(written from a Production point of view)
John Durbin is the Iowa-born actor who played the role of Ssestar in the Star Trek: The Next Generation first season episode "Lonely Among Us". He went on to appear again on The Next Generation, playing Gul Lemec in the sixth season episode "Chain Of Command, Part I" and "Chain Of Command, Part II". He later appeared as Traidy in the Star Trek: Deep Space Nine fifth season episode "A Simple Investigation" and as Telsian Miner in the Star Trek: Voyager seventh season episode "Critical Care". His costume from his very first Star Trek appearance in "Lonely Among Us" was sold off on the It's A Wrap! sale and auction on eBay. [1]
Durbin made his acting debut as a corpse in The Return of the Living Dead (1985, featuring Drew Deighan and makeup by Ken Myers). Durbin would go on to have similarly small roles in films such as Tapeheads (1988, with Lee Arenberg, Katy Boyer, Mary Crosby, and John Fleck), Dead Man Walking (1988, with Jeffrey Combs, Leland Crooke, and Biff Yeager), Cyborg 2 (1993, with Tracey Walter), Heart and Souls (1993, starring Alfre Woodard, with Wren T. Brown, Janet MacLachlan, and Kurtwood Smith), and Kansas City (1996). In 1993's Mr. Jones, he played a psychology patient along with fellow Deep Space Nine guest actor Albert Henderson. (Thomas Kopache and Scott Thomson also had roles in this film.)
Durbin has, however, occasionally been seen in larger supporting roles. Such was the case in films like The Blue Iguana (1986, co-starring Dean Stockwell), Dr. Caligari (1989, also featuring Marjean Holden), Checking Out (1989, with Ian Wolfe and Ann Magnuson), King of the Hill (1993), and Ride with the Devil (1999, with Zach Grenier). He was later seen in Take Out (2005, with Daniel Roebuck).
Outside of his Star Trek appearances, Durbin's guest starring credits include The A-Team (starring Dwight Schultz and Lance LeGault), Hunter (1986, with Brent Spiner and series regular Bruce Davison), Crime Story (in a 1987 episode with Armin Shimerman and series regular Bill Smitrovich), Max Headroom (starring Matt Frewer, with W. Morgan Sheppard and Concetta Tomei), Melrose Place, Providence (another series with Concetta Tomei), and Angel (with Daniel Dae Kim, John Rubinstein, and Keith Szarabajka). Durbin was seen in such made-for-TV movies as Tricks of the Trade (1987, with Armin Shimerman), Dead Solid Perfect (1988, with Bibi Besch and Brett Cullen), O Prioneers! (1992, with Deborah May), The Burden of Proof (1992, with Adrienne Barbeau, Neal McDonough, Gail Strickland, and Concetta Tomei), And the Band Played On (1993, with Christopher Carroll, Reg E. Cathey, David Clennon, Thomas Kopache, Dakin Matthews, Lawrence Monoson, Jeffrey Nordling, Saul Rubinek), and Truman (1995, with Holmes R. Osborne and Harris Yulin). He was also part of the cast of The Shining (1997, starring Steven Weber).
