As many of the child stars of yesteryear can tell you, it's no easy feat to grow up on television. Yet somehow, Cirroc Lofton managed to do so with remarkable grace, molding resident Deep Space Nine kid Jake Sisko into a believably complex character.

Jake's early storylines were often comedic, pairing him with Ferengi pal Nog (Aron Eisenberg). The duo provided an amusing counterpoint to the more serious goings-on at the station — their schemes and pranks added a nice dose of comic relief to DS9's dark setting. Over the years, Jake grew up and was forced to confront the realities of adulthood. He decided that Starfleet wasn't for him and became a writer. He experienced the horrors of war firsthand (most memorably in "...Nor the Battle to the Strong") and maintained his friendship with Nog, even as both of them changed and matured. Through it all, Lofton made Jake believable — he never seemed like a cookie-cutter TV teenager.

Prior to his gig on DS9, Lofton appeared extensively in commercials and had a part in the movie "Beethoven." After the series wrapped up its run, he starred in the Showtime series The Hoop Life and has guested on the shows Soul Food, 7th Heaven, Invasion and CSI: Miami.

More recently he's been seen on the festival circuit as a supporting player in "I'm Through with White Girls (The Inevitable Undoing of Jay Brooks)" starring Anthony Montgomery in the title role. That indy film has been picking up a lot of awards (related story) and should be in theaters before long. Lofton is also a player in the highly anticipated independent production "Star Trek: Of Gods and Men," where he donned pointed ears to play a young Vulcan — unlike many of the cast members who reprised their original Trek roles (related story). Post-production on the project has fallen way behind, and we're still waiting on word regarding its Part-1 rollout on the web. Another movie with Cirroc in the cast to watch out for soon is a drama called "Ball Don't Lie."

Lofton also once revealed that, like his character, he has a strong interest in writing. "I guess you can say my real-life character is much like the fictional Jake Sisko," he said at a convention appearance. "On the set they always saw me writing, putting that time in to get whatever I was working on done, so I know they've seen that and taken different character attributes from my real-life personality and kind of 'contributed' that to Jake Sisko. So I did have a tailored character as the seasons went on." Lofton is currently trying his hand at poetry, music lyrics and scripts for film and television.

If you'll be in Las Vegas this weekend for the big Creation convention there, look for Cirroc on the main stage on Saturday, tentatively at 4:10 p.m., alongside his on-screen father Avery Brooks and stepmother Penny Johnson.

STARTREK.COM wishes Cirroc Lofton a very Happy Birthday and many thanks for all of his work over the years.

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