Mickey Cottrell, Star Trek actor and publicist, dies aged 79

Cottrell's career began behind the scenes in drumming up publicity, first for LA-based Landmark Theatres and later for Josh Baran & Associates, before eventually cofounding his own firm in 1989 (with Doug Lindemann).

Cottrell helped promote a wide variety of films, including multiple collaborations with Good Will Hunting director Gus Van Sant on his earlier projects Drugstore Cowboy, My Own Private Idaho and Even Cowgirls Get the Blues.

For My Own Private Idaho, an acclaimed Keanu Reeves-River Phoenix feature loosely based on the works of Shakespeare, Cottrell also took a small acting role as a character named Daddy Carroll.

More on-camera appearances would follow, with Cottrell embracing the opportunity to portray alien species on episodes of both Star Trek: The Next Generation and Star Trek: Voyager.

On the big screen, his acting credits include '90s comedy Grief, Tim Burton's Ed Wood, Michael Keaton's Speechless, Bryan Singer's Apt Pupil, disaster flick Volcano, Jessica Chastain's screen debut Jolene and LGBTQ+ drama I Do.

All the while, he continued his work in publicity, with cult sci-fi film Earth Girls Are Easy, Nicole Kidman thriller Dead Calm and Angelina Jolie action flick Salt being among his most notable promotions.

An established name in Hollywood circles, Cottrell was proud that the films and individuals he represented had racked up eight Sundance jury prizes and three Oscars in total.

"Some of my successes have given new life to films that might not otherwise have had the chance, ranging in scale from big budget to minute," he wrote on his LinkedIn profile. "I have had the great joy of representing many important film artists."

He suffered a major stroke in 2016, which caused him to temporarily leave California and return to his home state of Arkansas, where he lived with his sister for a time. He continued working at Inclusive PR, which he owned, until 2019.

His sister, Suzie Cottrell-Smith, revealed he had been living with Parkinson's disease in his final years.

She paid tribute (via Deadline): "He was the most fun brother ever. So many good memories of when I was a kid — we’d sing together, dance, just all kinds of fun things that went on all the time when he was around. He was just so fun, full of life, entertaining.

"Every woman in the neighbourhood adored him. He had a job when he was a teenager where he would take the bus downtown and he had to walk two or three blocks home from the bus stop, and he’d be singing and dancing all the way home.

"And all the ladies in the neighbourhood would come outside and watch him."

Cottrell-Smith added: "He knew every movie ever made and every little bit actor that was in movies. It was amazing. I could just ask him the question and he always knew the answer when it came to a movie."