Jonathan Frakes

A prolific director, producer and actor, Jonathan Frakes is best known to audiences for his portrayal as Commander William Riker on “Star Trek: The Next Generation.” Frakes has most recently returned to the Star Trek family by directing episodes of “Star Trek: Discovery” & “STAR TREK: PICARD” for CBS All Access and the new “LEVERAGE: REDEMPTION” for ELECTRIC ENTERTAINMENT on IMDB TV. He discovered his love and talent in directing during his seven years starring on “Star Trek: Next Generation.” He ended up directing eight episodes of the series and was also invited to direct episodes from the spin-off series “Star Trek: Deep Space Nine” and “Star Trek: Voyager.” His other directing roles include “NCIS: Los Angeles,” “The Orville,” “Girlfriend’s Guide to Divorce,” “Castle,” ”Falling Skies, “Leverage,” ”The Glades,” “Burn Notice,” “Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.,” “Hit the Floor” among others. In addition, he was a producing director for seasons three and four of the TNT hit show “The Librarians.” Frakes also directed two movies within the Librarian franchise for TNT, “The Librarian: The Curse of the Judas Chalice” and “The Librarian: Return to King Soloman’s Mine.”

The role as Commander William Riker brought him worldwide fame which led to other acting roles in several television series including “NCIS: Los Angeles,” “Angie Tribeca,” “Hit the Floor,” “Criminal Minds,” and “The Glades.” He has also appeared as the lead in the primetime soap ”Bare Essence” and guest-starred on several classic hit primetime series including ”Charlie’s Angels,” “Fantasy Island” and ”The Dukes of Hazzard.”

Frakes received critical praise for his work as the director on the feature “Star Trek: First Contact,” making it the highest-grossing film of the franchise to date. He also directed the follow-up, ”Star Trek: Insurrection,” and the sci-fi feature “Clockstoppers.” He is an accomplished voiceover actor, with recent credits that include J'Son, king of the Spartax galactic empire and father of Peter Quill/Star-Lord on the Disney XD animated show “Guardians of the Galaxy.” His previous voice credits include “Gargoyles,” “Family Guy,” “Adventure Time,” “The Super Hero Squad Show,” “Futurama” and several Star Trek video games. In his free time, Frakes is an accomplished musician and recorded trombone tracks for Phish's 1994 album "Hoist." He and his wife of over 30 years, Genie Francis, have two children Jameson and Eliza.