Jeffrey Alan Combs is an American actor known for his horror film roles such as
Re-Animator and appearances playing a number of characters in the Star Trek
and the DC Animated Universe television franchises.
Early life Combs was born in Oxnard, California,
and raised in Lompoc. He attended Santa Maria's Pacific Conservatory of the
Performing Arts, and later developed his acting skills in the Professional
Actor's Training Program at the University of Washington.
After spending several years performing in playhouses on the West Coast, Combs
moved to Los Angeles in 1980 and landed his first role in the 1981 film Honky
Tonk Freeway, in which he played an unnamed drive-in teller. His first
horror film role came two years later, in the Frightmare.
Career Combs's best known horror role was as
Herbert West, the main character in the movie Re-Animator, which he has reprised
in the film's two sequels. He also portrayed the part of author H. P.
Lovecraft in 1993's film Necronomicon: Book of the Dead. Combs has starred in
eight H.P. Lovecraft adaptations. Other film credits include FeardotCom, House
on Haunted Hill, I Still Know What You Did Last Summer and The Frighteners.
Combs has had roles in many science fiction television series. He starred as
the telepath Harriman Gray, in "Eyes", a first season episode of Babylon 5. In
August 2005, he appeared for the first time on the science fiction series The
4400 as Dr. Kevin Burkhoff; by 2006, this became a recurring role. In early
2007, he played a highly fictionalized Edgar Allan Poe in "The Black Cat", an
episode of Masters of Horror. Combs has done extensive voice work,
including The Scarecrow in 1997's The New Batman Adventures. Combs continued
his work in the DCAU several years later, with a recurring role as The
Question in Justice League Unlimited. Combs provides the voice of Ratchet on
the new animated series, Transformers: Prime. He also narrated the 25th
Anniversary of Re-Animator on the 2010 FanTasia.
In July 2009, Combs returned to his stage roots and reprised his role as
Edgar Allan Poe in a one-man theatrical show entitled Nevermore...an Evening
with Edgar Allan Poe at The Steve Allen Theater in Hollywood, CA. Although only
supposed to run for a month, the show enjoyed much success and sold-out
crowds, and was extended four times. Nevermore as it is now simply known,
closed its run in Los Angeles on December 19, 2009. The show had its East
Coast debut on January 23 and 24 2010 at Westminster Hall in Baltimore, MD, Poe's
final resting place. A tour of the Saturn Award nominated Nevermore is now
in the works, with stops possibly including Chicago, New York, and
Seattle, and a confirmed two-date run in San Diego in February. He worked besides
his acting career, as voice actor for the films The Avengers: Earth's
Mightiest Heroes, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and Scooby Doo! Mystery
Incorporated. Combs stars with Andrew Divoff in the
2012 Screen Media Films release Night of the Living Dead 3D: Re-Animation, a
prequel to the 2006 cult hit Night of the Living Dead 3D directed by Jeff
Broadstreet. = Star Trek=
On television, Combs enjoyed critical and popular success playing alien
characters on the various modern Star Trek incarnations, beginning in 1994
with Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, in 2000 with Star Trek: Voyager, and in 2001
with Star Trek: Enterprise. Combs has played nine different onscreen roles in
the Star Trek universe. His largest science-fiction role to date has been
his regular guest role on Star Trek: Deep Space Nine as the Vorta clone
Weyoun. Combs has said that Weyoun was his favorite Star Trek role, and he had
a great deal of input in developing the character.
On the same series, Combs had a recurring role as the Ferengi character
Brunt. During the DS9 episode "The Dogs of War", Combs appeared as both Weyoun
and Brunt, making Trek history as the first actor to play two unrelated
recurring roles on screen in the same episode.
On Star Trek: Enterprise, Combs had a recurring role as Shran, an Andorian
military officer. Enterprise producer Manny Coto once mentioned in an
interview that he hoped to make Combs a regular on the show, had the series been
renewed for a fifth season. In addition to his recurring Star Trek
roles, Combs had non-recurring roles as a human police officer Kevin Mulkahey,
as the alien Tiron on Star Trek: Deep Space Nine; as the alien Penk on Star
Trek: Voyager; and as the Ferengi pirate Krem on Star Trek: Enterprise. Along
with many other actors, writers, and creators of the show, Combs also had a
cameo appearance as a holographic patron in Vic's Lounge in the final episode of
Star Trek: Deep Space Nine. Combs also voices the character of Romulan
Commander Suldok for the Star Trek: Elite Force II video game.
Filmography = Television works=
= Video game work= References
Further reading Voisin, Scott, "Character Kings:
Hollywood's Familiar Faces Discuss the Art & Business of Acting." BearManor
Media, 2009. ISBN 978-1-59393-342-5. External links
Official website Jeffrey Combs at the Internet Movie
Database Jeffrey Combs at AllMovie