Star Trek: 10 Things You Didn’t Know About Neelix
6. A Little Bird Told Me
Neelix might not have garnered many admirers over the years, to no fault of Ethan Phillips. But, who needs legions when one very special one will do! That fan of all fans was none other than Robin Williams, who was always rather fond of all things Star Trek, too.
As Phillips recalled in Star Trek: Voyager — A Celebration, it was during production of Star Trek: Voyager's third season (in fact, most likely the second) that he bumped into Williams whilst making his way to Stage 16. Williams was on the Paramount lot filming The Birdcage. "Oh my god, Mr Neelix!" Williams cried out before treating Phillips to a "whole routine about what it's like to be a chef in outer space". Williams left on a hug, noting, "I love your character, sir".
During a virtual GalaxyCon panel in 2021, Robert Duncan McNeill and Kate Mulgrew revealed that they had also met Williams during that time. "I played baseball with him," Mulgrew noted enthusiastically. McNeill went on to confirm Williams' love for Neelix, adding that Williams had even expressed interest "in being on the show".
The Mork & Mindy star very nearly appeared as Berlinghoff Rasmussen (a role written for him) in Star Trek: The Next Generation's A Matter of Time. Williams couldn't accept, however, because he was otherwise occupied filming Hook.