John de Lancie facts for kids

Quick facts for kids John de Lancie
De Lancie at the 2023 GalaxyCon Raleigh
Born	John Sherwood de Lancie, Jr. (1948-03-20) March 20, 1948 (age 77) Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S.
Education	Kent State University Juilliard School (BFA)
Occupation	Actor
Years active	1976–present
Spouse(s)	Marnie Mosiman ​ (m. 1984)​
Children	2, including Keegan de Lancie
Parent(s)	John de Lancie (father)

John de Lancie (born March 20, 1948) is an American actor. He is famous for playing the character Q in different Star Trek TV shows. His role as Q started with Star Trek: The Next Generation in 1987 and continued through Star Trek: Picard in 2023.

De Lancie's first TV role was in Captains and the Kings in 1976. He also played Eugene Bradford in Days of Our Lives and Frank Simmons in Stargate SG-1. He was Donald Margolis in Breaking Bad and Agent Allen Shapiro in Torchwood. Many know his voice as Discord in My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic.

De Lancie is also known for supporting secular ideas. He has spoken at events like the 2016 Reason Rally.

Early Life and School

John de Lancie was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, on March 20, 1948. His father, John de Lancie, was a main oboist for the Philadelphia Orchestra. His mother, Andrea de Lancie, was French.

When he was a child, John had dyslexia. This made reading difficult for him in school. He did not learn to read well until he was 12 years old. A teacher suggested he try acting. He started acting at age 14 in a high school play, Henry V.

He later studied acting at Kent State University and earned a scholarship to Juilliard. He performed in many plays. He also built a successful career in movies and television.

Acting Career

Movies and TV Shows

Star Trek Roles

John de Lancie played Q, a very powerful character, in Star Trek: The Next Generation. Q is known for being playful and causing trouble. He is one of the few characters to appear in many Star Trek shows.

Q appeared in eight episodes of Star Trek: The Next Generation. He was also in Star Trek: Deep Space Nine and Star Trek: Voyager. Later, he appeared in Star Trek: Lower Decks and Star Trek: Strange New Worlds. John's son, Keegan de Lancie, played Q Junior in an episode of Star Trek: Voyager.

At first, de Lancie was too busy to try out for the role of Q. But Gene Roddenberry, the creator of Star Trek, arranged another chance for him. De Lancie knew that Star Trek helped his career a lot. He said Roddenberry told him, "You make my writing sound better than it is."

In 2021, it was announced that de Lancie would play Q again. He appeared in the second and third seasons of Star Trek: Picard.

Video Game Voices

De Lancie has lent his voice to many video games. He voiced Antonio Malochio in Interstate '76. He was Trias in Planescape: Torment and Dr. Death in Outlaws. He also voiced William Miles in Assassin's Creed: Revelations and Assassin's Creed III.

He played Q in the Star Trek: The Next Generation pinball game. He also voiced Alarak in StarCraft 2: Legacy of the Void. More recently, he voiced Geist in the XCOM 2 expansion War of the Chosen. He also voiced the Ringmaster in Dota 2.

Stage Performances

De Lancie at a performance in 2007

John de Lancie has performed in many theater groups. These include the American Shakespeare Theatre and the Mark Taper Forum. He has acted and directed for Los Angeles Theater Works. This group produces plays for radio.

He also co-hosted Star Trek: The Music with actor Robert Picardo. They explained the history of Star Trek music during orchestral performances. De Lancie hosted children's concerts at Walt Disney Concert Hall. In 2006, he directed his first opera, "Tosca".

Voice Acting for Cartoons

De Lancie is known for his unique voice. He voiced Discord in My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic. Discord is a powerful character who loves mischief, much like Q. He is a good-hearted anti-hero.

The creators wanted someone who sounded like de Lancie. But Hasbro suggested casting de Lancie himself. He has said he did not use his Q experience for Discord. Fans really liked his performance.

He also voiced characters in The Angry Beavers, Invader Zim, and Duck Dodgers. He was Mr. Freeze in DC Super Hero Girls.

Writing Projects

De Lancie co-wrote the Star Trek novel I, Q with Peter David. He also co-wrote the novel Soldier of Light. He wrote a DC comic book story called The Gift.

In 1996, he created Alien Voices with Leonard Nimoy. This was a series of audio dramas. They were based on classic science fiction stories. Examples include The Time Machine and The Lost World.

Music and Documentaries

De Lancie has narrated for many major orchestras. These include the New York Philharmonic and the Los Angeles Philharmonic. He narrated the first performance of The Sneetches and Other Stories. This was based on the book by Dr. Seuss.

He also created and hosted First Nights. This concert series explored the lives of famous composers.

In 2012, de Lancie announced a documentary about "bronies". These are older fans of My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic. He felt news media showed bronies unfairly. He started a Kickstarter campaign to fund the film. It was called Bronies: The Extremely Unexpected Adult Fans of My Little Pony. The campaign raised a lot of money.

Personal Life

John de Lancie is married to Marnie Mosiman. They have two sons, Keegan (born in 1984) and a younger son (born in 1987).

He enjoys sailing on the Pacific Ocean. He has said it can be a very exciting experience.

De Lancie is good friends with fellow Star Trek actor Kate Mulgrew. He is also friends with Richard Dean Anderson. They worked together on MacGyver and Stargate SG-1.

Secular Activism

De Lancie grew up with parents who did not follow a religion. He supports atheism and humanism. He remembers feeling that religion was used to control people when he was young. He became interested in how the world is always changing. He said, "I'm in awe of humankind's boundless curiosity."

In 2016, he spoke at the Reason Rally in Washington, D.C.. He talked about his Star Trek character, Q. He said that gods are created by humans. He explained that he, as Q, does not exist. He warned that believing in him would lead to ignorance.

De Lancie speaking at CSICon 2019

In 2017, de Lancie attended the unveiling of a statue of Clarence Darrow. This was at the Rhea County Courthouse in Dayton, Tennessee. Darrow had argued for teaching evolution in schools there in 1925.

In 2019, de Lancie spoke at CSICon. He announced two new projects. One was an animated series called God's Goofs. It aims to show that "intelligent design" ideas are not logical. The second project was a play. It was based on a 2005 court case about teaching "intelligent design" in schools.

Filmography

Film

Television

Video games

Podcast series

See also

In Spanish: John de Lancie para niños