Gary Lockwood's Main TV Roles Show Character(s) Star Trek: The Original Series Lieutenant … The Quest (1976) Walter Lucas

Main Movie Roles 1997 - Trekkies 1977 - Bad Georgia Road 1968 - 2001: A Space Odyssey 1968 - Firecreek 1964 - Kitten with a Whip 1963 - It Happened at the World's Fair 1961 - Splendor in the Grass 1959 - Warlock

BIOGRAPHY:

Gary Lockwood (born 21 February 1937; age 72) is the actor who played Lieutenant Commander Gary Mitchell in the second pilot for Star Trek: The Original Series, called "Where No Man Has Gone Before". He is perhaps best known for his role as Dr. Frank Poole in the revered 1968 science fiction film 2001: A Space Odyssey.

Lockwood was born John Gary Yurosek in Van Nuys, California and attended the University of California at Los Angeles (UCLA) on a football scholarship. He broke into show business as a stunt man and as a stand-in for actor Anthony Perkins in 1957, but he quickly moved to acting.

His first movie as an actor was the 1959 western Warlock. That same year, Lockwood made his major television acting debut on an episode of Bronco, alongside Yvonne Craig.

Lockwood made an uncredited appearance in the 1960 film Tall Story Lockwood's first credited film role came a year later in the Elvis Presley picture Wild in the Country; he again worked with Presley (and Yvonne Craig) in 1963's It Happened at the World's Fair. Lockwood's early feature film credits also included the Academy Award-winning 1961 drama Splendor in the Grass and 1962's The Magic Sword (which co-starred Liam Sullivan).

From 1963 through 1964, Lockwood was the star of the television series called The Lieutenant, a show which was created by Gene Roddenberry.

Many episodes pf The Lieutenant were directed by Vincent McEveety. McEveety later directed Lockwood in a two-part episode of Gunsmoke which aired in early 1965 and in the 1968 western film Firecreek.

Lockwood's early television credits also included a guest spot on the NBC drama Saints and Sinners, under the direction of veteran TOS director Marc Daniels. Lockwood then appeared in an episode of Perry Mason with Anthony Caruso, followed by an episode of Combat! with Jim Goodwin. In 1964, Lockwood made a guest appearance on 12 O'Clock High. He reprised his role from this episode the following year, then made a third appearance on the show in a different role.

In 1965, Lockwood acted alongside Sally Kellerman on an episode of the Canadian series Seaway and in a segment of Kraft Suspense Theatre entitled Connery's Hands. Lockwood and Kellerman later worked opposite each other on "Where No Man Has Gone Before."

Following his iconic role in 2001: A Space Odyssey, Lockwood has only acted in a handful of films. He acted alongside Graham Jarvis, Don Keefer, John McLiam, and Paul Winfield in the 1970 Stanley Kramer drama R.P.M., which was followed in 1972 by the comedy Stand Up and Be Counted, which co-starred Michael Ansara and the aforementioned Madlyn Rhue. He then starred in a number of low-budget independent films, including Project: Kill (1976), Survival Zone (1983), and Night of the Scarecrow (1995, with Stephen Root).

The majority of Lockwood's career since the 1970s has been comprised of television guest appearances, made-for-TV movies, and other television projects. In 1971, he starred in Earth II, an unsold pilot for a proposed science fiction television series. Lockwood also worked on the pilot for the short-lived series The Manhunter, along with John Anderson, Lenore Kasdorf, and Tim O'Connor.

Among the television shows on which Lockwood guest-starred throughout the 1970s are Medical Center (with Barbara Baldavin and series regular James Daly), Mission: Impossible (with Jason Evers), Ironside (again working with Madlyn Rhue), The Six Million Dollar Man (two episodes: one with William Schallert, the other directed by Russ Mayberry), The Bionic Woman (with Jeff Corey), and Starsky and Hutch (which starred David Soul as "Hutch"). Lockwood also made numerous appearances on the drama series Barnaby Jones, each time playing a different character.
In the mid-1980s, Lockwood reunited with his Star Trek co-star William Shatner for two episode of T.J. Hooker, the police drama on which the Kirk actor played the title role.

Lockwood made four appearances each on the TV dramas Simon & Simon and Murder, She Wrote, portraying a different character in each episode. Veteran Star Trek director Vincent McEveety, whom Lockwood worked with many times during the 1960s, directed Lockwood in one episode from each series.

Throughout the 1980s, Lockwood has also made guest appearances on such programs as Charlie's Angels (directed by Kim Manners), Hart to Hart (with Andrew Robinson), and MacGyver (with Bruce McGill). He also had a supporting role in 1987's The Return of the Six-Million-Dollar Man and the Bionic Woman along with William Campbell and Tom Schanley.

Lockwood's most recent television work was a guest spot on the science fiction series Dark Skies in 1997. Jeri Ryan, who later joined the cast of Star Trek: Voyager, was a regular on this series at the time. The episode in question, "The Warren Omission", also guest-starred Dennis Creaghan and Conor O'Farrell.


TRIVIA:

• Friend of actor 'Billy Lockwood' (qv).
• Reliable over the years for playing boyish-faced bullies in westerns and police dramas.
• Best remembered today as astronaut Frank Poole in the 'Stanley Kubrick' (qv) futuristic epic _2001: A Space Odyssey (1968)_ (qv).
• One of his most memorable TV roles, and one of the most memorable on the series, was on a 1969 episode of _"Love, American Style" (1969)_ (qv) in which he plays a guy who is told his mouth is too small. To test it out, he accidentally wraps his mouth around a doorknob and gets stuck! His co-star in that episode was none other than his wife at the time, 'Stefanie Powers' (qv).
• Broke into the entertainment field as a stunt man and stand-in for actor 'Anthony Perkins (I)' (qv).
• Ironically, Lockwood's Frank Poole character (from "2001") learns about Star Trek's success in the novel "3001: A Final Oddyssey".
• Attended UCLA on a football scholarship.
• Father of 'Samantha Lockwood' (qv).