René Auberjonois may actually be better known for his work on "Star Trek: Deep Space Nine" as security officer Odo, but on "Benson" more than a decade earlier, he played Clayton Runnymede Endicott III — Benson's rude, selfish, pompous adversary with insecurity issues. The character joined the show in the second season, and often ended up second-best against Benson in contests of wit or prestige. In one episode, his own father chose Benson to run the family business over Clayton. Ouch.
Auberjonois started out in the theater, gaining multiple Tony nominations and a Best Actor award in 1970 for "Coco." The actor started his TV career in the 1960s and acted until the year of his death. His long and storied career included guest-starring roles and voiceovers on every show from "M.A.S.H." (as Father John Mulcahey) to "Ben 10: Omniverse" (as Azmuth), with semi-regular or regular stints on shows like "Boston Legal," "Snorks," "The New Adventures of Jonny Quest," and more.
You may also recall Auberjonois's memorable turn in "The Little Mermaid": He was Louis, the French chef who sang "Les Poissons" before attempting to capture a slippery Sebastian (voiced by Samuel E. Wright). "I am all of those characters, and I love that," Auberjonois said in a 2011 interview with the "Star Trek" website (via the Chicago Tribune). "I also run into people, and they think I'm their cousin or their dry cleaner. I love that, too."
René Auberjonois died on December 8, 2019, at the age of 79 from metastatic lung cancer (via the Washington Post).
