René Marie Murat Auberjonois (/rəˈneɪ oʊˌbɛərʒənˈwɑː/ rə-NAY oh-BAIR-zhən-WAH;[1] June 1, 1940 – December 8, 2019) was an American actor, best known for playing Odo on Star Trek: Deep Space Nine (1993–1999) and Clayton Endicott III on Benson (1980–1986).

A screen actor with more than 200 credits, Auberjonois was most famous for portraying characters in the main casts of several long-running television series, including Clayton Endicott III on Benson (1980–1986), for which he was an Emmy Award nominee; and Paul Lewiston on Boston Legal (2004–2008).

After a few years in France, the family moved back to the United States and joined the South Mountain Road artists' colony in Rockland County, New York, whose residents included Burgess Meredith, John Houseman, and Lotte Lenya.

He helped found Bill Ball's American Conservatory Theater in Pittsburgh, playing the title roles in both "Tartuffe" and "King Lear," before moving with the company to San Francisco.

[13] He received Tony nominations for his roles in Neil Simon's The Good Doctor (1973) opposite Christopher Plummer; as the Duke in Big River (1984), winning a Drama Desk Award; and, memorably, as Buddy Fidler/Irwin S. Irving in City of Angels (1989), written by Larry Gelbart and Cy Coleman.

[13] Auberjonois' other Broadway appearances included Malvolio in Twelfth Night (1972); Scapin in Tricks (1973); Mr. Samsa in Metamorphosis (1989); Professor Abronsius in Dance of the Vampires, the English-language version of Jim Steinman's musical adaptation of Tanz der Vampire; and Jethro Crouch in Sly Fox (2004), for which he was nominated for Outstanding Featured Actor in a Play, an Outer Critics Circle Award.

[14][citation needed] Auberjonois appeared many times at the Mark Taper Forum, notably as Malvolio in Twelfth Night and as Stanislavski in Chekhov in Yalta.

He appeared in the Tom Stoppard and André Previn work, Every Good Boy Deserves Favor, at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, D.C., and the Metropolitan Opera in New York.

His other notable film appearances include: McCabe & Mrs. Miller (1971), Images (1972), Pete 'n' Tillie (1972), The Hindenburg (1975), King Kong (1976), The Big Bus (1976), Eyes of Laura Mars (1978), Where the Buffalo Roam (1980), Walker (1987), My Best Friend Is a Vampire (1987), The Feud (1989), Inspector Gadget (1999), and Eulogy (2004).

He voiced Professor Genius in Little Nemo: Adventures in Slumberland, Louis the Chef in the 1st and 2nd Little Mermaid films, Flanagan in Cats Don't Dance, the Butler in Joseph: King of Dreams, and André in Planes: Fire & Rescue.

In addition to having been a regular actor on three television shows (Benson, a situation comedy; Star Trek: Deep Space Nine in science fiction; and Boston Legal, a legal comedy drama), Auberjonois guest starred on many television series, including; Nash Bridges, Ellery Queen, Family, Grey's Anatomy, The Rockford Files, Charlie's Angels, Starsky & Hutch, Wonder Woman, Harry O, The Jeffersons, The Outer Limits, Night Gallery, Hart to Hart, Matlock, Murder, She Wrote, The Bionic Woman, Frasier, Judging Amy, Chicago Hope, The Bob Newhart Show, Star Trek: Enterprise, Stargate SG-1, Warehouse 13, Archer, L.A. Law, The Practice (for which he received an Emmy nomination, playing a different character than the one he played on The Practice spinoff Boston Legal), Saving Grace, It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia, Criminal Minds, NCIS, The Good Wife, The Librarians, and Madam Secretary.

His television film credits include The Rhinemann Exchange, The Dark Secret of Harvest Home, Disney's Geppetto, Gore Vidal's Billy The Kid, the remake of A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court, and the Sally Hemings: An American Scandal (2000) miniseries.

Auberjonois voiced animated roles, including characters on Snorks, Batman: The Animated Series, Leonard McLeish on Pound Puppies (2010), Avatar: The Last Airbender, Master Fung in the first episodes of Xiaolin Showdown (before being replaced by Maurice LaMarche), Azmuth on Ben 10: Omniverse, Renard Dumont on The Legend of Tarzan, Justice League Unlimited, Max Steel, Fantastic Max, Challenge of the GoBots (as the treacherous "Dr. Braxis"), Archer, Young Justice, Random!

He read "The Stunt" by Mordechai Strigler for the National Public Radio (NPR) series Jewish Stories From the Old World to the New, and he recorded novels on tape.

His voice was heard in Disney's The Little Mermaid (receiving alphabetical top billing as Louis the Chef and singing "Les Poissons"), and as The Skull in The Last Unicorn.

He reprised an animated version of his character Odo from Star Trek: Deep Space Nine in a cutaway joke in Family Guy's Stewie Griffin: The Untold Story.

He was also the voice of Leonard McLeish in the Pound Puppies series, Pepé Le Pew in 2011 on The Looney Tunes Show, Azmuth in Ben 10: Omniverse, and Ebony Maw in Avengers Assemble.

According to a behind-the-scenes featurette in Soul Reaver 2, showing candid discussions among the voice actors during recording, he was surprised at the quality of the writing, asking, "This is for a video game?!"