I did this interview at last years Starfest, its was long as Dwight Shultz had a lot to say. But unfortunately my voice recorder malfunctioned during the interview. I have had the first 3rd of the interview for a long time and I have been fretting about what to do with it because its an incomplete interview.

I finally decided to post what I have. So here you go, the first part of the ill-fated interview with Dwight Schultz:


Jonja.net: You spent 15 years exclusively in theatre, what finally made you make the jump to TV?

Dwight: It was my agent really; I was told that if I wanted my career to continue that I needed to do something else besides theatre.

Jonja.net: So your first TV project was Hill Street Blues?

Dwight: No, I was on Chips first. A small part and then I did another small role on Hill Street Blues.

Jonja.net: Was the A-Team your first big role?

Dwight: Oh yes, The A-Team put me on the map. What’s funny is that NBC hated the show. They could not wait to get it off the air, but it was their number one show when it debuted.

Jonja.net: Why did NBC hate the show?

Dwight: It was too violent for their taste, even though no one ever really got killed and there was no blood, they hated it and they were happy to finally rid themselves of it.

Jonja.net: And that’s where you met Dirk Benedict?

Dwight: Yes, I became great friends with him. He has been my best friend ever since.

Jonja.net: I heard a rumor that the only reason he came to the Denver Starfest was because you were gonna be here, is that true?

Dwight: (laughing) I doubt it; we were talking about coming for a few months. So I think we can safely say that rumor is false.

Jonja.net: How did get on Star Trek?

Dwight: I was doing a movie with Woopie Goldberg (The Long Walk Home) and I said to her “I love that show your on, I watch it all the time” (Referring to Star Trek: TNG) and she said “Well, you ought to be on it with me” So then I got the chance to be Reginald Barclay and I loved it, But I thought it was just going to be a one episode deal like a lot of the other minor TV roles I have done. I was shocked when they called me back to play Barclay again.

Jonja.net: Are there any similarities between Barclay and Murdok?

Dwight: No, not really. One acts crazy and is supremely confident and the other is extremely intelligent, but has no confidence. They may seem similar at times, but they are not even close.

Jonja.net: What’s your favorite episode of Star Trek?

Dwight: (smiling) The Nth Degree of course. Reg (Barclay) becomes the smartest being who ever lived. I loved the holodeck scene with all the lasers. Even though the lasers shining on my head were hot.

Jonja.net: You did some radio, what was “UFO’s Tonite?”

At this point Dwight launches into a long dialouge about UFO's and the Government, but my recorder decided to take a crap at this time as well. I still have some audio snippets from the rest of the interview, but they are imcomplete and difficult to understand as the audio is garbled.

I was very depsressed that this interview got screwed up, it was the longest and most detailed of the interviews I did last year. But I learned a lot last year and this year I will be very much more prepared.

As for my impressions of Dwight Shultz after talking to him, I must say that he is one of the most intellegent and well spoken individuals I have had the pleasure to talk with. He is far more that a simple actor, it was clear to me that he could be succsessful in any endevour in life that he chooses to embark on as well as a very nice guy.