`Star Trek` villain Michael Ansara dies at 91

Los Angeles: Actor Michael Ansara, who played the original Klingon on three different "Star Trek" TV series, has died. He was 91.

Ansara, who was married to actress Barbara Eden of "I Dream of Jeannie" fame, died July 31 at his home in Calabasas, California, after a prolonged illness, his former publicist Michael B Druxman said. Ansara was survived by Beverly, his wife of 36 years, Sister Rose, niece Michelle and nephew Michael John, said the Hollywood Reporter. Born in a small village in Syria to American parents, Ansara starred as Native American characters on two 1950s primetime series: ABC`s "Western Broken Arrow" (as Cochise) and NBC`s "Law of the Plainsman" (as Deputy US Marshal Sam Buckhart, another Apache). He also had major roles films like "Julius Caesar and The Robe", "Jupiter`s Darling", "Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea", "The Comancheros", "The Greatest Story Ever Told" among others. PTI