Lawrence Montaigne

Lawrence Montaigne (February 26, 1931 – March 17, 2017) was an American actor, writer, dancer, and stuntman.^[3][4] As an actor, he was known for his appearances on many 1960s television shows.^[3][4] He was particularly associated with his two roles on Star Trek—the Romulan Decius in "Balance of Terror" and the Vulcan Stonn in "Amok Time"—as well as his role as Haynes in The Great Escape.^[5][6]

Born in New York, but later raised in Rome, Italy, Montaigne spoke several languages—a skill he used to his advantage in securing roles in international productions.^[5] According to a posthumous remembrance published by StarTrek.com, he trained as a classical dancer and appeared on Broadway in Hazel Flagg and Shinbone Alley, the latter with Eartha Kitt. He later worked with the Hollywood Bowl Ballet Company and danced in films with performers including Gene Kelly, Donald O'Connor and Mitzi Gaynor.^[5]

He served in the U.S. Marine Corps^[1] and was only one platoon apart in the Parris Island boot camp from his future friend and co-star Steve McQueen.^[7] StarTrek.com also reported that Montaigne studied fencing in both the United States and Europe, which helped him find stunt work on Scaramouche, The Three Musketeers, Julius Caesar, and a run of swashbuckling pictures for producer Sam Katzman at Columbia.^[5] After leaving the Marines, he studied drama at The Dramatic Workshop in New York.^[5]

He appeared in the role of Dr. Chauncy Hartlund in the 1965 Perry Mason episode, "The Case of the Carefree Coronary". In 1966, Montaigne portrayed the Romulan Decius in the Star Trek episode "Balance of Terror".^[8][9] In 1967, he portrayed Soldado, the rogue Apache chief, in an episode of Hondo. He had also been considered for the role of Mr. Spock, as Leonard Nimoy was being considered for a role on Mission Impossible.^[2][9] A year later, he portrayed the Vulcan Stonn, the paramour of Spock's intended bride T'Pring, in the episode "Amok Time"—a role that he reprised in 2006 in the unofficial mini-series Star Trek: Of Gods and Men.^[5][9]

Additionally, he guest-starred on episodes of Batman, Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea, The Man From U.N.C.L.E., Blue Light, Mission: Impossible, The Time Tunnel, The Invaders, Perry Mason, McCloud, Hogan's Heroes, Bonanza and The Feather and Father Gang.^[10]

His motion picture appearances include roles in The Great Escape (1963), Captain Sindbad (1963), Tobruk (1967), The Power (1968), The Psycho Lover (1970), Escape to Witch Mountain (1975), Framed (1975), Young Lady Chatterley (1977), Deadly Blessing (1981) and Dakota (1988).^{[6][11][12][13][14]} During the 1980s, Montaigne taught film at North Texas State University.^[1]

UNT's obituary for Montaigne noted that he worked as an associate professor of film there in the 1980s, wrote for Walt Disney Productions, and later published his autobiography, A Vulcan Odyssey.^[1] For some years, Montaigne lived in Las Vegas, Nevada, and translated medical texts for a publishing firm. StarTrek.com later specified that he worked as a proofreader doing medical translations for Worldwide Translations, and also taught drama part-time at UNLV, near his home in Henderson.^[5] In 2007, Montaigne voiced a guest-starring role in the pilot episode of the web series Star Trek: The Continuing Mission.^[15]

Montaigne died on March 17, 2017, aged 86.^[16][4]

• Lawrence Montaigne at IMDb
• Lawrence Montaigne at the TCM Movie Database
• Montaigne's Web Lawrence Montaigne's Personal Website (basically a dead link)