René Murat Auberjonois

René Murat Auberjonois (Odo on Star Trek: Deep Space Nine) was born into an already artistic family, which included his grandfather, a well-known Swiss painter, and his father Fernand, a writer. After leaving Paris, the Auberjonois family moved into an Artist’s Colony in upstate New York. At an early age, René was surrounded by musicians, composers, and actors. Among his neighbors were Helen Hayes, Burgess Meredith and John Houseman, who would later become an important mentor.

In 1969, he won a role in his first Broadway musical,Coco (with Katharine Hepburn), for which he won a Tony. Since then, René has acted in a variety of theater productions, films, and television presentations, including a rather famous stint as Clayton Endicott III on the comedy series Benson.

Since DS9 ended in 1999, René has kept busy as a guest star on numerous television series (includingThe Practice, Judging Amy, Enterprise, and Frasier), and as a regular on ABC’s TV series Boston Legal as Paul Lewiston, colleague and nemesis to Denny Crane (William Shatner).

René says of his role as Odo: “I have had my share of successes and my share of flops. But nothing has ever been like this. Deep Space Nine is completely beyond anything that I have ever experienced.”