Wayne Grace(1940-2022)

Robert Wayne Grace was an American actor of prolific output, on screen from 1971. His career began with drama classes at Wayne State University and San Francisco State College. He then studied under Sanford Meisner in New York and first acted off-Broadway before relocating to the West Coast. After several appearances on the San Francisco stage, he eventually moved to L.A. to commence a four-decade long tenure in films and on TV. Balding and latterly bearded, Grace was first glimpsed on screen as a bartender in Robert Altman's moodily atmospheric western McCabe & Mrs. Miller (1971). Thereafter, he was most often cast in small supporting roles as lawmen, army officers or other authority figures with a certain amount of gravitas. His notable appearances have included Sheriff James Hamilton in the Humbug (1995) episode and General Ulysses S. Grant in The Lazarus Man (1996). During the later phase of Grace's screen career, he was much associated with the Star Trek franchise, having a predilection for playing Klingon characters (Governor Torak in an episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation (1987) and Fleet Admiral Krell in Star Trek: Enterprise (2001)), as well as providing Klingon voices for several video games, including Star Trek: Starfleet Command (1999) and Star Trek: Klingon Academy (2000). He also essayed a Cardassian Legate in the Wrongs Darker than Death or Night (1998) episode, his costume subsequently being sold at e-bay. From the late 90's until his retirement in 2011, Grace focused increasingly on voicing video game characters.