James Sloyan spent more than five decades appearing on television, in movies and even in commercials — often playing the kind of character audiences remembered long after they forgot his name.
Now, the veteran actor whose résumé stretched from The Sting and Xanadu to Star Trek and one of the most recognizable commercial voices in America has died.
Veteran actor James Sloyan died July 22 at his home in Sherman Oaks, California, his family announced on over the weekend. He was 85.
For many viewers, his face will immediately bring back a memory.
For Star Trek fans, it may be one of several.
And for millions of others, his voice may be even more familiar than his face.
From The Sting to Xanadu
Sloyan had a memorable supporting role in the 1973 Oscar-winning classic The Sting, starring Paul Newman and Robert Redford.
He played Mottola, a numbers runner whose encounter with Redford’s Johnny Hooker and James Earl Jones’ Luther Coleman helps set the movie’s elaborate con into motion.
Seven years later, he appeared alongside Olivia Newton-John and Michael Beck in Xanadu, playing Simpson, Sonny Malone’s demanding boss at AirFlow Records.
But one of his most unusual television roles came in 1983, when he starred opposite Madeline Kahn in the short-lived ABC sitcom Oh Madeline.
Kahn played a bored suburban housewife looking for excitement, while Sloyan portrayed her husband, Charlie — a romance novelist who secretly wrote under the pen name Crystal Love.
The series lasted just 18 episodes during the 1983–84 season, but it holds a small place in television history as the first production from Carsey-Werner Productions, the company that would later produce massive sitcom hits including The Cosby Show, Roseanne and 3rd Rock From the Sun.
Then came Star Trek
Sloyan became particularly familiar to science-fiction fans during the 1990s, when he appeared five times across three Star Trek series.
And he didn’t simply play the same type of character.
On Star Trek: The Next Generation, he portrayed Romulan Admiral Alidar Jarok in “The Defector” and later appeared as Alexander Rozhenko, the adult son of Worf, in “Firstborn.”
He went on to play Dr. Mora Pol, the Bajoran scientist who studied Odo, in two episodes of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine.
Then, on Star Trek: Voyager, he took on yet another role as Ma’Bor Jetrel.
It was a remarkable run — four different species and multiple characters across the franchise.
You may have heard him without seeing him
Perhaps one of the biggest surprises about Sloyan’s career is that millions of Americans knew his voice without necessarily knowing the man behind it.
When Lexus launched its first advertising campaign in 1989, Sloyan became the luxury automaker’s signature commercial voice.
He remained the voice of Lexus for roughly two decades, becoming closely associated with the brand’s advertising before later lending his voice to other commercials and movie trailers.
His television résumé was just as extensive.
Over the years, he appeared on shows including Wonder Woman, Buck Rogers in the 25th Century, Lou Grant, Falcon Crest, Knots Landing, Cagney & Lacey, Moonlighting, Murder, She Wrote, Quantum Leap, The X-Files and NYPD Blue.
He also appeared in television movies and had a regular role on the 1977 ABC medical drama Westside Medical.
A life that began far from Hollywood
Sloyan was born in Indianapolis on February 24, 1941, and was the youngest of four children.
His childhood was anything but ordinary. His family spent years living overseas, including time in Italy, Switzerland and Ireland, before he eventually spent his adolescence between different parts of New York.
He attended the American Academy of Dramatic Arts in New York on a scholarship before his acting career was interrupted when he was drafted into the U.S. Army in 1962.
After serving for three years, he returned to New York and became involved with Joseph Papp’s New York Shakespeare Festival, working not only as an actor but also as a fight choreographer.
He made his Broadway debut in Arthur Kopit’s Indians in 1969 before moving into film and television.
His family remembers a one-of-a-kind man
Away from the spotlight, Sloyan built a life with actress Deirdre Lenihan.
The couple began dating in 1963 and eventually married in 1973. They were together for more than six decades and had two children, musician Daniel Sloyan and actress Samantha Sloyan, known for roles including Grey’s Anatomy.
His family remembered him with words that paint a picture of a man who was much more than the characters he played.
They described him as:
“Always present, always curious, courageous, inventive, loyal”
But they also remembered the less polished side of his personality, calling him:
“brash, mouthy and very urban.”
Then came the simplest description of all:
“He was one-of-a-kind.”
And perhaps that is the perfect way to remember James Sloyan.
He may not have always been the star whose name appeared above the title.
But he was there — in beloved movies, television shows, Star Trek episodes and commercials that millions of people heard in their homes.
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