Jeffrey Combs Biography

Jeffrey Alan Combs (born September 9, 1954) is an American actor known for his horror film roles and his appearances playing a number of characters in the Star Trek and the DC Animated Universe television franchises.

Early life

Combs was born in Oxnard, California and raised in Lompoc. He attended Santa Maria's Pacific Conservatory of the Performing Arts, and later developed his acting skills in the Professional Actor's Training Program at the University of Washington.

After spending several years performing in playhouses on the West Coast, Combs moved to Los Angeles in 1980 and landed his first role in the 1981 film Honky Tonk Freeway, in which he played an unnamed drive-in teller. His first horror film role came two years later, in the Frightmare (1983).

Career

Combs' best known horror role was as Dr. Herbert West, the main character in the movie Re-Animator, which he has reprised in the film's two sequels. He also portrayed the part of author H. P. Lovecraft (creator of the Herbert West character) in 1993's film Necronomicon: Book of the Dead. Combs has starred in eight H.P. Lovecraft adaptations. Other film credits include FeardotCom (2002), House on Haunted Hill (1999), I Still Know What You Did Last Summer (1998) and The Frighteners. (1996)

On television, Combs enjoyed critical and popular success playing alien characters on the various modern Star Trek incarnations, beginning in 1994 with Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, in 2000 with Star Trek: Voyager, and in 2001 with Star Trek: Enterprise. Combs has played nine different onscreen roles in the Star Trek universe. His largest science-fiction role to date has been his regular guest role on Star Trek: Deep Space Nine as the Vorta clone Weyoun. Combs has said that Weyoun was his favorite Star Trek role, and he had a great deal of input in developing the character.

On the same series, Combs had a recurring role as the Ferengi character Brunt. During the DS9 episode "The Dogs of War", Combs appeared as both Weyoun and Brunt, making Trek history as the first actor to play two unrelated recurring roles on screen in the same episode.

On Star Trek: Enterprise, Combs had a recurring role as Shran, an Andorian military officer. Enterprise producer Manny Coto once mentioned in an interview that he hoped to make Combs a regular on the show, had the series been renewed for a fifth season.

In addition to his recurring Star Trek roles, Combs had non-recurring roles as a human police officer Kevin Mulkahey, and as the alien Tiron on Star Trek: Deep Space Nine; as the alien Penk on Star Trek: Voyager; and as the Ferengi pirate Krem on Star Trek: Enterprise. Along with many other actors, writers, and creators of the show, Combs also had a cameo appearance as a holographic patron in Vic's Lounge in the final episode of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine. Combs also voices the character of Romulan Commander Suldok for the "Star Trek: Elite Force II" video game.

Beyond the Star Trek franchise, Combs has had roles in many other science fiction series. He starred as the telepath Harriman Gray, in "Eyes" (1994), a first season episode of Babylon 5. In August 2005, he appeared for the first time on the science fiction series The 4400 as Dr. Kevin Burkhoff; by 2006, this became a recurring role. In early 2007, he played a highly-fictionalized Edgar Allan Poe in "The Black Cat", an episode of Masters of Horror.

Combs has done extensive voice work, including The Scarecrow in 1997's The New Batman Adventures. Combs continued his work in the DCAU several years later, with a recurring role as The Question in Justice League Unlimited. Combs provides the voice of Ratchet on the new animated series, Transformers: Prime. He also narrated the 25th Anniversary of Re-Animator on the 2010 FanTasia.

In July 2009, Combs returned to his stage roots and reprised his role as Edgar Allan Poe in a one-man theatrical show entitled Nevermore...an Evening with Edgar Allan Poe at The Steve Allen Theater in Hollywood, CA. Although only supposed to run for a month, the show enjoyed much success and sold-out crowds, and was extended four times. Nevermore as it is now simply known, closed its run in Los Angeles on December 19, 2009. The show had its East Coast debut on January 23 and 24 2010 at Westminster Hall in Baltimore, MD, Poe's final resting place. A tour of the Saturn Award nominated Nevermore is now in the works, with stops possibly including Chicago, New York, and Seattle, and a confirmed two-date run in San Diego in February.

Combs stars with Andrew Divoff in the 2012 Screen Media Films release Night of the Living Dead 3D: Re-Animation, a prequel to the 2006 cult hit Night of the Living Dead 3D directed by Jeff Broadstreet. Although the 2012 prequel film is entitled Re-Animation, it has no connection to Combs' most well-known film, Re-Animator.

Filmography

Year	Film	Role	Notes
1981	Honky Tonk Freeway	Drive-in teller
	Whose Life Is It Anyway?	1st-year intern
1983	Frightmare	Stu
	The Skin of Our Teeth	Henry Antrobus
	The Man with Two Brains	Dr. Jones
1985	Re-Animator	Herbert West
1986	From Beyond	Crawford Tillinghast
1987	Cyclone	Rick Davenport
1988	Dead Man Walking	Chaz
	Cellar Dweller	Colin Childress
	Pulse Pounders	The Evil Clergyman	Unreleased
1989	Bride of Re-Animator	Dr. Herbert West	Nominated - Saturn Award for Best Supporting Actor
1990	The Pit and the Pendulum	Francisco the Inquisitor
	Robot Jox	Spectator/Prole
1991	The Guyver	Doctor East
	Death Falls	Lonnie Hawks
	Trancers II	Dr. Pyle
1992	Doctor Mordrid - Master of the Unknown	Dr. Mordrid
1993	Fortress	D-Day
	Necronomicon	H. P. Lovecraft
1994	Love and a .45	Dinosaur Bob
	The Lurking Fear	Dr. Haggis
1995	Castle Freak	John Reilly
	Felony	Bill Knight
	Cyberstalker aka The Digital Prophet	Andy Coberman
	Dillinger and Capone	Gilroy
1996	The Frighteners	Special Agent Milton Dammers	Nominated - Saturn Award for Best Supporting Actor
	Norma Jean & Marilyn	Montgomery Clift
1997	Time Tracers	Dr. Carrington
	Snide and Prejudice	Therapist Meissner
1998	I Still Know What You Did Last Summer	Mr. Brooks
	Caught Up	Security Guard
	Spoiler	Captain
1999	House on Haunted Hill	Dr. Richard Benjamin Vannacutt
	Poseidon's Fury: Escape From the Lost City	Lord Darkennon	Short film; part of theme park ride at Universal's Islands of Adventure in Orlando, FL
2001	Faust: Love of the Damned	Lt. Dan Margolies
	The Attic Expeditions	Dr. Ek
	Contagion	Brown
2002	FeardotCom	Detective Sykes
2003	Beyond Re-Animator	Dr. Herbert West
2005	Hammerhead: Shark Frenzy	Dr. Preston King
	All Souls Day: Dia de los Muertos	Thomas White
	Edmond	Desk Clerk
	Voodoo Moon	Frank Taggert
2006	Satanic	Detective Joyner
	Abominable	Buddy, the Clerk
	Blackwater Valley Exorcism	Sheriff Jimmy Fleck
2007	Return to House on Haunted Hill	Dr. Richard Benjamin Vannacutt
	The Wizard of Gore	The Geek
	Brutal	Sheriff Jimmy Fleck
	The Attackmen	Mr. Simms
	Stuck	911 Operator
2008	Parasomnia	Detective Garrett
2009	The Dunwich Horror	Wilbur Whateley
	Dark House	Walston Rey
2012	Elf-Man	Mickey
	Would You Rather	Shepard Lambrick
2013	Motivational Growth	The Mold	voice
	Favor	Tad Harrison

Television works

Year	Title	Role	Episode(s)
1983	The Mississippi	Military cadet	We Remember, We Revere
	Houston Nights	Frank Stark	Lady Smoke
1987	Beauty and the Beast	Python	No Way Down
1988	Jake and the Fatman	Alan Shuba	What is This Thing Called Love
	Incredibly Strange Film Show	Himself	Tsui Hark and Stuart Gordon
1989	Freddy's Nightmares	Ralph	Love Stinks
	Life Goes On	Burk Clifton	Invasion of the Thatcher Snatchers
	Hunter	James Wilkins	Fatal Obsession, Part 2
1991	The Flash	Jimmy Swain	Captain Cold
	Ultraman: The Ultimate Hero	Roger "Sheck" Shector	A Quartet Of Creatures
	Sisters	Derek Cotts	Protective Measures
1994	Babylon 5	Harriman Gray	Eyes
1994-1999	Star Trek: Deep Space Nine	Brunt/Weyoun	32 Episodes
1995	The Single Guy	Klein	The Virgin
1996	Perversions of Science	Prisoner #50557	The Exile
1997	The New Batman Adventures	Scarecrow	Never Fear
1998	The Net	Max Copernicus	Lunatic Fringe
1999	FreakyLinks	Coroner	Subject: Live Fast, Die Young
2000	Martial Law	Antoine Trembel	In the Dark
	Star Trek: Voyager	Penk	Tsunkatse
2001-2005	Star Trek: Enterprise	Shran	11 Episodes
2002	The Twilight Zone	Harry Radditch	The Placebo Effect
	She Spies	Indigo	The Replacement
	Spider-Man	Professor	Head Over Heels
	Spider-Man	Dr. Zellner	Flash Memory
2003	CSI: Crime Scene Investigation	Dr. Dale Sterling	Jackpot
2004	Super Robot Monkey Team Hyperforce Go!	Gyrus Krinkle	A Man Called Krinkle
	Justice League Unlimited	The Question	Fearful Symmetry
2005	Hammerhead: Shark Frenzy	Dr. Preston King
	Justice League Unlimited	The Question	Double Date
	Justice League Unlimited	The Question	Question Authority
	Justice League Unlimited	The Question	Flashpoint
2005-2007	The 4400	Dr. Kevin Burkoff	15 Episodes
2006	Justice League Unlimited	The Question	Grudge Match
	Super Robot Monkey Team Hyperforce Go!	Gyrus Krinkle	Incident on Ranger 7
	Masters of Horror	Edgar Allan Poe	The Black Cat
2008	Cold Case	Sly Borden	Spiders
2009	Batman: The Brave and the Bold	Kite Man	Long Arm of the Law
2010	Transformers: Prime	Ratchet
	The Avengers: Earth's Mightiest Heroes	The Leader	Breakout, Part 1, Thor the Mighty, Assault on 42
	Scooby-Doo! Mystery Incorporated	Professor Hatecraft
2012	Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles	The Rat King / Dr. Falco	Monkey Brains; I, Monster
	Thundercats	Soul Sever	The Soul Sever
2013	Castle	Gary Moore	Death Gone Crazy