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{{BLP sources|date=February 2010}}
{{Infobox actor
| name            = Michael Ansara
| image           =
| imagesize       =
| caption         =
| birthname       =
| birthdate       = {{birth date and age|1922|4|15}}
| birthplace      = [[Syria]]
| deathdate       =
| deathplace      =
| othername       =
| occupation      = Actor
| yearsactive     = 1944&ndash;2001
| spouse          = {{marriage|Beverly Kushida|1977||}}<br>[[Barbara Eden]] (1958-1974) (divorced)<br>[[Jean Byron]] (1949-1956) (divorced)
}}

'''Michael Ansara''' (born April 15, 1922) is a stage, screen and voice [[actor]], best known for his portrayal of [[Cochise]] in the American television series ''[[Broken Arrow (TV series)|Broken Arrow]]'', and as Commander Kang on three different ''[[Star Trek]]'' TV series.

==Biography==
===Early life and career===
Ansara was born in [[Syria]], and his family emigrated to the [[United States]] when he was two years old. They resided in [[Lowell, Massachusetts]], for a decade before moving to California. He originally wanted to be a physician, but developed a passion for becoming a performer after he began taking acting classes to overcome his shyness.

It was the popular TV series ''[[Broken Arrow (TV series)|Broken Arrow]]'' (1956), where he played the lead role of [[Cochise]], that raised Ansara's profile and made him a household name on television. While making the series, the [[20th Century Fox]] Publicity Department arranged a date between Ansara and actress [[Barbara Eden]]. The two later married and Ansara guest-starred on Eden's ''[[I Dream of Jeannie]]'' series, as the Blue Djinn, who had imprisoned Jeannie in a bottle. He also played [[King Kamehameha I|King Kamehameha]] in the Jeannie episode "The Battle of Waikiki". Michael Ansara and Barbara Eden divorced in 1974. The couple had one son together, actor [[Matthew Ansara]], who died on June 25, 2001 of a [[heroin]] [[Drug overdose|overdose]].

Another success of Ansara was the TV series ''[[Law of the Plainsman]]'' (1959, with [[Gina Gillespie]] and [[Robert Harland]]), where he performed as Indian U.S. [[Marshal]] ''Sam Buckhart''. Also in 1959, Ansara was the guest star in an episode of ''[[The Rifleman]]'', playing Native American U.S. Marshal Sam Buckhart. In 1961, he appeared as Carl in the episode "Night Visitors" of the [[NBC]] [[anthology series]] ''[[The Barbara Stanwyck Show]]''.

Michael Ansara also played in the Biblical epics ''[[The Robe (film)|The Robe]]'' (1953) as Judas, ''[[The Ten Commandments (1956 film)|The Ten Commandments]]'' (1956) as the taskmaster and ''[[The Greatest Story Ever Told]]'' (1965) as Herod's commander. Ansara also appeared in the 1953 movie ''Slaves of Babylon''.

===Later career===
In 1961, Ansara played the role of Miguel Alvarez, co-starring with Barbara Eden, in the film ''[[Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea]]'', and also with [[Walter Pidgeon]], who played the role of Admiral Harriman Nelson.

Ansara played The Ruler on episode 12, "The Challenge", of the TV series ''[[Lost in Space]]'' (March 2, 1966) with a young [[Kurt Russell]] as his son Quano and, later that same year, in the feature film ''[[Texas Across the River]]'' with [[Dean Martin]]. He also appeared in 1966 as Red Sky in the ''[[Daniel Boone (TV series)|Daniel Boone]]'' television series.

In 1967, Ansara guest starred in the episode "A War for the Gravediggers" of the NBC western series ''[[The Road West]]'' starring [[Barry Sullivan (actor)|Barry Sullivan]], [[Andrew Prine]], and [[Glenn Corbett]].

In 1969, Ansara guest starred in the episode "[[List of Land of the Giants episodes|On a Clear Night You Can See Earth]]" as Murtrah in the ABC TV series ''[[Land of the Giants]]''.

In 1973, he guest starred in the penultimate episode ("The Western") of the original CBS TV series ''[[Mission: Impossible]]''.

In 1977, he starred in the movie ''[[Mohammad, Messenger of God]]'' (also titled ''The Message'') about the origin of Islam, and the message of prophet Mohammad.

Ansara played [[Killer Kane]] in the 1979-1980 season of ''[[Buck Rogers in the 25th Century (TV series)|Buck Rogers in the 25th Century]]'', and previously played two different characters in two episodes of the 1966 science fiction TV series ''[[The Time Tunnel]]''. In episode #11, he played Colonel Hruda and in episode #28 played The Curator. He also played the title role in the acclaimed ''[[The Outer Limits (1963 TV series)|The Outer Limits]]'' original series episode "[[Soldier (The Outer Limits)|Soldier]]", written by [[Harlan Ellison]]. He narrated [[Paul Goble]]'s "The Gift of the Sacred Dog" at [[Crow Agency, Montana]], on June 17, 1983, and Sheila MacGill Callahan's "And Still the Turtle Watched" on October 21, 1993, on the [[Public Broadcasting Service|PBS]] series ''[[Reading Rainbow]]''.

Also in 1979, he starred in the acclaimed miniseries ''[[Centennial (TV miniseries)|Centennial]]'', based on the [[Centennial (novel)|novel]] by [[James A. Michener]]. In it, he played the great Indian leader Lame Beaver, whose descendants are showcased throughout the centuries, alongside the growth of the West and the eponymous town the novel and miniseries is named after.

In 1994, Ansara portrayed the [[Technomage]] Elric in the science fiction TV series ''[[Babylon 5]]'', in the episode "[[The Geometry of Shadows]]".

In recent years, he performed voice-acting as [[Mr. Freeze]] in ''[[Batman: The Animated Series]]'' as well as one of its two spin-off animated movies, ''[[Batman & Mr. Freeze: SubZero]]'', an episode of ''[[Batman Beyond]]'' <ref>{{IMDB name|0030516}}</ref> and the video game spin-off, ''[[Batman Vengeance]]''.

===''Star Trek''===
He is one of six actors to play the same character (Kang) on three different ''Star Trek'' TV series - the original series ("Day of the Dove"), ''Deep Space Nine'' ("Blood Oath") and ''Voyager'' ("Flashback"). The other actors who hold this distinction are [[Jonathan Frakes]] (Riker; TNG, ''Voyager'' and ''Enterprise''), [[Marina Sirtis]] (Troi; TNG, ''Voyager'' and ''Enterprise''), [[Armin Shimerman]] (Quark; TNG, DS9 and ''Voyager''), [[John de Lancie]] (Q; TNG, DS9 and ''Voyager''), and [[Richard Poe]] (Gul Evek; TNG, DS9 and ''Voyager''). He also provided the voice of [[Q (Star Trek)|Q's]] supervisor in the ''Next Generation'' episode "[[True Q]]" and played [[List of minor recurring characters in Star Trek: The Next Generation#Lwaxana Troi|Lwaxana Troi]]'s husband Jeyal on the ''Deep Space Nine'' episode, "[[The Muse (Star Trek: Deep Space Nine)|The Muse]]".

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
* {{IMDB name|id=0030516|name=Michael Ansara}}
* {{ibdb name|90577}}
* {{amg name|id=1875|name=Michael Ansara}}
{{memoryalpha}}
* {{BabylonProject}}

{{Persondata <!-- Metadata: see [[Wikipedia:Persondata]]. -->
| NAME              =Ansara, Michael
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES =
| SHORT DESCRIPTION =
| DATE OF BIRTH     =April 15, 1922
| PLACE OF BIRTH    =[[Syria]]
| DATE OF DEATH     =
| PLACE OF DEATH    =
}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ansara, Michael}}
[[Category:1922 births]]
[[Category:Actors from Massachusetts]]
[[Category:American film actors]]
[[Category:American stage actors]]
[[Category:American television actors]]
[[Category:American voice actors]]
[[Category:American people of Syrian descent]]
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:People from Lowell, Massachusetts]]

[[de:Michael Ansara]]
[[ro:Michael Ansara]]
[[fi:Michael Ansara]]