Star Trek

Avery in 2002

Klingon forehead ridges will do it for anyone—even James Avery, best known as “Uncle Phil” Banks from Will Smith’s original The Fresh Prince of Bel-Aire series, when he appeared as General K’Vagh for “Affliction”/”Divergence” on Enterprise in 2005.

Ironically, Avery’s appearance in that two-parter came at the end of the modern era of televised Star Trek—a bookend to the era that began in 1987 with Avery being a runner-up to Michael Dorn to play Worf for TNG! With a host of film and TV guest credits, the 1948 native of Atlantic City, N.J., also appeared as tunnel dweller Winslow on CBS’ Beauty and the Beast, voiced Shredder in the original Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles cartoons, and appeared as Kelso’s police academy trainer near the end of That ’70s Show.