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BIOGRAPHY – ARMIN SHIMERMAN as Quark
Armin Shimerman plays Quark, the Ferengi bartender who runs all of the entertainment concessions on Deep Space Nine including the bar, restaurant, gambling house and holosuites upstairs. A delightful blend of charm, wiliness, and entrepreneurial greed, Quark holds the distinction of being the only character to have appeared on all three of the latter Star Trek series — “Star Trek: The Next Generation,” STAR TREK: DEEP SPACE NINE and “Star Trek: Voyager.” “Quark’s passions are gold and ‘hew-man’ (the Ferengi word for human) women. . .not always in that order,” says Armin.
During the show’s third season hiatus, Armin worked with Sally Field and Ed Harris on the Paramount feature film “An Eye for an Eye,” directed by John Schlesinger. He also co-starred with Andrew McCarthy, Patsy Kensit and “Star Trek: The Next Generation” alumna Denise Crosby in the Republic Pictures feature film “Dream Man,” in which he portrays District Attorney Van Horne.
Born of immigrant parents and raised in a small farming town in New Jersey, Armin’s family moved to Los Angeles when he was 16 years old. In an effort to help her son meet new people in L.A., Armin’s mother enrolled him in a drama group and, as they say, the rest is history. Upon graduation from the University of California at Los Angeles, he was chosen as one of only eight apprentices out of a field of 900 at the prestigious Old Globe Theater in San Diego. Armin appeared prominently in many regional theater productions for the Tyrone Guthrie Theatre, the Mark Taper Forum, the American Shakespeare Festival, the New York Shakespeare Festival, and the Indiana Repertory Theater. Following a move to New York, Armin landed roles in the Broadway productions of Richard Rodgers’ last musical, “I Remember Mama,” “Broadway” with Chris Sarandon and Teri Garr, “St. Joan” with Lynn Redgrave, and Joe Papp’s production of “Three Penny Opera.”
Armin then returned to his adopted hometown of Los Angeles and his success continued as he appeared in recurring roles in two CBS series. Heportrayed Pascal in “Beauty & The Beast,” and Cousin Bernard in “Brooklyn Bridge.” His other television credits include more than 65 guest-starring roles on such television series as “L.A. Law,” “Married: With Children,” “Civil Wars” and “Seinfeld.”
Perhaps Armin’s most influential guest appearance was in “Star Trek: The Next Generation” when he made his debut as the uncredited Wedding Box in the first season episode entitled “Haven.” Later that season, Armin returned to the set of “The Next Generation” where he portrayed Letek, the first Ferengi ever seen in a Star Trek series, in the episode entitled “The Last Outpost.”
When Armin is not appearing as Quark on STAR TREK: DEEP SPACE NINE, he can be found teaching his unique Shakespearean acting approach to students throughout Los Angeles. A highly sought teacher, Armin has taught at the High School of the Performing Arts, the Theatricum Botanicum, the Tyron Guthrie Theatre, the College of Idaho, several workshop companies, as well as his alma mater, UCLA. He is currently writing two sci-fi novels: One, “The Merchant Prince,” the other a Star Trek novel, “Wheels Within Wheels.” Armin is active as a National Board Member of the Screen Actors Guild.
