Michael J. Pollard, actor known for Bonnie and Clyde and Star Trek’s “Miri” has died

Michael J. Pollard in “Miri”

Oscar-nominated actor Michael J. Pollard has died. Pollard was known to Star Trek fans as Jahn, leader of the Onlies, in the iconic Original Series episode, “Miri”. Dawn Walker, a longtime friend of Pollard’s, told The Hollywood Reporter of his death last Wednesday, of cardiac arrest. He was 80.

In addition to his work on Star Trek, Pollard had over a hundred acting credits to his name, including the role of C.W. Moss in 1967’s Bonnie and Clyde, which earned him an Academy Award nomination. He also originated the role of Hugo Peabody in the first Broadway production of Bye Bye Birdie.

Michael J. Fox has also said that it was Pollard who inspired him to take on the middle initial J. When Fox went to sign on with the Screen Actors’ Guild, they already had a “Michael Fox” on the books. In his 2002 autobiography, Lucky Man: A Memoir, he wrote, “I remembered one of my favorite character actors, Michael J. Pollard, the guileless accomplice in Bonnie and Clyde. [...] I stuck in the J, which I sometimes tell people stands for either Jenuine, or Jenius, and resubmitted my forms.”

According to the Hollywood Reporter, Pollard is survived by a son and a daughter.