Bruce French (born 4 July 1945; age 79) is a veteran actor who played Sabin Genestra in the Star Trek: The Next Generation fourth season episode "The Drumhead", an Ocampa doctor in the Star Trek: Voyager first season episode "Caretaker", a Son'a officer in Star Trek: Insurrection, and a Vulcan Elder in the Star Trek: Enterprise first season episode "The Andorian Incident". Hailing from Reinbeck, Iowa, French is a graduate of the University of Iowa, where he majored in Speech and Theater. He has been married to actress Eileen Barnett since 1991. He was also born on the same day and same year as "The Drumhead" co-star Earl Billings.
French has more than fifty years of film and television appearances to his credit. He has held recurring roles on such series as Dallas (1981-1982, working with Susan Howard, Leigh J. McCloskey, William Smithers, and Morgan Woodward) and Ally McBeal (2001, co-starring Albert Hall). He is known as Father Lonigan in NBC's Passions (1999-2008, starring McKenzie Westmore) and portrayed Jim Burns in The Riches (2007-2008) where he worked with regulars Todd Stashwick and Gregg Henry. In 1981, he supplied the voice of various characters in the Star Wars Radio Drama (With Brock Peters, David Clennon, Keene Curtis, and Jerry Hardin).
In addition, French has made guest appearances on such television series as The Waltons (1978), Family Ties (1982), Fame (1983), Benson (1983, starring Ethan Phillips and René Auberjonois), Hardcastle and McCormick (1983 and 1985, starring Brian Keith and Daniel Hugh Kelly and with Gail Strickland), Magnum, P.I. (1983, with Ed Lauter), The A-Team (1984, starring Dwight Schultz), Knots Landing (1984, with Clayton Landey and Peter White), Hill Street Blues (1984, with James B. Sikking, Barbara Bosson, and Clarence Williams III), L.A. Law (1986, starring Corbin Bernsen), Matlock (1987, with Cliff DeYoung, Gregg Henry, and Robert Mandan), Scarecrow and Mrs. King (1987), Moonlighting (1988, with Jack Blessing, Nancy Parsons, Charles Rocket, and Inez Edwards), Cheers (1989, with Kirstie Alley, Vaughn Armstrong, Kelsey Grammer and Bebe Neuwirth), Night Court (1989, with John Larroquette and Roy Brocksmith), Jake and the Fatman (1991, with Roxann Biggs), Herman's Head (1993, with Molly Hagan), Picket Fences (1994, with Roy Brocksmith, Leigh Taylor-Young, and Ray Walston), The Outer Limits (1995, with David Warner), Party of Five (1996, with John Towey), Beverly Hills, 90210 (1997, with Michael Durrell, Marnie McPhail, and Marcy Goldman), The Visitor (1997, with Leon Rippy, Richard Cox, Michael Harney, and Mark Newsom), Dharma & Greg (1999, with Mitchell Ryan), Providence (2000, with Concetta Tomei, Ed Begley, Jr., and Pamela Kosh), The West Wing (2002, starring Martin Sheen, with Thomas Kopache and Glenn Morshower), JAG (2002, with Scott Lawrence, Zoe McLellan, Terry O'Quinn, and Eric Pierpoint), and The Practice (1997-2003, with Tracy Middendorf, Dakin Matthews, Steve Rankin, Bruce Davison, Bill Smitrovich, Francis Guinan, Debi A. Monahan, John P. Connolly, Bill Bolender, L. Sidney, John Thaddeus, and Darwyn Carson).
Further television work includes episodes of Crossing Jordan (2003, starring Miguel Ferrer and Jerry O'Connell, with Morgan Nagler), Gilmore Girls (2003, with Biff Yeager), Boston Public (2003, with Jeri Ryan and Courtney Peldon), House (2996, starring Jennifer Morrison and Derek Anthony), NCIS (2006, with Chelsea Field and Ivar Brogger), Bones (2006, with Jeff Austin, Sean McGowan, and Adam Lieberman), Mad Men (2007, with Joseph Culp), Boston Legal (2008, with John Larroquette, Daniel Hugh Kelly, Lawrence Pressman, Derek Webster, J.J. Boone, and William Shatner), Raising the Bar (2008, with Tony Amendola and Justin Rodgers Hall), Dirty Sexy Money (2008, with Zoe McLellan and Joseph Will), Criminal Minds (2008, with Melinda Page Hamilton and Vaughn Armstrong), Eli Stone (2008, with Victor Garber, James Saito, Steven Culp, Greg "Christopher" Smith, and Rosie Malek-Yonan), Hawthorne (2009, with Matt Malloy), Grey's Anatomy (2009, with David Bowe, Jack Gwaltney, and Freda Foh Shen), Crash (2009, with Linda Park, Tom Wright, and Spencer Daniels), and Up All Night (2012, with Sean Whalen).
French made his feature film debut in Man on a Swing (1974, starring Joel Grey). Film credits since then have included Coming Home (1978, starring Jon Voight, with Jonathan Banks and David Clennon), Airplane II: The Sequel (1982, starring William Shatner), Christine (1983, with David Spielberg and Doug Warhit), Mr. Mom (1983, with Terri Garr, Christopher Lloyd, Graham Jarvis, Carolyn Seymour, Miriam Flynn, Derek McGrath, and Michael Ensign), Fletch (1985, with Richard Libertini, Kenneth Mars, and James Avery), Jagged Edge (1985, with Michael Dorn), Legal Eagles (1986) with Robert Curtis Brown and David Clennon, Martians Go Home (1990, with Roy Brocksmith, Ronny Cox and Gerrit Graham), Jurassic Park III (2001, with Linda Park), Enough (2002, with William O. Campbell, Bill Cobbs, and Jeff Kober), and Mr. Deeds (2002, with Winona Ryder, Erick Avari and Harve Presnell).
French had a supporting role as a minister in Paramount Pictures' Mission: Impossible III (2006). Many of the filmmakers who worked on this film – including director J.J. Abrams, writers Alex Kurtzman and Roberto Orci, cinematographer Dan Mindel, production designer Scott Chambliss, and casting director April Webster – also worked on 2009's Star Trek. Among French's co-stars in M:I:III were Ellen Bry, Tracy Middendorf, and Simon Pegg.
Further film work include Dark and Stormy Night (2009, with Jim Beaver and Daniel Roebuck), The Wishing Well (2009, with Sally Kellerman), the short drama Justify the Means (2009), Beginners (2010, with Christopher Plummer and Rodney Saulsberry), the drama Beautiful Boy (2010), and the short comedy It's a Horrible Life (2010).
