Timothy Darrell Russ (born June 22, 1956) is an American actor, musician, screenwriter, director and amateur astronomer. He is best known for his roles as Lieutenant Commander Tuvok on '; Robert Johnson in Crossroads (1986); Casey in East of Hope Street (1998); Frank on Samantha Who?; Principal Franklin on the Nickelodeon sitcom iCarly; D. C. Montana on The Highwaymen (1987âÂÂ1988), and for his brief role in Spaceballs (1987). He appeared in ' (2022) and reprised his role as Captain Tuvok on Season 3 of '.
Russ was born in Washington, D.C., on June 22, 1956, to a government employee mother and a U.S. Air Force officer father. He spent part of his childhood in Turkey. He attended his senior year of high school at Rome Free Academy, from which he graduated in 1974. He graduated from St. Edward's University with a degree in theater arts. He additionally attended graduate school at Illinois State University where he was inducted into its Hall of Fame.
In 1985, Russ appeared in The Twilight Zone episodes "Kentucky Rye" as Officer #2 and "Voices in the Earth" as Archer. He made a brief appearance in the comedy film Spaceballs as a trooper who "combs" the desert with a giant comb. Russ had a prominent role in the Charles Bronson film Death Wish 4.
Russ has been involved in the Star Trek franchise as a voice and film actor, writer, director, and producer. He played several minor roles before landing the role as the main character Tuvok in Star Trek: Voyager. Russ screentested, in 1987, for the role of Geordi La Forge on Star Trek: The Next Generation before being cast as Tuvok. Russ went into Voyager as a dedicated Trekkie with an extensive knowledge of Vulcan lore, and has played the following roles in the Star Trek universe:
In 1995, Russ co-wrote the story for the Malibu Comics ' #29 and 30, with Mark Paniccia. Russ performed voice acting roles as Tuvok for the video games ' and '. Russ is the director and one of the stars of the fan series ', the first third of which was released in December 2007, with the remaining two-thirds released in 2008.
Russ's character's name D. C. Montana in The Highwayman was a reference to Trek writer D. C. Fontana.
In 1990, he appeared in an episode of Freddy's Nightmares.
Russ directed and co-starred in ', and in both 2013 and 2014 reprised his role as the voice of Tuvok in the massively multiplayer online game Star Trek Online.
Russ appeared as Frank, a sarcastic doorman in the sitcom Samantha Who? from 2007 to 2009, and appeared for six seasons as Principal Ted Franklin in Nickelodeon's show iCarly. He also portrayed a doctor on an episode of Hannah Montana, "I Am Hannah, Hear Me Croak".
Russ won an Emmy Award in 2014 for public service ads he did for the FBI's Los Angeles Field Office on intellectual property theft and cyberbullying.
He played Captain Kells in the 2015 Bethesda Game Studios video game Fallout 4.
In June 2025, following Mel Brooksâ announcement of Spaceballs 2, slated for release in 2027, Russ teased on social media that he may appear in the film, along with his more famous co-stars.
Russ has been a lifelong musician and a singer. In addition, Russ has been an avid amateur astronomer most of his adult life, and is a member of the Los Angeles Astronomical Society. In 2021 he was among a small group of citizen astronomers who assisted in detection of the asteroid 617 Patroclus in preparation for NASA's Lucy probe. In February 2022, he stated that he owned a 10-inch Dobsonian telescope, an 8" Schmidt-Cassegrain telescope, and a Unistellar eVscope.