Malachi Throne

Malachi Throne (December 1, 1928 – March 13, 2013)[1] was an American stage and television actor, noted for his guest-starring roles on Star Trek, Star Trek: The Next Generation, Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea, Lost in Space, Batman, Land of the Giants, The Time Tunnel, Mission: Impossible, and The Six Million Dollar Man, and best known as Noah Bain on It Takes a Thief.[2]

Malachi Throne
Throne in It Takes a Thief, 1968
Born(1928-12-01)December 1, 1928
New York City, U.S.
DiedMarch 13, 2013(2013-03-13) (aged 84)
Brentwood, California, U.S.
OccupationActor
Years active1939–2013
Spouse(s)
  • Judith Merians (m. 1965–1992; divorced; 2 children)
  • Marjorie Bernstein Throne (m. 1992–2013; his death)
ChildrenZachary, Joshua

Early life

Throne was born in New York City to Austro-Hungarian and Russian Jews,[3] Samuel and Rebecca Throne, who emigrated to America before World War II. His mother Rebecca's parents were Max Chaikin and Fanny Podolski. Throne was raised in The Bronx. He first appeared on stage at the age of ten in 1939 in the New York Parks Department production of Tom Sawyer as Huckleberry Finn.

He attended Brooklyn College, and served in the U.S. Army during the Korean War.[4][5]

Two sons were born to him and his first wife, Judith Merians in Hollywood, California. Zachary Throne was born in 1967 and Joshua Throne in 1969.

Television career
Malachi Throne with Robert Wagner in It Takes a Thief, 1968.

Throne was a popular guest star on many television series of the 1960s and 1970s, including Mr. Novak (four episodes), The Defenders, Naked City, The Wild Wild West, Ben Casey, The Untouchables, GE True, Combat!, The Fugitive, Laredo (1966 as Finnegan in the episode Finnegan) The Man from U.N.C.L.E. ("The Four-Steps Affair" from 1965), Mannix (as Inspector Frank Kyler in the 1967 episode, "Run Sheep Run"), The High Chaparral, Hogan's Heroes, Babylon 5 ( "The Coming of Shadows" ) and Lost in Space.[2] He also played the character Sandifer in the 1964 Perry Mason episode The Case of the Simple Simon.

He co-starred, with Robert Wagner, in the TV series It Takes a Thief. Throne was a favorite actor of TV producer Irwin Allen; he appeared in numerous roles in Allen's series Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea, The Time Tunnel, Land of the Giants, and Lost in Space, often as several different characters in the same series. Throne played in two episodes of Mission: Impossible during seasons one and four as two different characters. Earlier in The Outer Limits TV series ("Cold Hands, Warm Heart", 1964) he appeared with William Shatner.[2]

Roles in Star Trek

Throne provided the voice of the Keeper in the Star Trek's first pilot episode "The Cage" (1964). Not broadcast in its original form for many years, most of the episode was included within the two-part "The Menagerie" (1966).[5] As Throne was cast in another role in "The Menagerie", Commodore José I. Méndez, the Keeper's voice was electronically altered in pitch.[6]

On Star Trek: The Next Generation, Throne played Pardek, a Romulan senator, in the two-part episode "Unification". In 2004, he appeared in the second episode of the New Voyages, titled "In Harm's Way".[7]

Roles in Batman

He played the villain False-Face in the ABC series Batman. The character, who used a variety of disguises to effect his nefarious schemes, wore a semitransparent mask when not in the middle of his crimes. The mask rendered Throne's face unrecognizable on screen. Playing off this effect, but against Throne's wishes, the show's producers wrote the onscreen credit as "? as False Face", denying Throne his screen credit. However, at the end credits of "Holy Rat Race", Throne's full name was credited. Later, he appeared in animation as the voice of Two-Face's superego the Judge on The New Batman Adventures (1998), and as the voice of Fingers the Gorilla on the Batman Beyond episode "Speak No Evil" (2000).[8]

Film appearances

His film career was not as prolific as his television work, though he did have roles in films such as The Young Lovers (1964), Beau Geste (1966), Code Name: Heraclitus (1967), Assault on the Wayne (1971), The Greatest (1977), Stunts (1977) and Primary Motive (1992). He also had a small role in the 2002 film Catch Me if You Can.[4]

Theater career

Throne lived in Southern California, and he did much local theater work there. He was a member of the Theater West company in Hollywood. He also won critical acclaim for several performances with the Fountain Theatre in Los Angeles. Much earlier in his career, he had appeared briefly on Broadway (as Mal Thorne) in Reginald Lawrence's Legend of Lizzie and other plays.[9]

Advertising

Malachi Throne was a national television spokesman for Ziebart in several advertising campaigns throughout the 1970s. He also narrated the 1976 trailer for the film Star Wars (1977).[10]

Death

Throne died of lung cancer at his home in Brentwood, California on March 13, 2013 at the age of 84.[4]

Filmography
Year Title Role Notes
1964The Young LoversProf. Schwartz
1966Beau GesteKerjacki
1967Code Name: HeraclitusHoffman
1971Assault on the WayneDr. Dykers
1972Six Hundred and Sixty-SixThe ManVoice
1973Frasier, the Sensuous LionBill Windsor
1976 Ark II War Lord Brack
1977The GreatestPayton Jory
1977StuntsEarl O'Brien
1987Eat and RunOpera Announcer
1992Primary MotiveKen Blumenthal
2002Catch Me if You CanAbe Penner
2009Green Lantern: First FlightRanakarFinal film role

Discography

In 1980, Throne provided the voice-over narration for a vinyl record soundtrack version of the Star Wars sequel film, The Empire Strikes Back.[11]

References
  1. "Malachi Throne Dead: 'Batman' Actor Dies At Age 84". Huffpost.com. March 15, 2013. Retrieved July 31, 2015.
  2. Malachi Throne at IMDb
  3. Super Forty (15 September 2009). Malachi Throne: Character actor appeared on "Star Trek" and numerous TV shows. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2016-08-22. Retrieved 2016-07-29.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  4. Slotnik, Daniel E. (March 24, 2013). "Malachi Throne, Actor on TV, Dies at 84". The New York Times. Retrieved 26 March 2013.
  5. Barnes, Mike (March 15, 2013). "'Batman' Villain Malachi Throne Dies at 84". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved March 15, 2013.
  6. "The Cage Page: Behind The Scenes Of Star Trek's First Pilot". Retrieved September 17, 2011.
  7. In Harm's Way details, imdb.com; accessed May 1, 2016.
  8. Malachi Throne profile, imdb.com; accessed March 1, 2016.
  9. Slotnik, Daniel E. (24 March 2013). "Malachi Throne, Actor on TV, Dies at 84". The New York TImes. Retrieved 28 October 2017.
  10. "Star Wars Trailers Part 1: The Original Trilogy". StarWars.com. 24 October 2015. Retrieved 28 December 2020.
  11. Osborne, Jerry. Movie/TV Soundtracks and Original Cast Recordings Price and Reference Guide. Jerry Osborne Enterprises. p. 168. ISBN 978-0-932117-37-3. Retrieved 28 December 2020.
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