Rene Auberjonois.

At age six in Paris, Rene Auberjonois decided to become an actor after conducting a school performance of Do You Know the Muffin Man? He was born on June 1, 1940 in New York City to Princess Laure Murat and Fernand Auberjonois, a Pulitzer-nominated writer. His grandfather was a renowned Swiss post-impressionist painter. The family moved to an artist colony in upstate New York, where neighbors included Helen Hayes, Burgess Meredith, and John Houseman.

Houseman gave Auberjonois his first theater job at age 16 as an apprentice in Stratford, Connecticut. He studied theater at Carnegie Mellon University, learning not just acting but all aspects of production.

In 1970, Auberjonois won a Tony Award for Best Supporting Actor in a Musical for his role in Coco alongside Katharine Hepburn. He played Father Mulcahy in the 1970 film MASH but later turned down the TV role. From 1979 to 1981, he played Clayton Endicott III on the comedy series Benson, a role he helped shape with writers.

He played Constable Odo on Star Trek: Deep Space Nine from 1993 to 1999. He also appeared in Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country as Colonel West. He received a Tony nomination for The Good Doctor in 1974 and later roles included The Patriot 2000, Sally Hemings: An American Scandal, and guest spots on Frasier, The Practice, and Stargate SG-1.

Auberjonois married Judith Helen Mahalyi on October 19, 1963, and they had two children, Remy and Tessa. Both children followed him into the arts. He taught acting at Juilliard under John Houseman. His ancestry included royalty: he was a great-great-great-grandson of Joachim Murat, King of Naples, and Caroline Bonaparte, sister of Napoleon. He was also a descendant of Russian, German, French, and Scottish lines.

Auberjonois was the first regular cast member of a Star Trek spin-off to die. He was inducted into The Actors Hall of Fame and left three films in the National Film Registry: MASH 1970, McCabe & Mrs. Miller 1971, and The Little Mermaid 1989. He is remembered most for bringing the shape-shifting Constable Odo to life with dignity and depth, and for his versatile stage career that earned him a Tony and multiple nominations.