Robert Easton

Robert Easton was the actor who played the Klingon judge in the  film. He was also a dialect coach who came to be known as the " of Hollywood" (a reference to the phoneticist from Pygmalion and My Fair Lady) due to his mastery of foreign and American regional dialects.

Easton has also appeared in the films The Red Badge of Courage (1951, with Whit Bissell and William Schallert), The High and the Mighty (1954, with David Brian, William Campbell, Paul Fix, and William Schallert), Somebody Up There Likes Me (1956, directed by Robert Wise and featuring Stanley Adams and Roy Jenson), Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea (1961, with Michael Ansara), One of Our Spies is Missing (1966, with James Doohan and Yvonne Craig), Paint Your Wagon (1969, with Harve Presnell, Ray Walston, William O'Connell, Karl Bruck, and Roy Jenson), Johnny Got His Gun (1971, with David Soul, Peter Brocco and Byron Morrow), The Giant Spider Invasion (1975, with Leslie Parrish), Pete's Dragon (1977), Pet Semetary II (1992, with Clancy Brown), The Beverly Hillbillies (1993, with Diedrich Bader), Needful Things (1993, with W. Morgan Sheppard), Primary Colors (1998, with John Vargas), and Gods and Generals (2003, with Kevin Conway, William O. Campbell, James Horan, W. Morgan Sheppard, and Andrew Prine).

In 1970, Easton appeared in the 1970 made-for-television movie The Andersonville Trial. This movie also featured William Shatner, John Anderson, Whit Bissell, Dick Miller, Kenneth Tobey, and Ian Wolfe. Another TV movie Easton appeared in was 1981's The Oklahoma City Dolls, with Robert Hooks and David Huddleston. Easton also had a role in the 1978 television mini-series Centennial. Other Star Trek alumni who starred in this series include Michael Ansara, Henry Darrow, Cliff DeYoung, Robert DoQui, Brian Keith, Sally Kellerman, Stephen McHattie, Nick Ramus, Clive Revill, James Sloyan, Morgan Woodward, and Anthony Zerbe.

He has also made guest appearances on such TV shows as Gunsmoke, The Andy Griffith Show, The Beverly Hillbillies, Perry Mason, Lost in Space, Get Smart, and Kolchak: The Night Stalker, the latter of which co-starred John Fiedler. Easton also had a recurring role as Brian McAffee on the The George Burns and Gracie Allen Show.

Easton's credits as a dialect or dialogue coach include the films Scarface (1983), The NeverEnding Story (1984), Noises Off... (1992), Good Will Hunting (1997), and The Last King of Scotland (2006). On the latter, he was the personal dialogue coach for lead actor, who went on to win an Academy Award for his performance in the film as Ugandan military leader. Easton also served as a dialect coach on several television programs, notably the 1986 miniseries North and South, starring Kirstie Alley, Jonathan Frakes, Jim Metzler, Jean Simmons, and David Ogden Stiers.

Easton died of natural causes at his home in Toluca Lake, Los Angeles, California, on 16 December 2011. He was 81. 

Filmography

 * Merchants of Venus (aka A Dirty Little Business; 1998, with Michael Pollard, Charles Dierkop and Helen Cates)