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Vince Howard (21 July 192918 July 2002; age 72) is an actor who appeared in the Star Trek: The Original Series first season episode "The Man Trap". He played the M-113 creature in the form credited as "Uhura's crewman." He filmed his scene on Monday 27 June 1966 at Desilu Stage 9.

Biography[]

House's professional career began when he was stationed in West Germany, while he served with the US 7th Army's Special Services. There, in 1950, he joined the vocal group, known as The Rhythm Aces, where he sang baritone and bass. After winning the "All-Army Soldier Singing Contest", they toured throughout Europe, and even appeared on Ed Sullivan's Toast Of The Town. After returning to the US, the group based itself out of Chicago, where they recorded their first four songs in late 1954.

In all, the group released four singles by the end of 1955, three of which were co-written by House, with one song each on two of those, House sang lead or co-lead. After the group broke up, House formed/joined the vocal group known as The Rockets, which later became known as The Rocketeers, the groups name change also coincided with his adopting the surname "Howard". [1] After several years touring, Howard went solo – with his best known song being "Stand There, Mountain" – releasing several singles thru 1965. [2]

Howard later transitioned into acting, where he was probably best-known for his role as Pete Butler on the television series Mr. Novak (1963-65, with fellow "Man Trap" guest star Jeanne Bal and Bill Zuckert) and as Officer Vince on Emergency! (1972-77) with Kevin Tighe and William Boyett. He was also a regular on Barnaby Jones during the show's first season (1973), playing Lieutenant Joe Tayler. Fellow Original Series guest star Lee Meriwether was also a regular on this series. He has also made guest appearances in a number of other television shows, including Get Smart, The Time Tunnel (starring James Darren, Whit Bissell, and Lee Meriwether), I Dream of Jeannie, Bewitched (with guest star John Abbott), Mission: Impossible, The Bold Ones: The New Doctors (directed by John Newland and featuring Whit Bissell and Howard's "Man Trap" co-stars, Alfred Ryder and William Shatner), Kolchak: The Night Stalker (with John Fiedler), The Rockford Files, McCloud (with Diana Muldaur and Ken Lynch), Fantasy Island (starring Ricardo Montalban), Quincy, M.E. (with Robert Ito and Garry Walberg), and Murder, She Wrote.

He made his film debut in the 1967 comedy The Reluctant Astronaut, in which he and actor Bill Quinn had uncredited roles. He followed this with an appearance in I Love You, Alice B. Toklas (1968), in which he and fellow Original Series guest actor William Bramley played patrolmen. This film also starred Leigh Taylor-Young. Howard's film credits since then have included The Barefoot Executive (1978, with Hal Baylor), Fuzz (1972, with Steve Ihnat, Bert Remsen, Stewart Moss, and Peter Brocco), The Man (1972, with William Windom, Janet MacLachlan, Robert DoQui, Gilbert Green, Barry Russo, and Garry Walberg), Trouble Man (1972, with Robert Hooks, Paul Winfield, William Smithers, and John Crawford), Moving Violations (1985, with Sally Kellerman and Jimmy Ortega), and Lethal Weapon 3 (1992, with Alan Scarfe and Kenneth Tigar).

He also appeared in several made-for-TV movies, including Company of Killers (1970, with Fritz Weaver, Susan Oliver, and Jeanne Bal), Quarantined (1970, with Susan Howard), Vanished (1971, with William Shatner, Robert Hooks, Barry Atwater, and William Boyett), The Hunted Lady (1977, with Richard Herd), Love Is Not Enough (1978, with Bernie Casey), The Golden Gate Murders (1979, with Jon Lormer, Jason Wingreen, and William Boyett), Better Late Than Never (1979, with Meg Wyllie), Moonlight (1982, with Rosalind Chao and Bill Erwin), Welcome Home, Jellybean (1984, with Deborah May), and Never Forget (1991, starring Leonard Nimoy and directed by Joseph Sargent).

Throughout his career, he often portrayed a police officer or some other type of law enforcement figure.

Between acting gigs, Howard, like many actors, also had a successful career in real estate. He died from leukemia, on 18 July 2002, three days short of his 73rd birthday. [3]

External link[]

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