Eddie Paskey

American actor
The basics

Quick Facts

IntroAmerican actor
PlacesUnited States of America
isActor Television actor
Work fieldFilm, TV, Stage & Radio
Gender
Male
Birth20 August 1939, Delaware, USA
Age85 years
Star signLeo
The details

Biography

Edward J. "Eddie" Paskey (born August 20, 1939) is an American retired actor. He is best known for playing Lieutenant Leslie on the television series Star Trek from 1966 to 1968.

Early life

Paskey was born in a small farming town in Delaware but was raised in California. He moved with his family to Santa Monica in 1952. In his youth he was immersed in automobiles by working at his father's garage, and developed an interest in hot rods from a young age. His first car was a 1941 Ford coupe but was later replaced by a 1955 Ford Thunderbird that he purchased while earning $1.25 per hour.

Career

Paskey's first television role was in the drama Ben Casey (1966) after meeting series producer Irving Elman while working at a service station in Pacific Palisades. In it he was credited as "Policeman." For the next five or six years he continued to act while working at the service station on weekends. He appeared on Mission: Impossible in the 1966 episode "The Ransom," The Lucy Show, Twelve O'Clock High, The Wild Wild West and Please Don't Eat the Daisies. He also appeared in uncredited roles in the films What Did You Do in the War, Daddy? and Mister Buddwing.

Star Trek: The Original Series

Paskey first appeared on Star Trek as a "crewman" on the second pilot episode "Where No Man Has Gone Before," and was first identified by name in "Mudd's Women" in an early scene where Doctor McCoy refers to him as Connors. In subsequent episodes, he was cast regularly as a crewman, but also appeared as a security officer, a helmsman, an engineer station officer, even an alien, all to create a sense of continuity on Star Trek during the series' run. Paskey had scripted lines in four episodes and was credited in two. His character, Mr. Leslie, appeared in more episodes than principal characters Sulu or Chekov. William Shatner gave the character the name Leslie after his eldest daughter. To pay homage to the character of Leslie, a fan based website created an 8" action figure in Paskey's likeness.

Paskey credits the longevity of his character to his sense of caution. Since he was on the set most of the time and knew the script well, he made sure that he was always elsewhere when an episode called for someone to die. When his character does die in the episode "Obsession," Paskey explains his mysterious return in the next episode by describing a lost scene in the script, where Dr. McCoy administered a miracle potion that saves Leslie's life. Paskey mentioned that this scene was never filmed. Episode director Ralph Senesky also confirmed that he did not film it.

In "This Side of Paradise" his is the only character to mutiny openly against his superior, Captain Kirk, and even disobeys orders again in "And the Children Shall Lead," although under an alien influence. In "The City on the Edge of Forever," Paskey was the driver of the truck in the scene where character Edith Keeler (Joan Collins) is struck down and killed.

Paskey also appeared occasionally as a stand-in for Shatner in certain long scenes. He was the hand-double for James Doohan, who was missing a finger, in "Wolf in the Fold" and "That Which Survives." He appeared in most of the episodes from the first two seasons of the original series. A bad back and cluster headaches from an old injury, which worsened from the set lighting, led to his leaving the show in the third season. Paskey admitted in a July 1988 Starlog Magazine interview that once the pain had gone, he tried to return to acting but had lost many of his Hollywood contacts while working on Star Trek, and eventually retired from the profession.

Appearances

No.Episode nameRoleTalksCreditRemarks
00Where No Man Has Gone Beforecrewmannonoseen behind Kirk and Spock while they engage in Tri-D Chess; brig guard on Delta Vega
1The Man TrapLt. Ryannonoas helmsman and medical assistant
2Charlie Xcrewmannono
4The Naked TimeLt. Ryanyesnoescorted, for being drunk, away from bridge station seen in red shirt as navigator
5The Enemy Withincrewmannonofreezing with Sulu and landing party
6Mudd's WomenConnersnonocaught, and reproached by Dr. McCoy, for ogling Ruth Bonaventure
7What Are Little Girls Made Of?crewmannonoas bridge engineer
9Dagger of the Mindcrewmannonoas bridge engineer & wayward eavesdropper
10The Corbomite Maneuvercrewmannonoas bridge engineer, also seen on lower decks
11The Menagerie, part 1crewmannonoas bridge engineer, witnesses Spock's arrest
13The Conscience of the Kingcrewmanyesnoas helmsman, with no rank insignia
14Balance of TerrorMr. Leslienonoas bridge engineer
15Shore LeaveMr. Leslienonoas helmsman in opening prologue only
16The Galileo Sevencrewmannonoon bridge and in transporter room, always faceless
17The Squire of GothosLt. Leslienonoin captain's seat, now with Lt's. insignia
18ArenaLt. Leslienonoas bridge engineer
19Tomorrow is YesterdayLt. Leslienonoas bridge engineer
21The Return of the ArchonsLt. Leslienonojoins landing party, seen being awakened by Kirk
22Space SeedLt. Leslienonodines at "Welcome to the 23rd Century" dinner for Khan
24This Side of ParadiseLt. Leslieyesyesas "crewman", first time Leslie disobeys Kirk's orders, by mutinying
25The Devil in the DarkLt. Leslienonoas security and possible horta target
27The Alternative FactorLt. Leslieyesyesas "Lesley"; helmsman, in command seat at beginning of last scene
28The City on the Edge of ForeverLt. Leslienonoas science officer
29Operation: Annihilate!Lt. Leslienonoas transporter chief, gets Vulcan nerve pinch
30Amok TimeLt. Leslienonoas bridge engineer and medical assistant
31Who Mourns for Adonais?Lt. LeslienonoSulu and Leslie scan for Apollo's power source
32The ChangelingLt. Leslienonoas navigator in braided yellow command shirt
33Mirror, MirrorLt. Leslienonobriefly in prologue and epilogue
34The AppleLt. Leslienonoas bridge engineer
35The Doomsday MachineLt. Leslieyesnoas bridge engineer
36CatspawLt. Leslienonoas bridge engineer and helmsman
38MetamorphosisLt. Leslienonowith Scotty when Kirk checks in
39Journey to BabelLt. Leslienonoas bridge engineer
40Friday's ChildLt. Leslienonoas bridge engineer
41The Deadly YearsLt. Leslienonoas bridge engineer
42ObsessionLt. Leslienonodies of asphyxiation
43Wolf in the FoldLt. Leslienonoon bridge, gets tranquilized with crew
44The Trouble with TribblesLt. Leslienonobridge, security, adopts a tribble from Uhura
45The Gamesters of TriskelionLt. Leslienonoas bridge engineer and science officer
46A Piece of the ActionLt. Leslienonoas bridge engineer
47The Immunity SyndromeLt. Leslienonoalso security in transporter room, "yellowshirt" on lower decks
48A Private Little WarLt. Leslienonoas bridge engineer
49Return to TomorrowLt. Leslienonoalso as security officer on transporter
50Patterns of ForceEkosiannonoas Nazi officer; also a second character with mustache
51By Any Other NameLt. Leslienonodehydrated into a polyhedron
52The Omega GloryLt. Leslienonoon Bridge; and guard, arresting Tracy
53The Ultimate ComputerLt. Leslienonoescorts a stunned Dr. Daystrom to sickbay with another security officer
54Bread and CircusesLt. Leslienono
55Assignment: EarthLt. Leslienonostunned by Gary Seven. Leslie actually appears here wearing a red-shirt and a gold shirt.
57The Enterprise IncidentLt. Leslienonoa most happy Leslie, seeing that Kirk is alive
59And the Children Shall LeadLt. Leslienonosecond time Leslie disobeys Kirk's orders
60Is There in Truth No Beauty?Lt. Leslienonoas security
61Spectre of the GunLt. Leslienonoas bridge engineer, prologue only
68Elaan of TroyiusLt. Leslienonokindly offered his seat to the Dohlman, even though he needed it to work
503Trials and Tribble-ationsLt. Leslienonoin footage incorporated from The Trouble with Tribbles, as security

Star Trek: New Voyages

In 2004, he appeared in the Star Trek: New Voyages episode "Come What May" as Admiral Leslie, a character established as Lieutenant Leslie's father.

Later years

After retiring from acting, Paskey went into business for himself in Santa Ana, California, owning and operating an auto-detailing service called The Air Shop with his wife Judy. He sold the business in 2004. He and his wife are members of Hot Rods Unlimited, a Southern California auto club. They have four children.

Paskey admitted that he considered auditioning for Star Trek: The Motion Picture (1979) but later reconsidered. He remained a fan of the film series but not the television follow-up Star Trek: The Next Generation, as he explained that "he went to sleep on it".

The contents of this page are sourced from Wikipedia article on 20 May 2020. The contents are available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license.