By Donald H. Harrison
SAN DIEGO—Some actors shy from the roles that made them famous. I remember, for example, how Henry Winkler practically growled at reporters at a United Jewish Federation event who wanted to talk about his role as Arthur “The Fonz” Fonzarelli on television’s Happy Days.
Not so with actor Armin Shimerman. He said he knows that “Quark,” the role of the Ferengi which he made famous in the Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, will probably be written on his tombstone. While at times, that permanent meshing in the public’s mind of an actor and a character can be a psychological burden, Shimerman says it also has its advantages.
For example, he said, his seven seasons as the devious bartender Quark may prompt died-in-the-wool Star Trek fans to come watch him perform as blind, hard-drinking Richard Harkin in the San Diego Rep production of Conor McPherson’s The Seafarer. Should the fans show up between now and the closing of the play December 13, he says, they may find a certain similarity between The Seafarer and the various Star Trek series in that both offer “a sense of hope.”
“Star Trek has the hope that in the future people will live together, solve their problems and reach out and understand the cosmic questions that face us today; that those questions will be finally answered,” he said. “Many people I have met who have been afflicted see in Star Trek that in time the illness that they suffer from will be cured. And there is also the hope amongst people that everyone can come together and live together.
“Teamwork is what Star Trek is about… the Star Fleet people (who are members of the United Federation of Planets) are all about teamwork and solving problems. And the hope that things will be better, that we will be able to go beyond ourselves is the lasting attraction of Star Trek.”
Of course, there is no drama without conflict, and in contrast to the noble Star Fleet officers are a variety of other worldly miscreants, not the least of whom is Quark, whose ethical code usually—but not always–puts profit ahead of personal relationships, even with his younger brother Rahm.
A member of the Jewish community who majored in Shakespeare back in his student days at UCLA, Shimerman, 60, caught his first break when he was chosen for an apprenticeship in San Diego at the Old Globe’s Shakespeare Festival. Craig Noell was the artistic director back then and Jack O’Brien, who became a mentor, was a visiting director on one of that season’s three Shakespeare productions.
Shimerman explained that in preparing for a part, he draws upon his life experiences, relationships, previous roles, and upon serious textual study—the latter process, he said, probably a result of the time as a young teenager growing up in Lakewood, New Jersey, that he thought he might like to become a rabbi. But he tasted acting at age 14, and by 17—by which time he had moved with his family to Los Angeles—acting had replaced Judaism as his personal religion.
In preparing to take the role of Quark, he said, he drew heavily on his study of Shakespeare. He saw a parallel between Quark, the Ferengi bartender on the “Deep Space Nine” space station and Shylock, the Jewish merchant, in the Christian society of Italy.
“The Merchant of Venice was actually a touchstone for the Ferengi because Shylock is an alien in the true sense of the word, living in a Christian society—something that is alien to him. He must learn to hold onto his own identity and at the same time compromise in a way in order to live in the alien world,” Shimerman said.
“And, that is exactly Quark’s existence; he must hold onto his values and at the same time learn to live with the Bajorans (near whose planet the Space Station is situated) and the Star Fleet people. So very much, Shylock was at the forefront of my head when I was playing Quark.”
Shylock, the moneylender, long has been considered an anti-Semitic character, and some critics of the Ferengi have suggested that this avaricious group of people—for whom profit was the prime motivation of their existence—were little more than an anti-Semitic stereotype.
While agreeing Shylock was indeed such a stereotype, Shimerman said Quark was intended not to be a caricature of a Jew but rather a portrayal of “the ultimate other.”
“I know that the producer is Jewish, the writers are Jewish, I am Jewish, and most of the other (actors who played) Ferengi are Jewish, so keep that in mind,” Shimerman said. “When I traveled to Australia, they said to me, ‘C’mon the Ferengi are the Chinese, right?’ When I travel to England, ‘C’mon, the Ferengi are the Irish, right? When I travel to different parts of the world, it is the outsider in their community that is the Ferengi. It happens that here in America, perhaps we think it is the Jews. But in other parts of the world, they don’t think of that at all—they just think of another stereotype.”
In The Seafarer, Shimerman’s character, Richard Harkin, has a multilayered relationship with his brother Sharky (Ron Choularton). “The story has many branches to it,” he said. “The main branch that I sit on is a story about two brothers who had problems in the past, lots of problems. Drinking has exacerbated the problem. Living in Ireland has exacerbated the problems, a strong father figure has exacerbated the problems.
“They are forced together out of the guilt that the other brother has that my character has gone blind,” Shimerman added. “Sharky has reached the nadir of his existence and realizes that he has to change, and is making an early attempt to get his life together. Part of that healing process is to come back to his home. The character I play is a thorn in his side because we have always clashed heads together.
“The play is about rejuvenation, the rediscovery of two brothers, so at the end of the play there is the hope—but no confirmation – that these two brothers can find the love that they secretly have for each other and learn to let it grow and flourish.”
In preparing for the part of Richard Harkin, he said, he drew upon several sources.
“I have a wonderful brother; we sometimes clash, we don’t always communicate. So that is one thing to draw on. I have a faux brother—Max Grodenchik—who played Rahm, and I have that relationship to draw on. I also have what was both a loving and a twitching relationship with my mother who has passed away… My mother was very strong willed. I was strong willed and those two strong wills came into conflict often. It is primarily that relationship that is my source of information for this play.”
Shimerman said while he has most of the lines in The Seafarer, “the play is Sharky’s,” who not only has a conflict with brother Richard on one branch of the play, but, on the other branch, with the devil who comes to visit on a Christmas eve. Sharky, “is far away, in my opinion, the important character in this play.”
Gracious as Shimerman was being to a fellow actor, he also was kindly toward my 8-year-old grandson, Shor Masori, a confirmed Star Trek fan, who accompanied me to the interview.
Shor got over his shyness, and occasional boredom listening to the conversation between two sextagenarians, and, with Shimerman’s permission, asked a rapid-fire series of questions. I admit it, I beamed with pride.
“Of all the movies, plays and TV shows that you have done, which one was your favorite?” asked Shor.
“This one—The Seafarer—because I am doing it now,” the actor answered.
“Did you like being Quark?”
“I liked being Quark a lot, but I had a problem with the makeup sometimes because it was a lot to bear for seven years, but I liked the people I worked with.” (The Ferengis had huge heads, with large lobes, and ears that were quite large and very sensitive.) “I loved the stories, and sometimes it was very painful, but my wife who is very smart said, ‘Armin, if you want to be a knight, you have to wear the armor.’”
“How many shows and movies have you done?”
“Let’s see, 80 different TV shows, close to 400 episodes, not that many films because my career has been basically TV—I have done perhaps 12 films – and as far as theatre, I think I have done every kind of theatre except perhaps Children’s Theatre.”
“How did you like the cast of Star Trek and did you like Star Trek?”
“I have always liked Star Trek. I was a big fan of Star Trek since I watched it when it first came out, which made me about your age, maybe a little bit older, during the first series. And Next Generation, I was a big fan of that and when I heard they were casting Ferengi for Deep Space Nine, I was very eager to try and get that part. … The people on the show I worked with were phenomenally good actors, good people. I enjoyed their company a great deal.
“It has been said many times that our cast wasn’t as friendly as other casts were. I attribute that to two things. Our cast was a little bit older and had families of our own, and therefore when the day was over, we would go home to our families, instead of going for a drink afterwards or going to each other’s houses…”
“And my last question,” grinned Shor. “Can I have your autograph?”
Shimerman gave the youngster a big smile. And into his autograph book, he wrote: “To Shor, ‘Ears to You. You are a wonderful interviewer.” Below his signature, he wrote “Quark,” drawing the capital “Q” with big ears sticking out from it.
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Harrison is editor of San Diego Jewish World