operation: Secret Santa'' and '' Prep & Landing: Naughty vs. Nice''. On 4 December 2010, Sheppard appeared on

Hallmark Channel Original Films A hallmark is an official mark or series of marks struck on items made of metal, mostly to certify the content of noble metals—such as platinum, gold, silver and in some nations, palladium. In a more general sense, the term ''hallmark'' is used ...

''Farewell Mr. Kringle'' as Kris Kringle.

Video game career

Sheppard voiced several characters in video games. He narrated the introductions and mission briefings for the first four installments of the ''

Medal of Honor The Medal of Honor (MOH) is the United States Armed Forces' highest Awards and decorations of the United States Armed Forces, military decoration and is awarded to recognize American United States Army, soldiers, United States Navy, sailors, Un ...

'' video-game series. He was cast in the 1996 adventure game ''

Zork Nemesis ''Zork Nemesis: The Forbidden Lands'' is a graphic adventure game, developed by Zombie Studios, Zombie LLC, published by Activision, and released in 1996 for Windows 95, MS-DOS, and Macintosh. It is the eleventh game in the ''Zork'' series, and ...

'', playing the live-action role of Bishop Francois Malveaux, one of the four alchemists central to the plot of the game. In 2000, he voiced the character Ignatius Cheese in the game ''

Escape from Monkey Island ''Escape from Monkey Island'' is an adventure game developed and released by LucasArts in 2000. It is the fourth game in the '' Monkey Island'' series, and the sequel to the 1997 videogame '' The Curse of Monkey Island''. It is the first game in ...

''. Sheppard voiced over for the character

John Adams John Adams (October 30, 1735 – July 4, 1826) was a Founding Fathers of the United States, Founding Father and the second president of the United States from 1797 to 1801. Before Presidency of John Adams, his presidency, he was a leader of ...

in the

Wii The Wii ( ) is a home video game console developed and marketed by Nintendo. It was released on November 19, 2006, in North America, and in December 2006 for most other regions of the world. It is Nintendo's fifth major home game console, f ...

game ''

The Conduit ''The Conduit'' is a first-person shooter video game developed by High Voltage Software for the Wii console and Android (operating system), Android. ''The Conduit'' was revealed on April 17, 2008, and on October 29, 2008, the developer announced ...

''. He provided the voice for the character Lucky in the 2002

Xbox (console) The Xbox is a home video game console manufactured by Microsoft that is the first installment in the Xbox series of video game consoles. It was released as Microsoft's first foray into the gaming console market on November 15, 2001, in North ...

game '' Whacked!''. On 4 August 2010, Sheppard was announced as the voice actor for the video game ''

Civilization V ''Sid Meier's Civilization V'' is a 4X turn-based strategy video game developed by Firaxis Games and published by 2K (company), 2K. It is the sequel to Civilization IV, ''Civilization IV'', and was released for Microsoft Windows, Windows in Sep ...

''. and provided the voice overs for loading screens, victory screens, built wonders, and newly researched technologies.

Personal life

Sheppard and his wife Regina are the parents of actor

. Sheppard died on 6 January 2019, in

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

, California, aged 86.

Filmography

Film

Television

Video games

References

External links

*
W. Morgan Sheppard
(Aveleyman) {{DEFAULTSORT:Sheppard, W. Morgan 1932 births 2019 deaths 20th-century English male actors 21st-century English male actors Alumni of the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art British Merchant Navy personnel English male film actors English male stage actors English male television actors English male voice actors English people of Irish descent Male actors from London Military personnel from London Royal Shakespeare Company members