René Auberjonois, on screen as Deep Space Nine‘s Odo, Boston Legal‘s Paul Lewiston and so many guest appearances, has passed away aged 79 following a battle metastatic lung cancer.

The veteran actor was born in New York City in 1940, born into an artistic family, his grandfather was a well-known Swiss painter, his father Fernand, a writer. The Auberjonois family moved to Paris shortly after World War II, and it was there that René made an important career decision at the age of six.

Before making his break in Hollywood, Auberjonois earned a Tony Award for his role opposite Katharine Hepburn in Coco. He would be nominated for Tony Awards again in 1973’s “The Good Doctor,” 1984’s “Big River,” and 1989’s “City of Angels.”

His son Rèmy-Luc confirmed the news to the Associated Press.

We here at Trekzone were fortunate enough to meet René in 2015 when he came to Melbourne for Oz Comic Con, and again this year during his Saturday evening performance at STLV alongside Nana Visitor.