Armin Shimerman - Actors, Timeline and Life

Armin Shimerman was born on 5th November 1949 in Lakewood Township, New Jersey to Jewish immigrant parents, Herbert Shimerman and Susan Shimerman. While his father Herbert earned his livelihood painting homes, his mother Susan worked as an accountant. At the age of 15, he, along with his family shifted to Los Angeles.

After shifting to Los Angeles, Armin was put in a drama institution by his mother so that he could develop his own social network. He attended Santa Monica High School and was an active member of the school’s band, playing the trumpet. He completed his graduation from the University of California, Los Angeles.

Armin Shimerman was selected to be an apprentice at the Old Globe Theater in San Diego, CA; he was one amongst the eight who were finally picked out of around 900 applicants. He garnered thespian experience as a trainee, doing bit roles in a string of local theatrical productions.

However, he was aware that in order to become a highly sought after stage artist, he’d have to shift to New York City which was the perfect breeding ground for budding theater actors. So, after gaining some professional experience in Old Globe Theater, he finally made the move to Broadway.

Armin’s innate talent coupled with his acquired dramatic skills meant that he did not have to wait inordinately long to find roles in Broadway productions. He was chosen to be a member of the ensemble cast for the Broadway musical ‘Threepenny Opera,’ debuting as a substitute.

Roy Brocksmith, who later on co-starred with him in ‘Peak Performance’—an episode of the Star Trek’s ‘Next Generation’ Series—also was a member of the ‘Threepenny Opera’s cast. The musical drama was staged 306 times from 1st May 1976 to 23rd January 1977.

Shimerman was thereafter cast in the production ‘Saint Joan’ that ran for about three months from December 1977 through February 1978. He was also a part of the cast of the musical ‘I Remember Mama’ that was staged in 1979 wherein he performed as Mr. Thorkelson.

Armin Shimerman again found himself relocating back to Los Angeles, making forays in the small screen industry. He was successful in garnering guest roles in multiple TV shows including ‘The Facts of Life’, ‘Remington Steele’, and ‘Cagney and Lacey’.

Starting from 1987 till 1989, he periodically appeared in the TV series, ‘Beauty and the Beast’ along with his Star Trek co-stars, Tony Jay and Ron Perlman. He has appeared recurrently in popular TV series like ‘Ally McBeal’, ‘Brooklyn Bridge,’ ‘Civil Wars’, ‘Judging Army’, ‘Married… With Children’, and ‘L.A. Law’.

He has several other small roles to his credit including guest spots in ‘Stargate SG-I,’ ‘Sliders’, ‘Charmed’, ‘The Practice’,’ ER’, ‘The West Wing’, ‘Warehouse 13’ and ‘Nip/Tuck’. He also performed in ‘Women at West Point’, ‘Tricks of the Trade’, ‘She Knows Too Much’, ‘Miracle Landing’, ‘Meet the Santas’, ‘Looking for Lola’, and ‘Dead and Deader’.

He was seen alongside Jason Alexander, his co-star in ‘Star Trek: Voyager’ in one episode of ‘Seinfeld’. He also made appearances in the TV programs, ‘ I Had Three Wives’, ‘Baby Girl Scott’, ‘Bulba’, ‘Drexell’s Class’, ‘Great Scott!’, ‘Invisible Man’, ‘Citizen Baines’, ‘Boston Public’, ‘The Handler’, ‘Crossing Jordan’, and ‘Joan of Arcadia’.

Shimerman’s biggest claim to fame as an actor is enacting Quark, the ‘Ferengi’ barkeeper in a succession of televised series of ‘Star Trek’. The most notable amongst these series include ‘Star Trek: The Next Generation’ (1987, 1989, 1994), ‘Star Trek: Deep Space Nine’ (1993-1999), and the ‘Star Trek: Voyager’ (1995). His preferred episode was Deep Space Nine’s ‘Little Green Men’ where he steered a spaceship as its captain.

Besides Star Trek, he is also famous for his persistent portrayal of Principal Snyder in ‘Buffy the Vampire Slayer’, voiceover of Dr. Nefarious in ‘Ratchet & Clank,’ and Pascal in ‘Beauty and the Beast’. He shared screen space with Star Trek actors Ethan Phillips, Rene Auberjonois, and William Shatner in the series ‘Boston Legal’.

Besides excelling on the small screen, Armin Shimerman has made his mark in the celluloid world as well. His roles as Dr. Potter in ‘Atlas Shrugged’ (part I), Hawthorne in ‘Insanitarium’, Gerald in ‘The Works’, Detective Blank in ‘The Auteur Theory’, and Dr. Gottesman in ‘Death Warrant’ were highly praised.

His parts in the movies, ‘Dangerous Curves’, ‘Gangland’, ‘Like Father Like Son’, ‘Stoogemania’, ‘The Hitcher’, ‘Stardust Memories’, ‘Eye for an Eye’, ‘The Urn’, and ‘The Sublime and Beautiful’ were also appreciated.

Armin Shimerman has earned kudos for standing out as a voiceover artist. He has been the voice of several videogame rogues, including General Scar in ‘The Grim Adventures of Billy and Mandy’, Toad in ‘X-Men Legends’, and BioWare in ‘Mass Effect’ and ‘Jade Empire’.

He continues to voice Mohandar and Emil Narud in ‘Star Craft II: Wings of Liberty’ and ‘Star Craft II: Heart of the Swarm’. He gave the voiceover for Wilmer in an audio representation of ‘The Maltese Falcon’ and was the voice of Mr. Phillips in ‘Anne of Green Gables,’ a Focus on the Family Radio Theater production.

The character of Raanu in the DVD animation, ‘Bionicle: The Legend Reborn’ was voiced by Armin. He carries on with voicing Green Goblin in the ‘Marvel Ultimate Alliance 2’ video game.

He merited maximum praise for voicing Dr. Nefarious in multiple episodes of ‘Ratchet & Clank’ including ‘Deadlocked’, ‘Up Your Arsenal’ ‘Quest for Booty’ ‘All 4 One’ and ‘A Crack in Time’.

Armin Shimerman has also co-authored a book series—‘The Merchant Prince’—detailing and elucidating the fictional experiences of Dr. John Dee. Michael Scott, an Irish writer collaborated with Armin to complete penning ‘The Merchant Prince’ series.

Armin Shimerman is married to Kitty Swink, an actress. Kitty has appeared as a guest star on the TV series, ‘DS9’. The couple has been featured together in some tele-films including ‘Like Father Like Son’ (1987) and ‘Just Ask My Children (2001).