David Clennon

David Clennon is an American actor born on May 10, 1943, in Waukegan, Illinois, to Virginia, a homemaker, and Cecil Clennon, an accountant. He attended the University of Notre Dame from 1962 to 1965 before going on to study at the Yale School of Drama for three years, where he also became a member of the school's professional acting company.

Clennon's stage work includes a 1977 Broadway appearance in The Cherry Orchard. He has also performed regularly at the Long Wharf Theatre in New Haven, Connecticut.

On screen, Clennon is widely recognized for two recurring roles: Miles Drentell in the ABC drama series Thirtysomething and its successor Once and Again, and Palmer in John Carpenter's 1982 science fiction film The Thing. He has worked repeatedly with directors Hal Ashby, Costa-Gavras, and Jordan Walker-Pearlman. His television work spans multiple series, including Barney Miller, WKRP in Cincinnati, Almost Perfect, The Agency, and Saved. He portrayed Carl Sessick, also known as Carl the Watcher, on Ghost Whisperer, and appeared on Star Trek: Voyager as Dr. Crell Moset. In 1980, he provided the voice of Admiral Motti for NPR's Star Wars: The Original Radio Drama. In 1993, he received an Emmy Award for a guest appearance on the series Dream On.

Clennon married Perry Adleman, a writer, camera assistant, and photographer, in 1996. They have two children together.

Clennon has maintained a consistent record of political engagement. He opposed the Vietnam War and participated in protests against it. In 2013, he publicly refused to cast an Academy Award vote for Zero Dark Thirty, stating his belief that the film presented torture as a legitimate tool in the United States' conduct of the war on terror. In 2018, he spoke out against the four Emmy nominations received by Ken Burns's documentary The Vietnam War, arguing that the program contained half-truths, distortions, and omissions regarding the conflict.