#peter marko

[chernobog13]

STAR TREK: THE ORIGINAL SERIES The Galileo Seven S1E16

Yeoman Mears (Phyllis Douglas), Lieutenant Gaetano (Peter Marko), and Lieutenant Boma (Don Marshall) on Taurus ll.

Amazingly enough, the red shirt doesn't bite the dust in this episode.

[redshirtgal]

Today is Peter Marko’s birthday. Here is a rarely seen photo taken of him during the filming of that episode. 

[redshirtgal]

Not many people like Gaetano’s character in "The Galileo Seven." He was one of Spock’s most vocal critics, along with Boma. Still, it is sad to see him die by the same fate as Latimer when he goes back to bury his crewmate’s body.

Peter Marko was evidently one of the older actors on the TOS set. He was born on March 26, 1917 (which makes him older than James Doohan) as Peter J. Graham and died on January 5, 1991. He  started his acting career late in life. His first television appearance at age 42 was on Playhouse 90 in 1959, even though this and many of his roles do not appear on IMDb. Marko’s career seems to have been nearly as short as the life of Gaetano. His next role did not occur until  1964. He did appear three times in the TV series “Twelve O’Clock High” as well as two episodes of “The Fugitive,” “Twelve O’Clock High” and “Hogan’s Heroes,” along with a few single episodes of other series such as “Mission Impossible.” His last known role was in the movie Capitol Hill Girls in 1977. It seems he had taken a seven year break from his last role which was in The Virginian in 1970. 

One role of his is of particular interest -  Captain Paul Lazarri in The Outer Limits episode "The Invisible Enemy." He and three others form the first landing mission on Mars. Lazarri dies at the hands (er, claws), of a huge creature, unseen until an unwitting victim wanders too close to the sea of sand on the planet. This marks Peter Marko’s first time as monster bait. No wonder he was so testy in “The Galileo Seven,” since he was about to meet nearly the same fate.