Guests

Ethan Phillips

Ethan Phillips was raised in Long Island, New York, the only boy of six children. His dad loved to say "I've got five daughters and an actor!" It was while attending a Jesuit prep school in Brooklyn that Ethan decided to pursue theatre when a priest told him he had talent, and cast him in MACBETH. Ethan earned a BA in English Literature from Boston University and received an MFA from Cornell University. From there he went to New York City and worked steadily on stage, playing lead and supporting roles both on and off Broadway in shows such as MY FAVORITE YEAR at Lincoln Center, LIPS TOGETHER TEETH APART at the Lucille Lortel, MODIGLIANNI at the Astor Place, ONLY KIDDING for the American Jewish Theatre, and in MEASURE FOR MEASURE with Kevin Kline, at the NY Shakespeare Festival in Central Park , as well as work for the Ensemble Studio Theatre, Hudson Guild Theatre, Chelsea Theatre Center, and Playwrights Horizons. 

Regionally, he has acted in many of the major theatres across the country. At Seattle Rep, he worked with Daniel Sullivan to help develop and act in the comedy INSPECTING CAROL. He co-starred with Mary-Louise Parker in the premier of Terence McNally's UP IN SARATOGA for San Diego's Old Globe Theatre and with Delroy Lindo in the premier of MS. EVER'S BOYS at Baltimore's Center Stage.  He repeated his performance in LIPS TOGETHER TEETH APART with Andrea Martin at LA's Mark Taper Forum as well as acting in the Los Angles premier of THE DINING ROOM for the Coronet Theatre. At Actors' Theatre of Louisville he was a part of the twelfth Humana Festival of New American Plays. For the Boston Shakespeare Co. Ethan played the role of Edgar in KING LEAR, he played Dromio of Ephesus in COMEDY OF ERRORS at Princeton's McCarter Theatre, at Alaska Repertory Theatre he play Toby Belch in TWELFTH NIGHT. For the Salt Lake Acting Co., Ethan received the Best Comic Actor of the year award for his starring role in THE FOREIGNER.
He appeared in HARVEY with Beth Berridge for the Westport Country Playhouse, and recently he played in the Los Angeles premier of SIDEMAN with Mare Winningham for the Pasadena Playhouse. John Delancie directed him in Moliere's THE BOURGEOISE GENTLEMAN which premiered at the Pasadena Symphony, and moved to the Ravinia Festival with the Chicago Symphony. Ethan played Polonius in HAMLET at LA's Court Theatre. Most recent theatre credits include YOU CAN'T TAKE IT WITH YOU at the Geffen with Roy Dotrice, and David Mamet's NOVEMBER with Nathan Lane at the Barrymore theatre on Broadway. 

In television he spent five seasons playing Pete in the sitcom BENSON, and has guest starred on scores of other shows, most recently ARRESTED DEVELOPMENT, LAW AND ORDER, CRIMINAL MINDS, BONES, NUMB3RS, ELI STONE, and BOSTON LEGAL. He appeared for seven seasons in STARTREK: VOYAGER as Neelix, the ship's chef and morale officer and guest starred on the newest Startrek show ENTERPRISE. In film, Ethan's credits include roles in FOR RICHER OR POORER, STARTREK: FIRST CONTACT, GREENCARD, JEFFREY, MAN WITHOUT A FACE, THE SHADOW, CRITTERS, RAIN WITHOUT THUNDER, WAGONS EAST, RAGTIME, LEAN ON ME, and ENDSVILLE. More recent films include FAMILY TREE, BAD SANTA, CHESTNUT: HERO OF CENTRAL PARK, THE BABYSITTERS, THE ISLAND, HALLOWED GROUND, OUT OF OMAHA, KEITH, and BIG GAME. 

Ethan has had a long association with Robert Redford's Sundance Institute, having spent ten summers there as part of the Playwrights Lab, both as an actor, and as a writer. He is also a participant in Brave New Works, the Emory University new play development festival where he recently worked on Pulitzer winner Robert Schenkkan's LEWIS AND CLARK REACH THE EUPHRATES. His play PENGUIN BLUES is published by Samuel French and has had hundreds of productions in the U.S. and in Canada. Ethan is a co-founder of Hollywood's First Stage, a playwright's group based on principles developed at Sundance, and he is on the board of The WordBRIDGE Playwrights Laboratory, which helps young playwrights get their dreams realized.

Denise Crosby

 Forming part of the extensive Crosby family dynasty, this striking leading actress, daughter of entertainer Dennis Crosby, has appeared in film and television since the early 1980s. A photo spread in a 1979 issue of Playboy magazine and a recurring role in the soap opera "Days of Our Lives" in 1980 allowed Hollywood-born Denise to break through to stardom. She had a small role in 48 Hrs. playing a strong-minded lesbian and parts in Trail of the Pink Panther and Curse of the Pink Panther (both critically unsuccessful).

Her career began to pick up in the mid-'80s. She appeared in a variety of films and made-for-TV movies, including Stark, Malice in Wonderland (playing 'Carole Lombard'), Desert Hearts, Eliminators and Miracle Mile.

In 1987 Denise caught her big break playing Lt. Tasha Yar in "Star Trek: The Next Generation". Although not a huge role, the character allowed Denise to build a sizable fan base that exists to this day. In 1988 she left the program due to the diminishing size of her role, but returned as a guest star in the early 1990s. In 1989 she played the mother of a dead toddler who was brought back to life through an ancient curse in Stephen King's somewhat hokey horror novel film adaptation Pet Sematary.Remaining in the horror genre, Denise played a similar role of a mother who discovers her young daughter's doll is evil in the Child's Play clone Dolly Dearest.
During the 90's Denise worked consistently, appearing in a TV series in 1993, and made numerous guest appearances, including a couple of episodes of the raunchy cable series Red Shoe Diaries, which were subsequently released on video. There were also roles in Relative Fear, Mutant Species, Dream Man and Executive Power. More high-profile work arrived in the form of a small role in Jackie Brown, playing a public defender, and a sizable part as a pregnant mother in the hit disaster movie Deep Impact. She gained
 recognition as a Star Trek fan by producing and presenting Trekkies and its 2004 sequel.

Since 2000, Denise has appeared on TV in guest roles on "The X Files", "JAG", "The Agency", "Threat Matrix", "Eyes" and "Dexter". She acted in the award-winning short film The Bus Stops Here, had a leading role in the western/horror indie film Legend of the Phantom Rider and has recently appeared in a horror film by legendary genre director Tobe Hooper, Mortuary. This capable actress continues to appear on television and in film. Best known for her Star Trek days, Denise embraces her fans often at conventions and is lookling forward to her visit to Australia.

Rene Auberjonois

RenÈ Murat Auberjonois was born on June 1, 1940, in New York City. RenÈ was born into an already artistic family, which included his grandfather, a well-known Swiss painter, and his father Fernand, a writer. The Auberjonois family moved to Paris shortly after World War II, and it was there that RenÈ made an important career decision at the age of six. When his school put on a musical performance for the parents, little RenÈ was given the honor of conducting his classmates in a rendition of Do You Know the Muffin Man? When the performance was over, RenÈ took a bow, and, knowing that he was not the real conductor, imagined that he had been acting. He decided then and there that he wanted to be an actor.

After leaving Paris, the Auberjonois family moved into an Artist's Colony in upstate New York. At an early age, RenÈ was surrounded by musicians, composers, and actors. Among his neighbors were Helen Hayes, Burgess Meredith and John Houseman, who would later become an important mentor. Houseman gave RenÈ his first theater job at the age of 16, as an apprentice at a theater in Stratford, Connecticut. RenÈ would later teach at Juilliard under Houseman.

RenÈ attended Carnegie-Mellon University and studied theater completely, not only learning about acting but about the entire process of producing a play. After graduating from CMU, RenÈ acted with various theater companies, including San Francisco's American Conservatory Theater and Los Angeles' Mark Taper Forum. In 1969, he won a role in his first Broadway musical, Coco (with Katharine Hepburn), for which he won a Tony.

Since then, RenÈ has acted in a variety of theater productions, films, and television presentations, including a rather famous stint as Clayton Endicott III on the comedy series Benson. For more information on RenÈ's film & television career, go to RenÈ's filmography. RenÈ has also done dramatic readings of a variety of books on tape. Thanks to Lisa Wilcox at ORACLE, you can look at a relatively complete list of RenÈ's theater credits.

Even with his full schedule as an actor, RenÈ still has time for his family and his interests outside acting. He and his wife, Judith, have two children, Tessa and Remy-Luc, who are both pursuing careers in the performing arts. Besides acting, RenÈ is an accomplished gourmet cook, a painter and a photographer. He is also a vocal supporter of various charitable organizations, such as Doctors Without Borders (MÈdecins Sans FrontiËres). He regularly donates the proceeds from the sale of autographed items to such organizations.

RenÈ says of his role as Odo on Star Trek: Deep Space Nine: "I have had my share of successes and my share of flops. But nothing has ever been like this. Deep Space Nine is completely beyond anything that I have ever experienced."

Since DS9 ended in 1999, RenÈ has kept busy as a guest star on numerous television series (including The Practice, Judging Amy, Enterprise, and Frasier), and as a regular on ABC's TV series Boston Legal as Paul Lewiston, colleague and nemesis to Alan Shore (James Spader) and Denny Crane (William Shatner) (2004-2008). He continues to take on acting roles in films (including The Patriot with Mel Gibson) and on theatre stages in Los Angeles and New York, including as Jethro Crouch in a Broadway production of Sly Fox, which earned him an Outer Circle Critics Award nomination for "Best Featured Actor in a Play" and, in summer 2008, he earned rave reviews in the title role of The Imaginary Invalid at The Shakespeare Theatre in Washington, DC.

bio from www.renefiles.com