Stanley Kamel

Stanley Kamel was a prolific character actor with over eighty television appearances to his credit during the last thirty years, including his role as Kosinski in the Star Trek: The Next Generation episode. Hailing from New Brunswick, New Jersey, Kamel died of a heart attack in his Hollywood Hills home on April 8, 2008. He was 65 years old.

Notable roles
Kamel was perhaps best known for his recurring role on the series , playing Dr. Charles Kroger, the psychiatrist of the titular obsessive-compulsive detective. Although he did not frequently interact with other actors on-screen besides series star, those who appeared in the same episodes as Kamel include Jason Alexander, Billy Burke, Jane Carr, Gordon Clapp, Alicia Coppola, Timothy Davis-Reed, Juliana Donald, Nicole Forester, Reynaldo Gallegos, Grant Garrison, Willie Garson, Molly Hagan, Rif Hutton, Michelle Krusiec, Rob LaBelle, D.J. Lockhart-Johnson, Mary Mara, Marc Marosi, Charles Napier, Sandra Nelson, Gina Philips, Harve Presnell, Anne Ramsay, Jeremy Roberts, Sarah Silverman, Michael Buchman Silver, Todd Stashwick, Tom Virtue, Todd Waring, Peter Weller, Michael Shamus Wiles, and Matt Winston.

Kamel is also remembered for his role as another psychiatrist, Dr. Graham Lester, on Murder One. Among those he worked with on the latter series were fellow Star Trek alumni Daniel Benzali, Barbara Bosson, Juliana Donald, John Fleck, Miriam Flynn, Robin Gammell, Anne Haney, Gregory Itzin, Jack Kehler, Thomas Knickerbocker, Thomas Kopache, Deborah May, Donna Murphy, Natalia Nogulich, Richard McGonagle, Conor O'Farrell, Randy Oglesby, Tony Plana, Marty Rackham, F.J. Rio, Clayton Rohner, Kevin Tighe, Vanessa Williams, and Bruce Wright.

Kroger and Lester were very from each other. Kroger was a model citizen who aided Monk's police colleagues whereas Lester was arrested, tried and convicted of evidence tampering, obstruction of justice and perjury.

Early career
Beginning his acting career on the off-Broadway stage, Kamel first appeared on TV in a 1969 episode of Mission: Impossible, along with series regular Leonard Nimoy and fellow guest stars Robert Ellenstein and Alfred Ryder. This was followed by his first credited TV appearance in a 1971 episode of Aaron Spelling's The Mod Squad, opposite series regulars Clarence Williams III and Tige Andrews and guest star Nehemiah Persoff; he returned to the show the following year, in an episode with Sharon Acker.

His breakthrough role came as Eric Peters in the soap opera Days of our Lives, which he starred in from 1972 through 1976. His early years also included guest appearances on numerous such shows, including Kojak, Quincy, M.E. (with series regulars Robert Ito and Garry Walberg), Charlie's Angels (another Aaron Spelling series), Barney Miller (with Ron Glass and James Gregory), and The Incredible Hulk (in a 1979 episode with Mark Lenard).

During the 1980s and early '90s, Kamel was seen on Mork & Mindy, Three's Company, Knight Rider, The Highwayman (starring Tim Russ), Murder, She Wrote (two episodes, including one with Charles Rocket in 1990), Beauty and the Beast (with Ron Perlman and Stephen McHattie), and The Golden Girls (including a two-parter with Richard Riehle), among many others. He also had recurring roles on Cagney & Lacey (working with the likes of Bibi Besch, Robert DoQui, Charles Lucia, Stephen Macht, Janet MacLachlan, Vincent Schiavelli, and Don Stark), L.A. Law (working alongside series regulars Corbin Bernsen and Larry Drake as well as fellow guest stars Paul Comi, Robert Costanzo, Diana Muldaur, and Warren Munson), and Hunter (including a two-parter with Felecia M. Bell and Barry Jenner). He additionally appeared in three episodes of Hill Street Blues, working alongside the likes of Barbara Babcock, Barbara Bosson, James B. Sikking, Cecile Callan, Hamilton Camp, and Carlos LaCamara.

Later career
Kamel's later career included recurring roles on the Aaron Spelling shows Beverly Hills, 90210 and Melrose Place. Other Star Trek performers he worked with on the former series were Michael Bofshever, Mary Crosby, Michael Durrell, Ann Gillespie, Caroline Lagerfelt, Joan Pringle; fellow Trek co-stars on the latter series were Casey Biggs, Christopher Carroll, Lawrence Dobkin, Lindsey Haun, Famke Janssen, Monte Markham, Warren Munson, Tim Russ, Melanie Smith, Gail Strickland, Kenneth Tigar, Gwynyth Walsh, Spice Williams, and Time Winters. He made guest appearances on such popular shows as ER, The Nanny (starring Daniel Davis), 7th Heaven (starring Stephen Collins, Catherine Hicks, and Maureen Flannigan), Six Feet Under (with Barbara Tarbuck), The West Wing (with Ron Canada), and Reba (starring Scarlett Pomers). In 2003, he co-starred with Jeff Allin, Vaughn Armstrong, Art Chudabala, Nicole Forester, David Gautreaux, Bob Gunton, Blake Lindsley, Randy Oglesby, Eric Pierpoint, George D. Wallace, and Harris Yulin in the short-lived series Mister Sterling.

He appeared in a number of feature films, including Corvette Summer (1978, with Dick Miller and Eugene Roche), Arthur Hiller's Making Love (1982, with Anne Haney and Charles Lucia), Bob Fosse's Star 80 (1983, with David Clennon and Robert Picardo), Automatic (1994, with Daphne Ashbrook, John Glover, Marjean Holden, Penny Johnson, Jeff Kober, and Laura Stepp), the 1997 science fiction thriller Ravager (1997, with Robin Sachs), Eat Your Heart Out (1997, with John Billingsley), Under Pressure (2000, with Craig Wasson), and Tony Scott's Domino (2005, with cinematography by Dan Mindel). More recently he appeared in 's Inland Empire (along with Ian Abercrombie and Duncan K. Fraser), as well as a comedy called The Urn with Star Trek: Deep Space Nine star Armin Shimerman.

At the time of his death, he was attached to a romantic comedy called For Better or for Worse, in which he would have worked with Chad Allen.

Other Trek connections
Other projects in which Kamel appeared with other Star Trek performers include:
 * Short Walk to Daylight (1972 TV movie) with Walker Edmiston
 * Switch episode "The Late Show Murders" (1975) with Roger C. Carmel
 * McMillan and Wife episode "Requiem for a Bride" (1975) with Henry Darrow, Lawrence Pressman, and John Schuck
 * In the Glitter Place (1977 TV movie) starring Lee Delano, Salome Jens, and Anthony Zerbe; directed by Robert Butler; photographed by Jerry Finnerman
 * Platinum (1978 Broadway play) with Richard Cox
 * 240-Robert episode "Acting Sergeant" (1979) with Joanna Cassidy
 * Lou Grant episode "Kidnap" (1979) with Jonathan Banks
 * Captain America II: Death Too Soon (1979) with William Lucking
 * Eight Is Enough episode "Bradfordgate" (1980) with Bill Erwin and Warren Munson
 * Eischied episode "Buddy System" (1980) with Alan Oppenheimer
 * The Gossip Columnist (1980 TV movie) with Kim Cattrall
 * House Calls episode "My Son, the Anarchist" (1981) with Ray Buktenica and Mark L. Taylor
 * Lou Grant episode "Stroke" (1981) with Phillip Richard Allen
 * Riptide episode "The Orange Grove" (1984) with Kurtwood Smith
 * My Mother's Secret Life (1984 TV movie) co-starring Paul Sorvino and Dan Shor
 * Victims for Victims: The Theresa Saldana Story (1984 TV movie) with Lawrence Pressman and Barbara Tarbuck
 * A Bunny's Tale (1985 TV movie) starring Kirstie Alley
 * Hardcastle and McCormick episode "Surprise on Seagull Beach" (1985) with Erik Holland, Brian Keith, Daniel Hugh Kelly, and William Windom
 * Matlock episode "The Author" (1987) with Michael Durrell and John Schuck
 * Father Dowling Mysteries episode "The Confidence Mysteries" (1990) with Ed Lauter
 * Father Dowling Mysteries episode "The Malibu Mystery" (1991) with Debi A. Monahan and Richard Riehle
 * 2000 Malibu Road pilot episode (1992) with Robert Foxworth
 * Dark Skies episode "Dark Days Night" (1996) with Tim Kelleher and Connor O'Farrell
 * C-16: FBI pilot episode (1997) with Vaughn Armstrong, Melinda Culea, Robin Gammell, Zach Grenier, and Glenn Morshower
 * A Fare to Remember (1998 film) with K Callan
 * Stonebrook (1999 film) with Zoe McLellan
 * Dark Angel pilot episode (2000) with Kristin Bauer, Paul Popowich, and John Savage
 * An American Daughter (2000 TV movie) with Jane Carr
 * The Geena Davis Show episode "Photo Finish" (2001) with Paul Dooley and Anne Haney
 * The Guardian episode "Swimming" (2003) with Raphael Sbarge
 * The D.A. episode "The People vs. Patricia Henry" (2003) starring Steven Weber
 * Jane Doe: How to Fire Your Boss (2007 direct-to-DVD movie) with Richard Libertini and Steve Vinovich; directed by James Contner