Summary

• Clint Howard has appeared in five different Star Trek shows, making him the only actor to have appeared in both The Original Series and either Discovery or Strange New Worlds.
• Howard's iconic role as Balok in Star Trek: The Original Series showcased his talent at a young age, portraying a frightening alien with a surprising twist.
• His recent appearance in Star Trek: Strange New Worlds as Commander Buck Martinez highlights his versatility as an actor, as he portrays a no-nonsense Chief Medical Officer during the Klingon War.

Clint Howard's appearance in Star Trek: Strange New Worlds marks the fifth Star Trek show in which the actor has appeared as a guest star. Howard made his Star Trek debut at age seven on Star Trek: The Original Series, and would go on to appear in Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, Star Trek: Enterprise, Star Trek: Discovery, and Star Trek: Strange New Worlds. With his role in Strange New Worlds, Howard has become the only actor to have appeared in both TOS and either Discovery or Strange New Worlds.

Clint Howard begin his acting career at two years old when he appeared alongside his brother, actor and director Ron Howard, in an episode of The Andy Griffith Show. Since then, he has had an extremely prolific career, appearing in countless movies and television shows over the decades. He has had roles in seventeen films directed by his brother, including Solo: A Star Wars Story, making him one of the actors who has appeared in both Star Trek and Star Wars. Balok from Star Trek: The Original Series remains one of Clint Howard's most iconic roles. Here is a list of all five of Clint Howard's Star Trek characters explained.

5 Balok in Star Trek: The Original Series

Clint Howard first appeared in Star Trek at just seven years of age when he played Balok, a member of the First Federation, in the Star Trek: The Original Series episode "The Corbomite Maneuver." Though Balok initially appeared to the USS Enterprise as a frightening-looking alien, he revealed his true child-like form when Captain James T. Kirk (William Shatner), Doctor Leonard McCoy (Deforest Kelley), and Crewman Bailey (Anthony Call) visited Balok on his ship, the Fesarius. Balok then admitted (in an uncharacteristically adult voice provided by Walker Edmiston) that his earlier threats against the Enterprise had merely been a test of the crew's character, and he offered them a tour of his ship. As the ship's only occupant, Balok admitted to being lonely, which prompted Kirk to order Crewman Bailey to stay with Balok and learn more about his culture.

4 Grady in Star Trek: Deep Space Nine

Star Trek often tackles important and relevant political issues and Star Trek: Deep Space Nine's two-part episode "Past Tense" serves as one of the most powerful examples. When Commander Benjamin Sisko (Avery Brooks), Dr. Julian Bashir (Alexander Siddig), and Lt. Commander Jadzia Dax (Terry Farrell) find themselves in 2024 San Francisco, they become involved in riots that mark an important moment in human history. Clint Howard appears in "Past Tense: Part 2" as a homeless and mentally ill man named Grady who believes that aliens will soon invade Earth. He steals Dax's combadge, but she is able to get it back by convincing him that she is one of the good aliens.

3 Muk in Star Trek: Enterprise

In the Star Trek: Enterprise season 1 episode "Acquisition," Clint Howard plays a Ferengi pirate named Muk. When a group of Ferengi boards the Enterprise NX-01, Captain Jonathan Archer (Scott Bakula), Commander Trip Tucker (Connor Trinneer), and Subcommander T'Pol (Jolene Blalock) must work together to stop the intruders. T'Pol eventually convinces Muk that the leader of the Ferengi group was going to take all of the profits, turning the Ferengi against one another. Trip then tricks the Ferengi to follow him to the Enterprise's supposed vault, leading them into an ambush. In the end, Muk and the Ferengi must return everything they stole and Archer orders the Ferengi to leave Federation space. The Federation would not make official first contact with the Ferengi until around 200 years later when they encounter Captain Jean-Luc Picard (Patrick Stewart) and the USS Enterprise-D in Star Trek: The Next Generation.

2 Creepy Orion in Star Trek: Discovery

In his only unnamed Star Trek role, Clint Howard plays a "Creepy Orion" in Star Trek: Discovery's season 1 finale, "Will You Take My Hand?." When some of the Discovery crew visit an Orion outpost on the Klingon homeworld, Qo'noS, Sylvia Tilly (Mary Wiseman) encounters the Creepy Orion. When he offers her some volcanic vapors, she inhales some and then promptly faints. When she comes to, the Orion is trying to steal the briefcase that she has handcuffed to her wrist. The briefcase was meant to contain a drone that would be used to map the planet, but when the Orion reveals that the volcanoes on Qo'noS remain active, Tilly realizes the drone wouldn't be useful. Tilly then checks the case and discovers a bomb that Emperor Philippa Georgiou (Michelle Yeoh) had planned to use to destroy Qo'noS.

1 Commander Buck Martinez in Star Trek: Strange New Worlds

In Star Trek: Strange New Worlds' darkest episode so far, Clint Howard plays Commander Buck Martinez, the Chief Medical Officer stationed at a Starfleet Mobile Combat Hospital on the moon J'Gal during the Klingon War. Strange New Worlds season 2, episode 8, "Under the Cloak of War" follows Captain Christopher Pike (Anson Mount) and his USS Enterprise crew as they host a visiting Klingon Ambassador, Dak'Rah (Robert Wisdom), who used to be a General infamous as "the Butcher of J'Gal." Dak'Rah's presence on the ship brings up painful memories for Dr. Joseph M'Benga (Babs Olusanmokun) and Nurse Christine Chapel (Jess Bush) who served together in the Klingon War.

As revealed in flashbacks throughout the episode, M'Benga and Chapel served under Buck Martinez on J'Gal, where he commanded with a no-nonsense attitude. Clint Howard's appearance on Star Trek: Strange New Worlds comes just under 57 years after his first appearance on TOS in 1966, giving him the record for the longest time period between his first and most recent Star Trek appearances. Clint Howard also has the distinction of appearing in every decade Star Trek has had a live-action TV series on the air.