Star Trek star Gary Graham died at age 73 on Monday, January 22.
Gary’s wife, Becky Graham, confirmed the actor’s death to The Hollywood Reporter on Tuesday, January 23, revealing that he went into cardiac arrest. Gary died at a hospital in Spokane, Washington.
Gary’s ex-wife Susan Lavelle, with whom he shares daughter Haley, subsequently spoke out via Facebook.
“It is with deep profound sadness to say that Gary Graham, my ex husband, amazing actor and father of our beautiful only child together, Haylee Graham, has passed away today,” Lavelle wrote. “We are completely devastated especially our daughter Haley. His wife, Becky was by his side.”
She added, “Gary was funny, sarcastic sense of humor but kind, fought for what he believed in, a devout Christian and was so proud of his daughter, Haylee. This was sudden so please pray for our daughter as she navigates through this thing called grief.”
Lavelle remembered meeting Gary when she was 20 years old. At the time, he was working on the TV show Alien Nation, in which he played Detective Matthew Sikes from 1989–1990. He reprised the role in various TV movies throughout the 1990s, including Alien Nation: Dark Horizon, Alien Nation: Body and Soul, Alien Nation: Millennium, Alien Nation: The Enemy Within and Alien Nation: The Udara Legacy.
“Fly high into the heavens Gar!” Lavelle’s statement concluded. “Thank you for our journey and thank you for the gifts you left me in acting, my love of horses and most importantly, our daughter. 😥😥❤️🙏🏻🙏🏻🙏🏻”
Other than his Alien Nation fame, Gary was known for his role as Ambassador Soval on Star Trek: Enterprise and Star Trek: Axanar. Gary played various characters in the Star Trek universe thereafter, appearing as Ocampan community leader Tanis in Star Trek: Voyager and Ragnar in Star Trek: Of Gods and Men and Star Trek: Renegades.
Gary spoke candidly about his various roles in the Star Trek universe during a past conversation with Sci-Fi Bulletin blog.
“The thing I appreciate about Klingons is their blind, violent aggression. … That kind of adrenaline rush I really love” Gary said. “Vulcans of course are exactly the opposite — it’s a day for opposites — very difficult to play. If somebody were just cerebral you could play that, but people who are cerebral – and have done that out of survival against their natural nature – are explosive, organic and emotional. To sublimate that into a passive, intellectual outlook is a great challenge and a great mental game to play as an actor.”
Other than his science fiction roles, the actor appeared in movies like All the Right Moves, Dreams Awake and The Hollywood Knights, among others. He also made his directorial debut in 2008 with the movie Interviews.
