Yahoo News Where are the stars of Star Trek: TNG now?
It might be tough to hear, but it's been three decades since Star Trek soared back onto our screens. 30 years ago today (September 28), The Next Generation introduced Gene Roddenberry's groundbreaking sci-fi franchise to a whole new... well, generation.
But where are the classic cast of Star Trek: TNG now? Brew up a drink (Tea. Earl Grey. Hot.) and Engage as we catch up with the crew of the USS Enterprise (NCC-1701-D).
Patrick Stewart (Captain Jean-Luc Picard)
With his background in theatre and Brit TV classics like I, Claudius, Patrick Stewart was never going to struggle for work when his Trekking days were over. He has continued to tread the boards as Macbeth and King Claudius, while also taking classics to the screen in sizzling TV adaptations. He also voices Avery Bullock on American Dad and several roles on Family Guy and still has time to play Professor Charles Xavier in the X-Men movies, opposite bessie mate Ian McKellen.
He's also the coolest man in the world.
Happy Halloween. pic.twitter.com/ugLBMzAeNF
- Patrick Stewart (@SirPatStew) October 31, 2013
Jonathan Frakes (Commander William Riker)
As he continued to play Riker, Jonathan Frakes slipped into the directing chair to make First Contact in 1996 (and the not-quite-as-good Insurrection a couple of years later), before directing the Thunderbirds big-screen movie in 2004.
More recently, Frakes has starred or directed episodes of a host of US TV shows, including Criminal Minds, NCIS: Los Angeles, Falling Skies, Agents of SHIELD and Switched at Birth.
LeVar Burton (Geordi La Forge)
As well as guest spots on various TV shows, LeVar Burton had a voice gig as Doc Greene in Transformers: Rescue Bots and Perception's professor of cultural anthropology Paul Haley. He is also known to many as the host of kids series Reading Rainbow, resurrected as an app in 2012.
The show was thrust back into the public consciousness in May this year when Burton set up a Kickstarter for its revival. It raised over $5 million in days, making it the sixth-highest amount raised in the site's history.
Trek lover Seth MacFarlane donated an extra million dollars for good measure.
Originally cast as Deanna Troi, she had her role swapped with Marina Sirtis (below) and became the short-lived but much loved Tasha Yar. Killed off after 22 episodes, she returned due to some timey-wimey fun, and went on to produce and narrate 1997's Trekkies doc and its 2003 follow-up.
As well as stage work, you may well recognise Crosby as Deb in Showtime's classy Ray Donovan and – of course – as Mary in AMC's The Walking Dead.
One of the few TNG stars to pick up a regular role in follow-up Deep Space Nine, Dorn is well-known for his broad vocal range. As well as a raft of Trek video games featuring his booming bass tones, you'll hear him on the Saints Row and World of Warcraft titles.
Not too long ago, he proposed the return of Worf in a new Star Trek miniseries. "I love the character and I think he's a character that hasn't been fully developed and hasn't been fully realized," he explained. "Interestingly enough it has gotten traction." Let's hope Worf is not denied once more!
Gates McFadden (Doctor Beverly Crusher)
Despite being written out of the show in favour of Dr Katherine Pulaski (Diana Muldaur), McFadden made her triumphant return for the third season.
When Trek was done, McFadden had a sprinkling of TV, movie and theatre roles. She has also helped bring on The Next Generation of acting talent as an acting teacher at several universities, and is now the co-artistic director of the Ensemble Studio Theatre of Los Angeles, which aims to create "an environment that encourages the initiation, exercise, and practice of artistic imagination and expression".
The London-born Marina Sirtis was always a fan favourite as half-Betazoid Counselor Deanna Troi. After Trek, she enjoyed TV roles on both sides of the Atlantic, including a famous guest spot on Casualty in 2001 and Holby City seven years later.
She has voiced Mass Effect video game character Matriarch Benezia and more recently has played Director of Mossad Orli Elbaz on CBS's NCIS. Heartbreakingly, she is also fan of Tottenham Hotspur and has a Spurs tattoo on her shoulder. The glee she takes in poor Arsenal results shows a startling lack of empathy.
Spiner has played small-but-key roles in a host of films since he put away his android make-up, including an especially memorable turn as Conan O'Brien in South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut.
His genuinely hilarious Fresh Hell webseries poked fun at himself putting his career back on track post-Trek. A glance at his IMDB page shows how Brent has been trusted as an on-screen doctor many times over, and he very recently played a therapist in Ray Donovan, where of course his former TNG castmate Denise Crosby made a splash.
He also returned to Star Trek to play Dr Arik Soong, an ancestor of Data's creator, in Enterprise, and his other high-profile role of Dr Okun in Independence Day: Resurgence.
Wil Wheaton has 2.71 MILLION followers on Twitter, and is today as well known for his ever-sharp chat about gaming, politics, the web, blogging and the media as he is for playing the adorable/infuriating Wesley Crusher.
He continues to act in movies and especially on TV, famously as a fictionalised version of himself in The Big Bang Theory. Wheaton also hosted his very own weekly topical comedy show The Wil Wheaton project on SyFy.
You don't need to ask where Colm Meany has been. As well as featuring in Deep Space Nine, Meany has been an ever-present on our cinema screen. He's been everyone from Don Revie in The Damned United to Gene in Layer Cake.
More recently, he starred opposite Steve Coogan in Alan Partridge: Alpha Papa. The only man in our TNG batch without an active Twitter profile, Meany was busy till 2016 playing First Transcontinental Railroad investor Thomas 'Doc' Durant in AMC's Hell on Wheels, and last year was a regular in the short-lived Shakespeare biopic series Will.
The enigmatic Q had a habit of popping up when you least expected it, including in episodes of DS9 and Voyager. John de Lancie has a similar habit, with guest spots in everything from The West Wing and Law & Order: LA to Charmed.
He kept his sci-fi hand in with spots in Stargate SG-1 and Torchwood: Miracle Day, but his most impressive role in recent years was Donald Margolis in Breaking Bad, the father of Jesse Pinkman's ill-fated girlfriend/landlady Jane. He more recently guest starred on The Mentalist.
A superstar before Star Trek, Whoopi has continued to star in films - as characters or often just as herself. Many will also know her as the face of ABC's The View, one of the most successful daytime talkshows in America, where she has moderated the panel for the last eight seasons.
She also features in the latest Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles movie as Bernadette Thompson, a female version of April O'Neil's boss Burne Thompson.
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