‘Star Trek’ actor Mickey Cottrell dies

Actor, producer and publicist Mickey Cottrell has died.

He was 79 years old.

>> Read more trending news

The veteran television actor, known for roles in “Star Trek: The Next Generation,” “Star Trek: Voyager” and “My Own Private Idaho,” died Monday at the Motion Picture & Television Fund in Woodland Hills California, Deadline reported.

Variety reported that Cottreal’s sister confirmed his death on Facebook, writing, “My adorable, fun, critical, foodie, particular, brilliant, loving brother passed on to the next life early on New Year’s Day. He was smiling when he died. Mickey Cottrell will be missed by many.”

Suzy Cottreal-Smith said her brother had been diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease and had suffered a stroke in 2016.

Cottrell was born in 1944 in Springfield, Illinois before he and his family moved to Little Rock, Arkansas. He attended the University of Arkansas before moving to Minneapolis, acting at the Guthrie Theater, according to The Hollywood Reporter.

In Los Angeles, he worked for several public relations firms before opening his own business, Cottrell and Lindeman Associates, in 1989, eventually opening his solo company, Mickey Cottrell Film Publicity, and eventually, Inclusive PR. During his career as a publicist, he promoted films such as “Earth Girls Are Easy” and “Dead Calm.”

At the same time, he remained an actor, appearing not only in several “Star Trek” series on television, but also on the big screen in such films as “Ed Wood,” “Hellraiser: Bloodline.” His last role was in “I Do” in 2012, according to People.

Cottrell called his decades in the entertainment business “Magical, thrilling, difficult, joyous — Hollywood is a place that you enter at your own risk.”

Cottrell leaves behind his sisters, Suzy and Gigi, a nephew and a great-nephew, Variety reported.

© Cox Media Group