JOHN de LANCIE

John de Lancie, the founding partner of Alien Voices®, Inc., is an actor with a reputation for playful sophistication.

John de Lancie

1997 Alien Voices®, Inc. All Rights Reserved

Raised in Philadelphia, de Lancie distinguished himself early-on in life by flunking the fifth grade, but not before racking up the most detentions ever given a child his age. They thought he was "a little slow," but later discovered he was simply dyslexic. At 14, he played the part of Henry V in the school play. To everyone's astonishment, including his own, he was good. This fact was not lost on his father, who, thinking "any port in a storm," suggested that John become an actor. The die was cast.

After four years at Julliard on scholarship, de Lancie joined the American Shakespeare Festival in Stratford. At the close of the summer season he was offered a contract with Universal Studios.

For two years he worked as a contract player on over 35 television shows including the acclaimed mini-series "Black Beauty," "Little Women," "The Thornbirds" and "Captains and Kings." But by 1980, his sense of humor could no longer be contained by a studio contract.

That was when he created a character by the name of Eugene Bradford for the daytime series "Days of Our Lives."

1997 Alien Voices®, Inc. All Rights Reserved

What ensued was a very successful three year romp (on screen) with actress Arlene Sorkin that broke the mold of staid daytime TV, garnering for the team, two People's Choice awards. De Lancie's acceptance speech is still aired, years later, as he thanks, "in order of importance, those elements instrumental to my success: props, cue cards and the lunch truck."

That twist on nearly all the characters he's played continued with de Lancie's next major role as the omnipotent "Q" on "Star Trek: The Next Generation"®. While appearing only nine times in eight years, the cult popularity of this character is so pervasive that de Lancie's likeness has appeared on countless merchandising and promotional products from chess sets to dinner plates. He has been the subject of hundreds of stories (some authorized, some not) and has won, time after time, the popular votes for "Best Villain," "Best Recurring" and "Best Loved" character in the show.


John de Lancie talking about Alien Voices!

1997 Alien Voices®, Inc. All Rights Reserved

His film roles include "The Hand that Rocks the Cradle," "The Fisher King," "Bad Influence," "The Onion Field," "Taking Care of Business," "Arcade," "Deep Red," "Fearless" and "Multiplicity."

John de Lancie performing in "The First Men In The Moon!"

1997 Alien Voices®, Inc. All Rights Reserved

Over the years, de Lancie has performed at the Mark Taper Forum, the Seattle Repertory Company and the South Coast Repertory. He is a popular concert narrator, having performed with Kurt Masur and the New York Philharmonic, Esa-Pekka Salonen and the LA Philharmonic and the U.S. Army Band. He is a regular fixture at the Aspen Music Festival with appearances in "Fidelio," "Midsummer Night's Dream" and "Le Bourgeois Gentilhomme." He is Associate Director of L.A. Theatre Works, the producing arm of KCRW/National Public Radio.

For their ongoing "The Play's the Thing" series, he has directed such plays as "Fallen Angel" with Annette Bening, Judith Ivey and Joe Mantegna; "The Waldorf Conference" with Edward Asner, Ron Rifkin, Charles Durning and Shelley Berman; and "Invasion From Mars" and "When Welles Collide" that started the Alien Voices® ball rolling.