Christian Slater was born August 18, 1969.
Christian Michael Leonard Hawkins, better known as Christian Slater, is an American actor hailing from New York, New York. (His father, actor Thomas Slater, used Michael Hawkins and Michael Gainsborough as his stage names.) Slater appeared in a cameo role as the night-duty officer in Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country. The character was not named in the script or in dialog and is credited as “Excelsior Communications Officer” (an identical credit was given to Grace Lee Whitney, and in fact, the scene in the novelization featured her character instead of Slater’s). Slater is a big Star Trek fan and got the part through his mother, Mary Jo Slater, who was in charge of casting the film. (Captains’ Logs: The Unauthorized Complete Trek Voyages, p. 142) Slater filmed his scene on Friday 21 June 1991 at Paramount Stage 5.
A huge Trekkie, Slater even joked once that he would shave his eyebrows to dress up as Spock for Halloween. This started a rumor that his eyebrows never grew back in properly, giving them a distinctive look. His link to Trek goes even further – his godfather was Michael Zaslow, who appeared in two episodes of Star Trek: The Original Series and in Star Trek: First Contact.
He made his film debut with a small role in The Postman Always Rings Twice before playing a leading role in the 1985 film The Legend of Billie Jean. He played a monk’s apprentice alongside Sean Connery in The Name of the Rose before gaining wider recognition for his breakthrough role in the cult film Heathers.
In the 1990s, Slater starred in many big budget films, including Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves, Interview with the Vampire: The Vampire Chronicles, Broken Arrow, and Hard Rain. He was also featured in the cult film True Romance. Since 2000, Slater has combined work in the film business with television, including appearances in The West Wing and Alias and starring in Breaking In and Mind Games.
← Don Keefer was born August 18, 1916.