Gary Graham, who starred as the human detective who partners with an extraterrestrial newcomer to solve crimes on the Fox sci-fi television franchise Alien Nation, has died. He was 73.
Graham died Monday of cardiac arrest at a hospital in Spokane, Washington, his wife of nearly 25 years, Becky Graham, told The Hollywood Reporter.
In the Star Trek universe, Graham played the Ocampan community leader Tanis on Star Trek: Voyager in 1995; recurred as Ambassador Soval, a Vulcan ambassador to Earth, on Star Trek: Enterprise, from 2001-05; and portrayed the first officer Ragnar in Star Trek: Of Gods and Men (2007) and Star Trek: Renegades from 2015-17.
Graham also stood out as a sleazy dealer of porn films in the Paul Schrader thriller Hardcore (1979), starring George C. Scott, and he was the older brother of Tom Cruise’s character in Michael Chapman’s All the Right Moves (1983).
Graham starred as the L.A. detective Matthew Sikes alongside Eric Pierpoint as George Francisco, an “immigrant” and newcomer from another planet, on Alien Nation, which aired for a season (1989-90) on Fox.
The pair then returned for the telefilms Alien Nation: Dark Horizon (1994), Alien Nation: Body and Soul (1995), Alien Nation: Millennium (1996), Alien Nation: The Enemy Within (1996) and Alien Nation: The Udara Legacy (1997).
The series was an offshoot of a 1988 Alien Nation movie that starred James Caan as Matthew and Mandy Patinkin as the newcomer.
Gary Graham (left) and Eric Pierpoint on Alien Nation
20th Century Fox Film Corp./Courtesy Everett Collection.
Born on June 6, 1950, in Long Beach, California, Gary Rand Graham began showing up on TV in the mid-1970s on such shows as Eight Is Enough, Starsky and Hutch and Police Woman before he made his mark in Hardcore.
Graham’s résumé also included work on television on The Incredible Hulk, Knots Landing, T.J. Hooker, Moonlighting, The Commish, Renegade, Ally McBeal, JAG, Crossing Jordan, Nip/Tuck and in the films Robot Jox (1989), The Last Warrior (1989) and Champion (2017).
In addition to his third wife, survivors include his daughter, Haley, and sisters Colleen and Jeannine.
His first wife, actress Susan Lavelle — she played a newcomer named Usher on an episode of Alien Nation — posted about his death on Facebook.