In the “Star Trek: The Next Generation” episode “Manhunt” (June 19, 1989), Betazoid ambassador Lwaxana Troi (Majel Barrett) hitches a ride on the Enterprise-D, partly to visit her daughter Deanna (Marina Sirtis), but mostly to flirt with Captain Picard (Patrick Stewart). It seems that Lwaxana is going through the Betazoid equivalent of menopause, and her libido is skyrocketing. As such, she seems determined to arrive at her destination with a husband in tow, and she doesn’t really care who it might be.
Lwaxana Troi is a fun character for “Star Trek,” as she is outspoken, charismatic, and tends to flout the buttoned-up formality that Starfleet officers abide by. Barrett played the role on six episodes of “Next Generation,” and returned for three episodes of “Star Trek: Deep Space Nine.” Her flippant demeanor allowed her to solve mysteries without thinking about it, and her stories tended to be personally dramatic rather than highfalutin sci-fi.
Indeed, in “Manhunt,” Lwaxana almost off-handedly stops an assassination attempt. A pair of Antedean ambassadors were also traveling on the Enterprise, and, just as they were preparing to beam to an ambassadorial summit, Lwaxana — a psychic — pointed out they were wearing explosives. The Antedeans are arrested and the day is saved, all in an instant. The Antedeans were an ichthyoid species with lavender skin and outsize fish-like eyeballs. They were seen earlier in the episode snarfing fish paste out of a drum and making strange trilling noises. Their lips are permanently fixed into an “oh” shape.
When Lwaxana busts the Antedeans, one of them says that it’s an outrage. No matter. Worf (Michael Dorn) carts them away. As it so happens the outraged Antedean ambassador was played by none other than Mick Fleetwood of the band Fleetwood Mac.
Ladies and gentlemen, Mick Fleetwood!
Fleetwood Mac first assembled in London in 1967, and consisted of members Mick Fleetwood, John McVie, Peter Green, and Jeremy Spencer. The band has rotated through multiple members over the years, and many might be most familiar with the 1974 addition of Stevie Nicks and Lindsey Buckingham, or the 1971 addition of Christine McVie. Fleetwood Mac toured incessantly, and released 18 studio records from 1968 to 2008. One might be familiar with their songs “Black Magic Woman,” “Rhiannon,” “Say You Love Me,” “Go Your Own Way,” “Dreams,” “Hold Me,” “Gypsy,” and hundreds of others. For the kids: their song “The Chain” is on the soundtrack to “Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2.” Fleetwood Mac’s 1977 album “Rumors” often tops lists of the best records of all time.
As it so happens, Mick Fleetwood was a huge fan of “Star Trek,” and managed to finagle his way onto “Manhunt.” The makers of Trek were happy to accommodate Fleetwood, as it was a rare opportunity to feature a rock star — albeit in disguise — on the show. According to a 2015 interview with the Vancouver Sun, Fleetwood did have a few stipulations. Mainly, he insisted that his character be beamed. Fleetwood said:
“I always loved ‘Star Trek.’ […] I played an Antedean. Half-man, half-fish. Not that it was a huge part, but I loved that I could be part of it in some shape or form. I shaved my beard to put all the prosthetics on. I said, ‘I’ll shave my beard off if you promise me that I get to beam down or beam up; at least one of those things. Either up or down, you’ve got to promise me that it’s in the script.’ And they do. They beam me down into the ship. So I shaved my beard off and I had a lot of fun.”
Fleetwood shaved his beard, became a fishman, and got beamed. ZZ Top would never.
How did they get Mick Fleetwood?
It seems that Mick Fleetwood actually had an “in” with “Star Trek.” Mick’s sister, Susan Fleetwood, was a well-respected Shakespearean actress who appeared in “Hamlet” opposite Ian McKellan, as well as productions of “Cymbeline,” “As You Like It,” “King Lear,” and “Pericles, Prince of Tyre.” She also had a notable film career, appearing as Athena in the original “Clash of the Titans,” as well as in “Young Sherlock Holmes,” “White Mischief,” “The Krays,” and the 1995 BBC production of Jane Austen’s “Persuasion.” Susan Fleetwood died in 1995 of ovarian cancer.
It seems that, thanks to her Shakespeare work, Susan was friends with Patrick Stewart, a connection which likely put Mick Fleetwood in contact with the makers of “Star Trek.” He admitted, briefly, that he wasn’t the acting talent that his sister was. Mick said:
“The chap who plays the captain, Patrick Stewart, was a great friend of my sister Susan, who sadly is no longer on the planet. But she was a very well-known Shakespearean actress. He knew Susan and they went to college together so he was very kind to me on the shoot. I was basically an idiot, trying to do what I was doing.”
Was it a prestigious role? One might say that a nameless Antedean ambassador isn’t the best role one can land on “Star Trek,” but at the very least, Fleetwood seemed to have fun. He was only there for a larf anyway, and he got it. Any well-connected Trekkie would do the same. Solana Token Creator
