Twelve days before Abraham Lincoln's birthday, the man who played the 16th president of the United States in Star Trek has died. Lee Bergere was 88 when he passed away of natural causes on Wednesday, January 31, at a nursing facility in New Hampshire, the state he called home for more than a decade.

Bergere had the singular honor of portraying a personal hero of Gene Roddenberry's, and thus of Star Trek's main character James T. Kirk, in "The Savage Curtain" — which was co-written by Roddenberry himself. (Roddenberry's merchandising outlet, Lincoln Enterprises, was evidence of that hero worship.) As Allan Asherman in "The Star Trek Compendium" noted, Bergere was "a warm and intimate Lincoln" who treated Kirk almost like a son.

And that role in the third-to-last episode of the Original Series elicited a fan following that lasted 38 years. "He still gets many, many fan letters about the show. It's incredible," said his daughter Mimi Bergere, according to the Associated Press.

But the veteran character actor had a 60-year career that included appearances in more than 200 television shows. He was "Joseph Aynders" on Dynasty with Joan Collins, and also had a recurring role on Falcon Crest with Robert Foxworth. Prior to Star Trek he did an episode of The Man from U.N.C.L.E. with Jill Ireland, and also had roles in Alcoa Presents: One Step Beyond, My Favorite Martian, The Munsters, The Addams Family, Get Smart, Hogan's Heroes, The Six Million Dollar Man and Wonder Woman, just to name a few. One of his final roles was in the 1989 sci-fi film "Time Trackers."

He was one of those popular character actors in which "everybody knew his face, but nobody really knew his name," Mimi said in the AP article.

Bergere also had a rich stage career, appearing in "Man of La Mancha" as the villain, the "Duke," for its premiere in Los Angeles in 1967. He also played "Quixote" and other characters in the show in Los Angeles, San Francisco and New York through the years.

"With that show, something happened to him spiritually; it changed him," Mimi said. "He strived to live the kind of life that Don Quixote lived, always striving for that unreachable star, never giving up." Bergere began his career in 1936 as understudy to Danny Kaye in the Broadway production of "Lady in the Dark" with Gertrude Lawrence. His television debut was with James Dean in the live Studio One production of "Thunder on Sycamore Street."

A World War II veteran, Bergere was in charge of entertainment services for soldiers serving in North Africa.

In addition to his daughter, Bergere is survived by a grandson and a nephew.

A celebration of his life will be held at 2:30 p.m. on Sunday, Feb. 11, at the Colonial Poplin in Fremont, New Hampshire. Donations may be made to Seacoast Hospice, 10 Hampton Road, Exeter, NH 03833.