From the L.A. Times:
'Star Trek' Bit Players Cling On
Even those with fleeting roles can live long and prosper in the world of Trekkie conventions, hawking autographs at $20 a pop.
By Valerie Reitman, Times Staff Writer
Click on the Above Link for the full article.
For three days, the actor sat at a table in a windowless wing of the Pasadena Center while hundreds of devotees milled nearby.
He posed for snapshots. He answered the same questions over and over. He doled out trading cards bearing his mug. For $20, he brought out a gold-ink pen and autographed glossy photos of himself.
Michael Dante may not be on any Hollywood A-list, but on this weekend in Pasadena, he was intergalactic. Dante was capitalizing on his appearance in a single episode of the original Star Trek series. It aired Dec. 1, 1967.
"But it was a very popular episode," Dante insisted, speaking in the same wooden tone he used as Maab, lead villain on the planet Capella IV. "It had action. It had comedy. It had drama."
More than three decades after the original "Star Trek" series ended in 1969, after 79 episodes over three seasons, Dante and other actors have discovered that they can milk even the most ephemeral appearances on the show by appearing at extreme fan conventions that can draw thousands of enthusiasts.
Bit players on other shows, such as "Xena: Warrior Princess," are getting into the act too. Even the mute and masked — such as the orcs and elves in the "Lord of the Rings" trilogy, or the six actors underneath Jason's hockey mask in the "Friday the 13th" flicks — are finding a ready market for their John Hancocks at science-fiction, comedy, western or horror-movie fan conferences worldwide.
"These people make careers out of it," said Monica Gillen, a spokesman for Glendale-based Creation Entertainment Inc., which rakes in about $6 million from the three dozen such fan conferences it runs annually.
But the original "Star Trek" offers the best enterprise for convention organizers and actors, some of whom find their "Star Trek" roles far eclipse other achievements.
L.A. Times: 'Star Trek' Bit Players Cling On
