James Sloyan, the character actor who played four different aliens across three “Star Trek” series and appeared in the Oscar-winning “The Sting,” died at his home in Sherman Oaks, Calif., on Wednesday, July 22, 2026, “tended by his family.” He was 85.
An obituary in the Los Angeles Times, published by his family on Sunday, Sept. 20, disclosed the death two months after it happened. It listed no cause.
“Friends and colleagues remember him always present, always curious, courageous, inventive, loyal, as well as brash, mouthy and very urban. He was one-of-a-kind,” his family said in the obituary.
Four Aliens, Three Series
Sloyan made five appearances across three “Star Trek” series, playing four characters in all.
On “Star Trek: The Next Generation,” he played Romulan Adm. Alidar Jarok in the 1990 episode “The Defector”; that torn officer carries the hour, and his defection to the Enterprise is what sets it going. A second visit to the show came with the 1994 episode “Firstborn,” where he turned up as Worf’s grown son, Alexander Rozhenko — a Klingon part for which he also drew a credit as K’mtar.
He played Bajoran scientist Dr. Mora Pol, Odo’s guardian scientist, in the “Star Trek: Deep Space Nine” episodes “The Begotten” and “The Alternate,” and Haakonian scientist Ma’Bor Jetrel in the “Star Trek: Voyager” episode “Jetrel.”
From “The Sting” to “Xanadu”
Sloyan made his film debut in 1970 in “The Traveling Executioner” and appeared in “The Gang That Couldn’t Shoot Straight” in 1971. In the 1973 film “The Sting,” he played Mottola, a numbers runner who becomes the first mark of the con pulled by Johnny Hooker, played by Robert Redford, and Luther Coleman, played by Robert Earl Jones, setting the story in motion. “The Sting” won Best Picture at the Oscars in 1974.
In the 1980 film “Xanadu,” which starred Olivia Newton-John, he played Simpson, the demanding boss at AirFlo Records of aspiring artist Sonny Malone, played by Michael Beck.
Television and Commercial Work
He took guest roles on “The Doctors,” “The Streets of San Francisco,” “Kojak” and “Delvecchio,” and he had a regular role in 1977’s “Westside Medical.” In 1983, he was cast opposite “Oh Madeline” star Madeline Kahn as her husband in the sitcom, which ran through 1984.
He was the voice of Toyota’s luxury brand Lexus in commercials for 18 years, beginning in 1989. His career ran more than five decades and rarely put him at the top of a poster.
Army Service and Broadway
Indianapolis was Sloyan’s birthplace, on Feb. 24, 1941.
The American Academy of Dramatic Arts graduated him, and the U.S. Army stationed him at Fort Huachuca, Ariz., for three years before he turned to acting full time. “Indians” gave him his Broadway debut in 1969, and off-Broadway productions including “A Dream Out of Time” handed him lead roles. He also handled fight choreography for Joseph Papp’s New York Shakespeare Festival.
His wife, actress Deirdre Lenihan, survives him, as do their children, musician Daniel Sloyan and actress Samantha Sloyan.
