Vaughn Dale Armstrong (born July 7, 1950 in Sonora, California) is an American actor.
Vaughn Armstrong is one of the longest-serving actors in the Star Trek franchise, having appeared in every Trek series (save the original). He has played twelve different characters over the years - a record unmatched by any other actor in Trek.
Armstrong's first appearance in Trek was in the Star Trek: The Next Generation episode Heart of Glory in which he played Commander Korris, a renegade Klingon who stole a cargo ship and tried to use it to attack his fellow Klingons (who he believed had gone "soft"). His other characters are:
While his most recent character, Admiral Forrest, was killed in action on Star Trek: Enterprise, Armstrong got the chance to play Forrest again in the two-part episode "In a Mirror, Darkly", in which the Mirror Universe version of Forrest appears.
Outside of Star Trek, Armstrong also appeared on Babylon 5 as a security guard affiliated with the Nightwatch in the episodes Messages from Earth and Point of No Return. He appeared in an episode of Seinfeld as a detective, and in Quantum Leap, he guest starred in the episode "It's A Wonderful Leap" as Fred Trump (father of Donald Trump), alongside future Enterprise co-star Scott Bakula. Armstrong has also appeared in such classic feature films as Cinderella 2000 and The Philadelphia Experiment.
Armstrong's talents also extend into the musical arena. He has mastered the Ukelele, using a "banjo"-style ukulele he made himself. With it he entertains audiences with Civil War-era songs and roots music, leading into the blues music he plays with others. His Trek-related blues songs are popular at convention appearances. His filk-song band, The Enterprise Blues Band, includes fellow Trek actors Richard Herd (Owen Paris), Steve Rankin (Colonel Green and other roles), and Casey Biggs (Damar). He has joked onstage during conventions that he is the innovator of Klingon "gutbucket" music, and Andorian blues.
