Saul Rubinek
Saul Rubinek (born 2 July 1948; age 77) is the German-born Canadian actor who played Kivas Fajo in the Star Trek: The Next Generation third season episode "The Most Toys".
Rubinek was born in the Föhrenwald displaced persons camp in Wolfratshausen, Allied-occupied Germany, the son of Polish-born Jewish parents. The family immigrated to Canada the year Rubinek was born. He is married to producer Elinor Reid, with whom he has had two children.
Television work
Episodic
Regular and recurring roles
Rubinek had a recurring role on NBC's Frasier as Daphne Moon's fiancé, Donny Douglas, from 1999 through 2002. That series starred fellow Next Generation guest actor Kelsey Grammer. Rubinek also had a recurring role as reporter Lon Cohen in the 2001-2002 A&E TV series A Nero Wolfe Mystery (with Bill Smitrovich), after initially playing detective Saul Panzer in the 2000 series pilot, The Golden Spiders: A Nero Wolfe Mystery.
In addition, Rubinek made recurring appearances on CBS' The Equalizer (starring Robert Lansing and Keith Szarabajka) and Blind Justice. He also had two-episode recurring roles in The Practice (1998-99, with Paul Dooley, Stephen Macht, Lawrence Pressman and David Ogden Stiers), Once And Again (2001 & 2002, starring Billy Campbell, Jeffrey Nordling and Susanna Thompson), and Curb Your Enthusiasm (2004, with Boris Krutonog, James B. Sikking and Don Stark).
Rubinek's first regular series role was that of neurotic financial reporter Alan Mesnick in CBS' Ink. He more recently starred on Syfy's Warehouse 13 as Warehouse guru Artie Nielsen. This series was co-created by Jane Espenson (writer, DS9: "Accession"), and also starred Star Trek regulars Brent Spiner, Kate Mulgrew, Jeri Ryan, René Auberjonois and Armin Shimerman as well as Trek guest actors Faran Tahir, Mark A. Sheppard, Erick Avari, Joel Grey and Todd Stashwick. In a five-minute behind-the-scenes interview in 2012, [1] Rubinek and Brent Spiner, who has guest starred in several episodes of the series, revealed their long history of friendship since their stage acting days, with fond references to Rubinek's antagonistic portrayals opposite Spiner in "The Most Toys".
Science fiction shows
Since appearing on The Next Generation, Rubinek has made a few return trips to the realm of science fiction television. He appeared in two episodes of the 1990s revival of The Outer Limits, one in 1995 ("Caught in the Act") and another in 1999 ("Tribunal"). In 2004, he was seen on Sci-Fi Channel's Stargate SG-1 in the two-part episode "Heroes", starring Richard Dean Anderson and Michael Shanks.
In 2005, Rubinek made an appearance on Lost, co-created by J.J. Abrams and Damon Lindelof and starring Daniel Dae Kim and Terry O'Quinn. The following year, Rubinek guest-starred on Eureka, working with Salli Elise Richardson, Matt Frewer, and director Michael Grossman.
Guest spots
In addition to the above, Rubinek has guest-starred on such drama series as Hill Street Blues (starring James B. Sikking and Barbara Bosson), L.A. Law, Psych (both also featuring Corbin Bernsen), Law & Order, NYPD Blue, and Leverage. In 2008, he was seen on ABC's Boston Legal, where he played the client of an attorney portrayed by Alan Ruck. Also appearing in Rubinek's episode ("Kill, Baby, Kill") were series regulars John Larroquette and William Shatner and fellow guest star Bill Smitrovich.
TV movies
Rubinek was nominated for a Genie Award by the Academy of Canadian Cinema & Television for his performance in The Wordsmith (1979). In 1983, both he and Rosalind Chao appeared in The Terry Fox Story. Rubinek was later featured in And the Band Played On (1993, with Reg E. Cathey, David Clennon, Richard Fancy, Thomas Kopache, Clyde Kusatsu, Dakin Matthews, Lawrence Monoson, Jeffrey Nordling and Sierra Pecheur).
In 1998, The Academy of Canadian Cinema & Television nominated Rubinek for a Gemini Award for his performance in the 1995 TV movie Hiroshima, in which Ken Jenkins and Kenneth Welsh also appeared. Rubinek's subsequent made-for-TV movie credits include 2002's Gleason (starring Terry Farrell), And Starring Pancho Villa as Himself (2003, with Michael McKean), and Call Me: The Rise and Fall of Heidi Fleiss (2004, with Corbin Bernsen). He also appeared as Hastings "Hasty" Hathaway in Jesse Stone: Night Passage (2006), Jesse Stone: Sea Change (2006), and Jesse Stone: No Remorse (2006). Stephen McHattie appeared in all of these movies; William Sadler had a role in the latter two.
Film work
Rubinek has received Genie Award nominations for his performances in five feature films: Agency (1980), Ticket to Heaven (1981), By Design (1982), The Outside Chance of Maximilian Glick (1988), and Pale Saints (1997). He won for Ticket to Heaven, a drama in which he co-starred with Kim Cattrall and Meg Foster, also starring Robert Joy. Rubinek has since worked with Cattrall on The Bonfire of the Vanities (1990, starring Tom Hanks, with F. Murray Abraham, Kirsten Dunst, Richard Libertini and Terry Farrell) and in the 1999 Turner Network Television movie 36 Hours to Die.
Rubinek had supporting roles in Wall Street (1987, starring Martin Sheen, with Lauren Tom, Paul Guilfoyle, Chris Nelson Norris and Jerry Rector), Unforgiven (1992, with John Pyper-Ferguson and Anthony James), and True Romance (1993, with Christian Slater). Rubinek and Slater again worked together in The Contender (2000) and Pursued (2004). Rubinek, Slater and their co-stars from The Contender won the Alan J. Pakula Award from the Broadcast Film Critics Association Awards for their work on that film.
In addition, Rubinek had roles in two movies revolving around former United States President Richard M. Nixon: Nixon (1995, with Robert Beltran, Paul Sorvino, David Paymer, Bill Bolender, Tony Plana, Wilson Cruz and Victor Rivers); and Dick (1995, with Kirsten Dunst and Terri Garr). In the former, he portrayed Nixon aide Herb Klein; in the latter, he played Henry Kissinger, the role Paul Sorvino played in Nixon. Henry Kissinger has also been portrayed by fellow Next Generation, guest star Theodore Bikel (in the 1989 TV movie The Final Days).
Rubinek's other feature film credits during the 1980s and 1990s include Nothing Personal (1980, with Derek McGrath), Young Doctors in Love (1982, with Hamilton Camp and Deborah Lacey), Against All Odds (1984, with costumes designed by Michael Kaplan), Man Trouble (1992, with David Clennon and Michael McKean), Death Wish V: The Face of Death (1995, with Robert Joy), Getting Even with Dad (1994, with Ron Canada), and Memory Run (1996, with Matt McCoy). Rubinek later appeared in The Family Man (2000, with Ruth Williamson), Rush Hour 2 (2001, with Harris Yulin), The Singing Detective (2003, with Alfre Woodard), Baadasssss! (2003, with Vincent Schiavelli), The Express: The Ernie Davis Story (2008, with Clancy Brown), and Julia (2009, with Jude Ciccolella). In 2010, he had a supporting role in Barney's Version, with Bruce Greenwood.