Tony Award-winning American actor who played the shapeshifting security chief Odo on Deep Space Nine and directed several of its episodes.
René Auberjonois was an American actor who first won fame on stage, taking a Tony Award in 1970 for the musical Coco. On screen he amassed more than 200 credits, including Father Mulcahy in the film MAS*H, Clayton Endicott III on Benson and Paul Lewiston on Boston Legal.
In Star Trek: Deep Space Nine he played Odo, the station's gruff Changeling security chief, for all seven seasons from 1993 to 1999. Working under heavy prosthetics, he made Odo's search for his origins, his discovery of the Founders and his long-unspoken love for Kira Nerys central threads of the series. He also directed several episodes of the show.
Auberjonois had an earlier brush with the franchise as Colonel West in Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country, a part cut from the theatrical release but restored in later versions. He was also an accomplished voice actor, notably as Chef Louis in The Little Mermaid. He died in 2019.