Most people recognize Clint Howard as "Ron Howard's brother" or that guy who pops up in basically every B-movie and cult classic from the last fifty years. But for Trek fans, he’s much more than a prolific character actor. He is the ultimate bridge. He’s the only human being on the planet who can say they’ve appeared in the original 1960s series and then showed up in the modern Paramount+ era nearly six decades later.
Honestly, it’s a weird record to hold.
When Clint first stepped onto the bridge of the Enterprise, he was seven years old. Lyndon B. Johnson was in the White House. People were still processing the moon landing as a future possibility, not a historical event. By the time he made his most recent appearance in 2023, the world—and the franchise—had changed completely. Yet, there he was. Clint Howard on Star Trek isn't just a series of cameos; it’s a living timeline of science fiction history.
The Tranya-Chugging Alien That Started It All
In 1966, Clint played Balok in the episode "The Corbomite Maneuver." If you haven't seen it in a while, it's the one where Kirk bluffs a massive, terrifying alien ship by claiming the Enterprise is filled with a deadly substance called "Corbomite."
For most of the episode, Balok is a scary, puppet-like face on a screen. But the "real" Balok? He was just a little kid in a weird outfit.
That kid was Clint.
He didn't actually provide the voice—that was veteran voice actor Walker Edmiston—but Clint’s performance was remarkably poised for a first-grader. He sat there, offered Kirk a drink called Tranya, and told them he hoped they "relish it as much as I." Fun fact: Clint has mentioned in interviews that the Tranya was actually just room-temperature grapefruit juice, which he absolutely hated. He had to fake that smile every time he took a sip.
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Decades later, George Lucas would reportedly see Clint at an audition and immediately shout, "Balok! Corbomite Maneuver!" Even the creator of Star Wars was a fan of that specific performance.
From Homeless Prophecy to Ferengi Greed
Star Trek went dark for a long time after the original series was canceled. When it came back in the 90s, Clint eventually found his way back home.
In Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, he appeared in the two-part episode "Past Tense." This wasn't a cute alien role. He played Grady, a homeless man suffering from mental illness in a 2124 San Francisco "Sanctuary District." It was a gritty, uncomfortable role. Grady was convinced that aliens were coming to get him. The irony? He was actually talking to time-traveling Starfleet officers.
It showed a different side of Clint's range. He wasn't just a gimmick; he was a working actor who could handle the heavy, socially conscious themes DS9 was known for.
Then came Star Trek: Enterprise.
In the episode "Acquisition," Clint donned the heavy prosthetics to play Muk, a Ferengi pirate. This was a "Trekkie's dream" episode because it featured other franchise legends like Jeffrey Combs and Ethan Phillips. Muk was greedy, bumbling, and everything you’d expect from an early-era Ferengi. At this point, Clint was becoming the franchise's lucky charm.
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The Modern Era and Breaking the Longevity Record
Most actors would be retired or at least finished with a franchise after fifty years. Not Clint.
When Star Trek: Discovery launched, showrunner Akiva Goldsman—who had worked with Clint’s brother Ron on A Beautiful Mind—called him up. He played a "Creepy Orion" in the season one finale. It was a brief, drug-peddling cameo on the Klingon homeworld, but it was significant. It officially meant Clint had appeared in the 60s, the 90s, the 2000s, and the 2010s.
But the real kicker came in 2023.
In the Star Trek: Strange New Worlds episode "Under the Cloak of War," Clint played Commander Buck Martinez. No green paint. No giant ears. Just a jaded, war-torn Starfleet medical officer during the Klingon War.
Why this matters:
- The Gap: 56 years and 8 months between his first and most recent appearance.
- The Consistency: He has appeared in every live-action era of the show.
- The Link: He is the only actor to have worked with both the TOS era and the SNW era as a guest star.
Martinez was a "no-nonsense" commander running a mobile hospital. He looked like a man who had seen too much, which was a far cry from the seven-year-old drinking grapefruit juice on the Fesarius. It felt like a full-circle moment for the fans.
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Why Clint Howard Still Matters to Trek
It's easy to dismiss these as just "Easter eggs" for the die-hards. But there's something deeper happening. Star Trek is a show about the future, yet it is deeply obsessed with its own past.
Clint Howard represents the continuity of the human experience within that fiction. He’s been there through the campy sets of the 60s, the political drama of the 90s, and the cinematic high-budget world of today. He’s played humans, Orions, Ferengis, and First Federation members.
He’s basically the "Everyman" of the galaxy.
If you're looking to track his legacy, start with "The Corbomite Maneuver" and jump straight to "Under the Cloak of War." The contrast is wild. You see a child actor become a seasoned veteran in real-time, all while the ships around him get shinier and the stories get more complex.
Actionable Insight for Fans:
If you want to catch the hidden "Balok" callback in Discovery that was actually cut, look for the scene where Clint’s Orion character offers Tilly the "vapors." In the original script, he was supposed to turn around and offer her a glass of Tranya as a wink to the fans. Even though it didn't make the final edit, the fact that the writers even thought of it proves that Clint Howard's DNA is baked into the very fabric of Star Trek. Keep an eye on the next live-action series—odds are, Clint isn't done with Starfleet just yet.