William Campbell (Koloth)

William “Bill” J. Campbell (30 October 1923 – 28 April 2011; age 87), from Newark, New Jersey, was the actor known to Star Trek fans for his portrayal of the god-child Trelane in the first season episode “The Squire of Gothos” and for his role as Koloth in the the second season episode “The Trouble with Tribbles”. He reprised the Koloth role in the Star Trek: Deep Space Nine episode “Blood Oath”, becoming one of the few actors to portray the same character on both the original series and on one of the spin-off series. (The character Koloth also appeared in a Star Trek: The Animated Series episode, but in that case, James Doohan provided the voice). He described his role on “Blood Oath” as his most difficult acting job, and one he would have liked to do again. (Star Trek: The Magazine Volume 1, Issue 13, p. 52) Campbell also reprised his role as Trelane in the video game Star Trek: Judgment Rites. His Klingon teeth from “Blood Oath” were once sold off by auction.

He filmed his scenes for “The Squire of Gothos” on Monday 31 October 1966 at Desilu Stage 9, Tuesday 1 November 1966, Wednesday 2 November 1966, Thursday 3 November 1966, Friday 4 November 1966, and Monday 7 November 1966 at Stage 10. Later friend, Original Series Art Director Matt Jefferies, noted this on his performance in 2002, “Of course, the saving grace was of course Bill Campbell that played the Squire. I think the way he took that part on, he probably wouldn’t have missed it, if the set has disappeared.” (TOS Season 2 DVD-special feature, “Designing the Final Frontier”)

Campbell had always reveled in his Star Trek fame and had lent his presence to numerous events in the Star Trek convention circuit for decades. Even when his health started to fail him, starting in the early 2000s, he found the strength to attend his very last one, the Creation Entertainment 40th anniversary Star Trek convention held at the Las Vegas Hilton in August 2006, still managing to keep the audience “spellbound”.

Campbell was a close personal friend of Leonard McCoy actor DeForest Kelley whose death in 1999 came to him as a great personal shock. (Star Trek: The Magazine Volume 1, Issue 13, p. 53)