Don Marshall, Actor on ‘Star Trek’ and ‘Land of the Giants,’ Dies at 80

Don Marshall, who appeared on TV shows including “Star Trek,” “Land of the Giants” and “Julia,” died Sunday in Los Angeles. He was 80.

Fellow “Star Trek” cast member BarBara Luna reported his death on Facebook and said that he died peacefully with his daughter, son and twin brother Doug Marshall at his side.

On “Star Trek,” he played Lt. Boma in “The Galileo Seven” episode in 1967. On the late 1960s sci-fi drama “Land of the Giants,” he had a recurring role as Dan Erickson.

Among his other TV guest roles were as one of Diahann Carroll’s boyfriends on groundbreaking series “Julia” and on series including “Bewitched,” “The Bionic Woman,” “The Incredible Hulk” and “Little House on the Prairie.”

Marshall said he was grateful to get the role at a time when there were so few opportunities for African-American actors. “There weren’t that many jobs, guest starring jobs, for African-Americans or any minorities, really. I was very grateful to get the opportunities I got, and it made me work very hard on each part, to make sure that whatever I was doing was right and that the characters I played were very strong people. I tried to bring out the best in the person I played,” he told StarTrek.com.

Born in San Diego, he started out as an engineering student. Marshall also appeared in films including “The Thing With Two Heads” and “Uptown Saturday Night.” He often mentioned in interviews that he was working on a remake of “Land of the Giants.”