Beloved and prolific character actor Rene Auberjonois has died at his home in Los Angeles due to metastatic lung cancer. The actor was 79.
With his signature voice, Auberjonois is best known for his celebrated role as the shapeshifter Constable Odo on “Star Trek: Deep Space Nine” which he played on TV for seven years, along with the lawyer Paul Lewiston in the legal comedy-drama “Boston Legal,” and Emmy nominated work in both “Benson” and “The Practice”. He’s also guest starred in countless shows from “Madam Secretary,” to “It’s Always Sunny…,” “Warehouse 13,” “Grey’s Anatomy,” “Criminal Minds,” “The Good Wife,” “L.A. Law,” “Charlie’s Angels,” “Wonder Woman,” “The Outer Limits,” “Stargate SG-1,” “Frasier,” “Star Trek: Enterprise,” “Nash Bridges,” “The Jeffersons” and many more.
Auberjonois also popped up in supporting parts in films for many decades ranging from Robert Altman’s original “Mash” and “McCabe & Mrs. Miller,” to the 1970s “King Kong,” to playing the villain of “Police Academy 5,” a Starfleet colonel in “Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country,” himself in “The Player,” doctors in both “Batman Forever” and “Inspector Gadget,” and key parts in Kelly Reichardt’s “Certain Women” and her upcoming “First Cow”.
He also lent his voice to films such as “The Little Mermaid” and “The Princess Diaries” along with doing video game work on titles like “Uncharted 2: Among Thieves” and “Fallout New Vegas”.
Auberjonois also did book narrations for titles like “World War Z,” “The Diving Bell and the Butterfly,” and for ten books Douglas Preston & Lincoln Child’s Aloysius Pendergast book series (the first of that series was adapted into the 1997 film “The Relic”) with Auberjonois doing the books from 2002’s “The Cabinet of Curiosities” through to 2012’s “Two Graves”.
Auberjonois is survived by his wife of 56 years, writer Judith Auberjonois; sisters Marie-Laure Degener and Anne Auberjonois; daughter Tessa Auberjonois; son-in-law Adrian Latourelle, daughter-in-law Kate Nowlin and three grandchildren.
