Celebrated American trial lawyer (1907–1996) who made a rare acting appearance as Gorgan, the malevolent friendly angel, in the Original Series episode And the Children Shall Lead.
Melvin Belli was an American attorney, born in 1907, famous for high-profile personal injury and criminal cases and for his courtroom showmanship. He was not a professional actor, though he appeared as himself in several films and programmes.
In the third-season episode And the Children Shall Lead he played Gorgan, a shimmering alien presence awakened on the planet Triacus. Gorgan drives the adults of a scientific expedition to their deaths and uses their children to take control of the Enterprise, until Kirk shows the children recordings of their parents and their grief strips the creature of its power.
The casting of a famous lawyer attracted publicity for the third season, produced by Fred Freiberger. Belli died in 1996.