Thomas Kopache

Thomas Kopache is an American actor born on October 17, 1945, in Manchester, New Hampshire, the son of Dorothy E. (née Sterling). He has worked across stage, film, and television throughout his career.

Kopache appeared on Broadway between 1988 and 1989, with credits in two dramas: Orpheus Descending and Our Town. His stage work has also included productions of As You Like It, in which he played the banished Duke, and Antigone, in which he took on the role of Creon.

On television, Kopache is recognized for his recurring role as Assistant Secretary of State Bob Slattery on The West Wing, as well as for an extensive presence in the Star Trek franchise. He portrayed characters across three separate Star Trek series, accumulating a total of seven distinct roles — a distinction he shares with only four other actors: Jeffrey Combs, Vaughn Armstrong, J. G. Hertzler, and Randy Oglesby. Within the franchise, he played a Romulan in the Star Trek: The Next Generation episode "The Next Phase" and a hologram in the TNG episode "Emergence," and appeared as a Starfleet officer in the film Star Trek Generations. On Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, he portrayed Kira Taban, the father of Kira Nerys (played by Nana Visitor), appearing in the episodes "Ties of Blood and Water" and "Wrongs Darker Than Death or Night." On Star Trek: Voyager, he played the planner of an alien settlement that the Voyager crew discovered to be in stasis. In 1994, he appeared in the Babylon 5 episode "The Parliament of Dreams" as Tu'Pari.

Among his film appearances, Kopache had a brief role in No Country for Old Men as a boot and western wear salesman. On television, he guest starred in the sixth-season Malcolm in the Middle episode "Living Will" as Vic Feldspar, the lisping, Jack LaLanne-like father of Craig Feldspar, and made a brief appearance as blackjack player Borsalino Cap in "The Contingency," the second-season premiere of Person of Interest.

In 2017, Kopache appeared on the HBO program Last Week Tonight as a character called the "Catheter Cowboy," modeled on commercials that aired on networks including Fox News. In segments produced for the show, his character initially appeared to discuss catheter-related pain before pivoting to topics such as the nuclear triad and the American Health Care Act of 2017. Host John Oliver purchased commercial airtime in the Washington, D.C. area and aired the segments on programs including Morning Joe and Fox & Friends, with the stated intent of reaching President Donald Trump, who was known to watch those broadcasts.