John Sherwood de Lancie, Jr. (born March 20, 1948) is an American actor, best known for his role as Q in various Star Trek series, beginning with Star Trek: The Next Generation in 1987 and leading up to the third season of Star Trek: Picard in 2023.
De Lancie was born John Sherwood de Lancie, Jr. in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, on March 20, 1948,[1] one of two children born to John de Lancie (1921–2002), principal oboist of the Philadelphia Orchestra from 1954 to 1977, and Andrea de Lancie (July 3, 1920 – October 18, 2006). His mother was French. His parents met in Paris. He has a sister, Christina.[2]
As a child, he was diagnosed with dyslexia and struggled to read throughout his school years.[3] He did not learn to read until he was 12. One of his teachers recommended that his parents encourage him to consider a career as an actor. He began to act around the age of 14, performing in a high school production of William Shakespeare's Henry V.[4] He went on to study acting at Kent State University (he was in attendance during the Kent State shootings on May 4, 1970) and won a scholarship to Juilliard. He performed in numerous stage productions, at venues such as the American Shakespeare Festival and the Mark Taper Forum, and established a successful career in film and television.[4]
My popularity is very disproportionate to the amount of times that I actually was on the show. ... It's a double-edged sword. I never partook of the financial rewards of the show in terms of being a regular, I just came on and once a year would do a show.
De Lancie
Initially, de Lancie was too busy to audition for the part of Q, but Gene Roddenberry (whom he did not know) arranged a second opportunity. De Lancie recognized that even though Star Trek was only a small part of his career, it opened doors for him.[5] In a 2012 interview, he said that he recalled his original audition, after which Roddenberry approached him, touched him on the shoulder, and said, "You make my writing sound better than it is."[6]
In April 2021, it was announced that de Lancie would reprise his role of Q in the second season of Star Trek: Picard.[7] He subsequently appeared in multiple episodes of seasons two and three.
Known for his distinctive speaking style, de Lancie lent his voice to a number of projects. In My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic, he voiced Discord, a recurring character. Discord was inspired by Q as an omnipotent being who embodies mischief and chaos, but is genuinely good-hearted and is occasionally helpful to the heroes of the show;[citation needed] another connection to Q is that Discord often uses fewer contractions in his vocabulary.[citation needed] Discord is best described as an anti-hero, also similar to Q. Initially, Lauren Faust wanted to cast someone who could impersonate de Lancie, but Hasbro suggested casting de Lancie himself. Ironically, de Lancie has stated in an interview that, in preparation for his role as Discord, he did not draw from his past experience as Q.[19] De Lancie mentioned during a 2013 convention panel that his voice recordings of Discord are slightly sped up and lose their deep bass sound. Nevertheless, fans still praised de Lancie for his performance.[20] According to Jim Miller in The Art of Equestria, de Lancie's sessions are always done by phone, but his first session as Discord was videotaped.
De Lancie co-wrote the Star Trek novel I, Q with Peter David, as well as co-writing the novel Soldier of Light (with Tom Cool).[22] He wrote the DC comic book story The Gift.[23] In 1996, along with Leonard Nimoy and writer-producer Nat Segaloff, de Lancie formed and recorded Alien Voices, a collection of audio dramas based on classic science fiction and fantasy stories, such as The Time Machine and The Lost World.[9]
In September 2019, de Lancie narrated as "Forever of the Stars" in the first ever live performances of Ayreon's Sci-Fi concept album Into the Electric Castle.[27]
Documentary
While on stage at the 2012 Ottawa ComicCon, de Lancie announced that he had made plans to co-produce a documentary about "bronies" (older, usually male teenage and adult fans of My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic). He said he was taken aback by how disrespectfully national news media portrayed the brony fandom.[28] He started a Kickstarter campaign to help fund the documentary, since titled Bronies: The Extremely Unexpected Adult Fans of My Little Pony.[29] The campaign began on May 13, 2012, and by June 10 had reached $322,022, becoming Kickstarter's second-highest funded film project of all time.[29]
Personal life
De Lancie is married to Marnie Mosiman, with whom he has two sons: Keegan (b. 1984) and a younger son (b. 1987).[1][30]
De Lancie is an experienced sailor, spending time on the Pacific Ocean, which he said "sometimes involves very terrifying experiences."[31][32]
Raised by secular parents, de Lancie is an advocate for atheism and humanism. Of his education in a religious school in Philadelphia, he remembers associating religion with manipulation. Rather than developing a religious outlook, he became fascinated by an ever-changing world: "I'm wondering if one of the things at the core of believing in God, or not, has to do with change. I have grown to embrace change. Personally, I love reading the science section in the paper every morning. I'm in awe of humankind's boundless curiosity."[34][35]
My name is John de Lancie, and I am a god. At least, I've played one on TV. And I'm here to tell you as a god that I was created by humans. And the words I spoke were written by men and women ... My creators took great care in exalting me to the position I hold today. And just like all the gods before me—Zeus, Baal, Yahweh—my god creators wanted you to believe that I am the omnipotent one. The alpha and the omega. ... Truth be told, ... I don't exist any more than the thousands of other gods that humans have created, worshipped, and died for since the beginning of time. ... But if you insist on believing in me, you do so at your own risk. ... I will lead you down the path of ignorance, intolerance, and bigotry. ... All because you believe.[34][36]
On July 14, 2017, de Lancie attended the unveiling of a statue of Clarence Darrow at the Rhea County Courthouse, Dayton, Tennessee, the site of the Scopes Trial in 1925, where Darrow had argued in favor of the teaching of evolution and secular education.[37][38]
In October 2019, de Lancie was a featured speaker at the annual conference of the Center for Inquiry, CSICon.[34][39] At the conference he announced two new projects.[40] The first, an animated series, titled God's Goofs, is meant to point out that intelligent design is absurd. The second project is a play based on the historic 2005 intelligent design trial in Dover, Pennsylvania, the first direct challenge brought in the United States federal courts testing a public school district policy that required the teaching of intelligent design.[41]
Filmography
Film
List of performances and appearances by John de Lancie in film
^ ab"About « John de Lancie". delancie.com. Archived from the original on March 16, 2016. He was born on March 20, 1948, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, ...
^Walker, Adam (October 14, 2012). "John de Lancie Interview". TrekCore.com. Archived from the original on November 18, 2020. Retrieved November 18, 2020.
^ abcdefghijklmno"John de Lancie (visual voices guide)". Behind The Voice Actors. Retrieved October 13, 2023. A green check mark indicates that a role has been confirmed using a screenshot (or collage of screenshots) of a title's list of voice actors and their respective characters found in its credits or other reliable sources of information.
