Eddie Paskey - Star Trek: The Original Series

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 Shatner's 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, where Dr. McCoy administered a miracle potion that saves Leslie's life, that ended up on the cutting room floor. In some cuts of the episode, a scene showing him receiving treatment is shown at around 14 minutes into the show.

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.