Roger Charles Carmel (September 27, 1932 – November 11, 1986) was an American actor. He originated several roles on Broadway, played scores of guest roles in television series, was a lead in the sitcom The Mothers-in-Law and appeared in motion pictures. He is most famous for his two appearances as the conniving Harry Mudd in Star Trek.
Career
Carmel worked on Broadway from the late 1950s into the mid-1960s. He played multiple parts in The Power and the Glory (1958). He originated the roles of the 3rd Poet in Caligula (1960), Pasha in Once There Was a Russian (1961), The Deputy in Purlie Victorious (1961), and Mr. Andrikos in The Irregular Verb to Love (1963). He replaced Jack Creley in the role of Cardinal Wolsey in A Man for All Seasons (in 1962) and also replaced James Grout in Half a Sixpence (in 1966).
On television Carmel starred as the henpecked husband Roger Buell in the 1967 first season of the NBC sitcom The Mothers-in-Law, but was replaced by Richard Deacon in season two. When the first season ended, creator and producer Desi Arnaz told the entire cast that the show had a five-year guarantee but there was no money to give the contractual raises for the second season. While the other cast members agreed to forgo their salary increases, Carmel refused to forgo his. Carmel believed that Arnaz was illegally taking four salaries from the series—producer, creator, writer, and director—and this led him to quit the show (the series was canceled the following year).
Carmel's television guest roles included the accountant Doug Wesley on CBS's The Dick Van Dyke Show and Colonel Gumm on ABC's Batman. He played the flamboyant and hapless galactic criminal Harcourt Fenton "Harry" Mudd in two episodes of the original series of Star Trek, "Mudd's Women" (1966) and "I, Mudd" (1967), and one episode of Star Trek: The Animated Series, "Mudd's Passion" (1973). He also appeared in roles on The Patty Duke Show; I Spy; Blue Light; The Everglades; Hogan's Heroes; Car 54, Where Are You?; Banacek; He was 54. His death certificate listed hypertrophic cardiomyopathy as the cause. Prior to his autopsy, police had speculated a "narcotics overdose".