Richard Herd

Who is Richard Herd?

Richard Herd, Jr. is an American actor in television and film. He is well known in the science fiction community for his role in the 1983 NBC miniseries V and the 1984 sequel V: The Final Battle, as John, the Visitors' Supreme Commander. Other major genre roles include recurring parts on the NBC series seaQuest DSV as Admiral William Noyce, and on Star Trek: Voyager as Admiral Owen Paris, the father of Tom Paris. In two guest appearances on Quantum Leap, he played children's show host "Captain Galaxy", a would-be time traveler, and a miner named Ziggy Ziganovich. Herd has appeared at a number of fan conventions on the basis of his science fiction roles.

Herd was born in Boston, Massachusetts, the son of Katherine and Richard Herd Sr., who was a train engineer. He made his film debut in Hercules in New York, and at one point served as 3rd National Vice President of the Screen Actors Guild. Herd's first major film role was in the thriller The China Syndrome alongside Jane Fonda, Jack Lemmon and Michael Douglas, where he played the character Evan McCormack, the corrupt Chairman of the California Gas & Electric Board. This role helped make him well-known outside the United States.