John Schuck Biography

Conrad John Schuck Jr. (born February 4, 1940) is an American actor, primarily in stage, movies and television. He is best known for his roles as police commissioner Rock Hudson's mildly slow-witted assistant, Sgt. Charles Enright in the 1970s crime drama McMillan & Wife, and as Lee Meriwether's husband, Herman Munster in the 1980s sitcom, The Munsters Today. Schuck is also known for his work on Star Trek movies and television series, often playing a Klingon character, as well as his recurring roles as Draal on Babylon 5 and as Chief of Detectives Muldrew of the New York City Police Department in the Law & Order programs, especially Law & Order: Special Victims Unit.

Career

Schuck was born in Boston, Massachusetts, the son of Mary (née Hamilton) and Conrad John Schuck Sr., an English professor at SUNY Buffalo. He made his first theatrical appearances at Denison University, and after graduating continued his career at the Cleveland Play House, Baltimore's Center Stage, and finally the American Conservatory Theater, where he was discovered by Robert Altman. Schuck's first appearance in film was the role of Captain Walter Koskiusko "Painless Pole" Waldowski in Altman's film M*A*S*H. (As Painless, Schuck holds a place in Hollywood history as the first person to utter the word fuck[ing] in a major studio film.) He went on to appear in several more Altman films: Brewster McCloud, McCabe & Mrs. Miller, and Thieves Like Us.

From 1971-1977, he appeared as Sergeant Charles Enright in McMillan & Wife and also starred as an overseer in the miniseries Roots: The Saga Of An American Family. In 1976, he played Gregory "Yo-Yo" Yoyonovich in the short-lived series Holmes & Yo-Yo. He starred in ABC's 1979 TV holiday special The Halloween That Almost Wasn't (a.k.a. The Night Dracula Saved the World) as the Frankenstein Monster. He was also a regular "guest celebrity" on game shows in the 1970s and 1980s, appearing as a celebrity guest on such programs in this genre as Pyramid, Hollywood Squares, Password Plus and Super Password, and The Cross-Wits. Appearing under the name "John Schuck" in the summer of 1979, he made his Broadway debut playing the role of Oliver "Daddy" Warbucks as a replacement in the original Broadway musical comedy, Annie, at the Alvin Theatre in New York City, for a special three-week engagement. In 1980, Schuck began acting out the replacement role of Oliver Warbucks as a "regular replacement" in Annie, on Broadway, for a year and a half, along with Allison Smith as Annie and Alice Ghostley as Miss Hannigan. It was around this time that he married actress Susan Bay (a cousin of director Michael Bay, she later married Schuck's Star Trek IV co-star Leonard Nimoy), and in 1981, the two had a son together named Aaron Bay-Schuck. They divorced in 1983. He later married West Coast artist Ms. Harrison Houlé, whose website came to contain much of the information that was known about him.

Later career

In 1986, Schuck took the role of a Klingon ambassador in Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home. He reprised the role in 1991 in Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country, becoming one of only six guest roles to appear in more than one Star Trek motion picture. (The others were the characters of David Marcus, Saavik, Sarek, and Fleet Admiral Cartwright.) He also guest starred in Star Trek: Deep Space Nine as Legate Parn, Star Trek: Voyager as Chorus #3, Star Trek: Enterprise as Antaak, and Babylon 5 as Draal in "The Long, Twilight Struggle" (1995). In 1994, he appeared as Ralgha nar Hhallas (callsign Hobbes) in Wing Commander III: Heart of the Tiger. In 1995, he and Larry Linville celebrated the 25th anniversary of the film M*A*S*H* (Schuck in the movie version and Linville in TV show). and subsequently guest-starred in several episodes of Law & Order: Special Victims Unit as the NYPD Chief of Detectives Muldrew.

Appearing as Conrad John Schuck, he opened in the role of Daddy Warbucks in the Broadway revival of Annie in December 2006 and toured nationally in that role. He later appeared in the films Holy Matrimony and String of the Kite.

In 2013, he appeared as Senator Max Evergreen in "Nice Work If You Can Get It."