Stanley Adams

Stanley Adams was an actor and writer of stage and screen. In, he played Cyrano Jones in the classic Star Trek: The Original Series episode. He also co-wrote the TOS episode. He went on to contribute his voice to the animated series episode, reprising the role of Cyrano Jones.

In, archive footage of his appearance in "The Trouble with Tribbles" was used in the Star Trek: Deep Space Nine episode , nineteen years after his death by a self-inflicted gunshot.

Biography
Born in New York City, Adams made appearances in several films during the 1930s, but continued working primarily in theater. It was not until he recreated his stage role of the bartender in the 1951 film version of Death of a Salesman that he decided to pursue a consistent career in that medium.

One of his earliest credited film roles came in the science fiction comedy The Atomic Kid, which co-starred fellow TOS guest actors Whit Bissell and Peter Brocco. Since then, he appeared in such classic, Oscar-nominated motion pictures as Alfred Hitchcock's North by Northwest (1959, co-starring Lawrence Dobkin, Robert Ellenstein and Ken Lynch), Blake Edwards' Breakfast at Tiffany's (1961) and Stanley Kramer's 1965 drama Ship of Fools (co-starring Michael Dunn and Barbara Luna). Adams's role in the 1963 drama Lilies of the Field (with cinematography by Ernest Haller and music by Jerry Goldsmith) was referenced in the Trek episode in which Adams appeared. In evaluating the tribbles, Mr. Spock paraphrases Matthew 6:28 by saying they are like "the lilies of the field-- they toil not, neither do they spin."

Adams also had a small, unbilled role in the 1956 drama Somebody Up There Likes Me. This film was directed by Robert Wise, who would go on to direct. Also appearing uncredited in the film were fellow Star Trek alumni Robert Easton and Roy Jenson. Later, Adams appeared in 1959's High School Big Shot (costarring Virginia Aldridge). Adams and Jenson also appeared together in the 1960 Western North to Alaska, along with Charles Seel. Perhaps Adams' most notable film role, however, is that of Perelli in the 1962 boxing drama Requiem for a Heavyweight.

His other major film credits include Studs Lonigan (1960, starring Frank Gorshin), The Outsider (1961, with Paul Comi), The Young Savage (1961, with Clegg Hoyt), Critic's Choice (1963, with Lucille Ball and Grace Lee Whitney), The Gene Krupa Story (1963, with Yvonne Craig, Lawrence Dobkin, Celia Lovsky, and Susan Oliver), Fate Is the Hunter (1964, with Nehemiah Persoff), A House Is Not a Home (1964, with Roger C. Carmel and Michael Forest), Nevada Smith (1966, with Brian Keith and Paul Fix), and the 1967 Elvis Presley picture Double Trouble.

His television credits continued to increase during this time, as well. During the 1950s, he appeared on such programs as Gunsmoke, Maverick, and The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis. Throughout the 1960s, he could be seen on Thriller, Have Gun - Will Travel, The Andy Griffith Show, Wagon Train, The Untouchables (which, like Star Trek, was also produced by Desilu), Bonanza, The Twilight Zone, Perry Mason, The Addams Family, The Dick Van Dyke Show, Batman, Gilligan's Island, and Lost in Space, among many others.

Adams continued receiving steady work throughout the 1970s, with appearances on The Odd Couple, Mannix, and Ironside, among other TV shows. He was also a part of the cast – along with Elisha Cook, Jr. and Barry Atwater – of 1972's The Night Stalker, a TV movie which would lead to the acclaimed but short-lived series Kolchak: The Night Stalker, starring John Fiedler. Adams himself appeared in an episode of this series in 1974, along with Robert DoQui. Adams even continued performing in films, such as Russ Meyer's 1971 drama The Seven Minutes (with Charles Napier and Jan Shutan), Woody Allen's 1972 comedy Everything You Always Wanted to Know About Sex * But Were Afraid to Ask (with Ian Abercrombie and Jay Robinson), and the 1974 crime drama Act of Vengeance. However, it would all come to an end by Adams' own hand when he committed suicide in 1977. He had just turned 62 years old.