Bruce Hyde R.I.P.

Bruce Hyde, who may be best known for playing Lt. Kevin Riley in the Star Trek episodes "The Naked Time" and "The Conscience of the King", died on October 13 2015 at the age of 74. The cause was throat cancer.

Bruce Hyde was born September 14 1941 in Dallas, Texas. He graduated from Northwestern University in 1963 with a Bachelor of Arts degree in 1963. He made his television debut in 1965 in an episode of The Trials of O'Brien. Over the next few years he would appear on several different TV shows. In addition to his two appearances early in the run of Star Trek, he also appeared in four episodes of Dr. Kildare in the recurring role of Dr. Jeff Brenner. He also guest starred on the shows That Girl and The Beverly Hillbillies, as well as appeared in the television movie The Recruiters.

Bruce Hyde also appeared on Broadway. He appeared in the productions Absence of a Cello (September 1964-January 1965), The Girl in the Freudian Slip (May 1967), and Canterbury Tales (February 1969-May 1969).

Bruce Hyde eventually left acting for academia. He received a Master of Science degree at the University of North Texas in 1984 and a PhD at the University of Southern California in 1990. He eventually became a professor emeritus of communication studies at St. Cloud State University in Minnesota. He also served as Artistic Director for St. Cloud State University's one time summer theatre, Theatre L’Homme Dieu.

Bruce Hyde was remarkable as Lt. Riley on his two episodes of Star Trek. In fact, I always thought that he should have been added as a semi-regular or regular character. Never mind that Star Trek would not have a regular navigator until Walter Koenig joined the show as Ensign Chekov in its second season, Lt. Riley was a very interesting character as played by Bruce Hyde. He also gave good performances in both The Beverly Hillbillies and That Girl.