Arne Starr, Trek's Jack Of All Trades, Part 1

You know Arne Starr, but you may not even realize it. Starr is an actor and illustrator, and his connections to Star Trek are numerous, extensive and, to quote an old Vulcan friend, fascinating. He worked on 70 Trek comic books over the years, has appeared as a guest at many conventions, studied acting with Trek’s Sarek, Mark Lenard, and was close friends with William Campbell. More recently, Starr turned up in Star Trek (2009) as an engineer aboard the Enterprise, not to mention episodes of Grey's Anatomy, NCIS: Los Angeles, Mad Men, 90210 and more, often on a recurring basis. Over the course of an extensive two-part e-mail interview, Starr recounted in tremendous detail his various experiences, covering his career(s) in general and Star Trek specifically. Below is part one, and visit StarTrek.com again tomorrow to read part two.

Which of your Trek books were you personally most proud of, and why?

STARR: My favorite book is the Star Trek VI adaptation that we did. I always felt it was Gordon (Purcell’s) and my best work. Best-looking for sure.

By our count, you ended up working on 70 Trek comic books, most of them TOS adventures, mostly at DC and a few for Malibu. Does that sound right, and how long was your tenure on Trek, from when to when?

STARR: That sounds about right. Something like ’87-’95 would be my guestimate.

Do you still follow Trek comics these days? If so, which do you enjoy?

You are an actor and comic book illustrator. How does one become both, and which came first?

How did you get into illustrating, and when and how did you connect with DC Comics to work on their Trek books?

You then got married and moved with your wife to Connecticut…

Which brings us to Star Trek…

Click HERE to visit Starr's official site. And come back tomorrow to read part two of our StarTrek.com interview with Starr.