Stephen Macht

Stephen Robert Macht (born May 1, 1942) is an American actor, rabbi, and professor.

Early life and education Macht was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, to Jewish parents Janette and Jerome Irving Macht. He is of Russian Jewish descent. He was raised in Brooklyn Heights, New York until, at age nine, his father died and he moved with his mother and older brother, to live with his maternal grandfather, a haberdasher, in Mystic, Connecticut.

Macht received a bachelor's degree from Dartmouth College, a masters from Tufts University, and a doctorate in dramatic literature from Indiana University from 1965 to 1968. He attended the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art. Macht taught at Smith College and was a tenured professor at Queens College. Macht had been Gene Roddenberry's first choice to play Captain Jean-Luc Picard in Star Trek: The Next Generation, but the role eventually went to Patrick Stewart in 1986.

Later credits have included playing an Austrian Jew who must be baptized along with his wife and daughter in order to escape the Nazis in A Friendship in Vienna (1988 The Disney Channel); a doctor helping Jane Seymour in the syndicated miniseries Sidney Sheldon's Memories of Midnight (1991), and as cult member Joan Van Ark's suffering husband in Moment of Truth: A Mother's Deception (1994 NBC). Macht appeared in the 1995 third season Babylon 5 episode "A Day in the Strife" as the character 'Na'Far'. Na'Far was the new official Narn representative, replacing G'Kar, after the Centauri's invasion of the Narn homeworld. In 1996 he did a six-month stint on the ABC daytime drama One Life to Live as Elliot Durban. From August 24, 2007, to February 13, 2009, he portrayed Trevor Lansing, attorney of organized crime boss Anthony Zacchara and father of attorney Ric Lansing, in the soap opera General Hospital for which Soap Opera Digest nominated him Best Villain of 2007. In 2014, 2015, 2016 and 2019, Macht guest starred opposite his son, actor Gabriel Macht, in Suits.

Macht's work in feature films has included The Choirboys (1977). He also had roles in: Nightwing (1979), The Mountain Men (1980), Galaxina (1980), The Last Winter (1984), The Monster Squad (1987), Stephen King's Graveyard Shift (1990), Amityville: It's About Time (1992), The Legend of Galgameth (1996), and Watchers Reborn (1998). Macht has also played Dr. Harris in three installments of the Trancers series of films.

Personal life Macht has been married to Suzanne Victoria Pulier, an archivist and museum curator, since 1964.

Filmography