VOYAGER DELTA QUADRANT UPDATE BIO-FILE: Neelix

**Includes updates, addenda through SD 50500 (2373)

Played By: Ethan Phillips

Species: Talaxian

Current assignment: U.S.S. Voyager : Chef, diplomatic adviser, "morale officer"

Full Name: Neelix

Place of birth: Rinax, a Talax moon

Marital status: Single

Profile by Capt. Kathryn Janeway

Neelix is a jovial male Talaxian, a major species of this far side of the Delta Quadrant, whose wit and instincts have enabled him to survive as a scavenger and merchant. Now he aids our cause admirably after coming aboard with his Ocampa mate, Kes, from her home system. Although he takes his good-natured abuse at times for it, he has been invaluable in preparing fresh meals from the flora and fauna of this region in order to ration food replicator power; for the human "'37S," he even researched and came up with 20th century foods comfort foods for all - with none of his usual custom twists added. In addition, his past dealings and travels have yielded invaluable information as well for our command decisions and strategy. he has begun taking a more active role in senior staff affairs and even held off the Kazon-Ogla when myself and Commander Chakotay were absent.

Neelix's chores as self-appointed "chief morale officer" have run the gamut from personal counseling, such as with Lt. Ayala deal his separation from his children, to a daily intership video program for the crew, "A Briefing with Neelix," begun ca. SD 49483. The latter led to his single-handedly tracking down the Paris ruse to flush out Crewman Jonas as our Kazon informant, risking his life but emerging intact after killing Jonas in a raw plasma stream in Main Engineering after a brawl there.

Neelix has already confronted his past devils coming aboard, admitting he avoided military service before the 2366 conquest of his home planet Talax by the Haakonian Order, who forced surrender after it irradiated his family and the rest of the population of the Talax moon Rinax with the Metreon Cascade weapon. The weapon's inventor, Dr. Ma'Bor Jetrel, died of his own metreon radiation poisoning after tracking us to help find a way to yet retrieve those who perished, and the difficult process was a big step for him. Our first encounter with the Vidiians included the theft of Neelix's lungs, but they were eventually returned when I showed our prisoners mercy while the Doctor's holographic substitutes kept Neelix alive.

Neelix is completely in love with Kes, whom he calls by the endearment "sweeting" and was ready to father a child when her premature elogium seemed to loom. His jealous nature of Kes was an ugly monster until he finally settled with its main target, Tom Paris, after the two helped birth an sentient reptilloid infant in an abrasive atmosphere.

His long-running feud with the less-than-patient Doctor is not helped by Kes' early elogium, which finds him pondering the responsibilities of parenthood and deciding to embrace it, only to be nixed by Kes herself and other events. Later he assisted with the birth of Ensign Wildman's baby.

DATABASE UPDATE, SD 50460:

Entry by K. Janeway

I have grown concerned in recent weeks about our morale's officer's morale, and now I understand why. Despite Neelix's cheerful and upbeat demeanor even he has a down side, and now I understand some of it stems from his pessimistic self-view as worthless to this crew now that we have exceeded the region of his scouting knowledge. Aside from my regular assurances, I note in this record that I acknowledge Neelix's past "very" basic combat training on Rinax, per his description, and intend to merge him more usefully into entry-level defense training, including the monthly tactical exercises.

This is not to register any displeasure with his natural diplomatic skills, his ongoing "Briefing with Neelix" comcasts, and even the cooking. Indeed his quick-thinking as a fax Nagus during our Ferengi encounter helped save the mission, even if I personally do without his people;s custom of delivering a history of each meal while it is served, as his mother perfected. I still wonder if his greatest diplomatic challenge, though, is his constant attempts to "buddy up" to our most unbuddylike officer, Tuvok. Even his Talax Resort holoprogram, with modifications by Paris, Kim, Torres, et.al., has proved to be a morale-boosting hit.

All this is to help explain why, shortly after my initial entry here, I made the decision to try to regain both he and Tuvok's lives as separate entities after a freak transporter merging of the two, despite the "death" of the resulting sentient lifeform dubbed Tuvix.

On yet another personal note: I note with concerned the separation of he and Kes' continued realtionship, and I wish them both the best in whatever path they take.

Ethan Phillips stars as the Talaxian Neelix, a member of an alien race never before encountered in the Star Trek universe. Neelix is a charming yet scraggly scavenger who acts as the ship's mess officer.. When asked about his character, Ethan replied, "Neelix is a loner and a lover. He's manipulative and brave, sexy and silly." He added, "You might say he's an alien of many colors... an eccentric oddball who never ceases to amaze me."

Born and raised on Long Island, Ethan grew up as the only boy of six children. He received a Jesuit education in New York, and attended Boston University, where he graduated with a degree in English Literature. He went on to study at Cornell University, and eventually received a Master of Fine Arts degree.

Ethan began his acting career in the theater, appearing in such Broadway and off-Broadway productions as "My Favorite Year" at Lincoln Center, "Measure for Measure" at the Delacorte, "Lips Together, Teeth Apart" at the Lucille Lortel and "Modigliani" at the Astor Place, along with new productions for Playwrights Horizons Ensemble Studio Theater, Hudson Guild Theater, and others. He also played leading roles for many of the regional theaters in the country.

While he may have "cut his acting teeth" while trodding the boards, Ethan is perhaps best known for his extensive television work. Audiences will most likely remember him for his five seasons as Pete Downey, the Governor's press aide on the hit television sitcom Benson. In addition, he had a recurring role in the night time drama Werewolf , and guest-starred on numerous shows, including NYPD Blue , L.A. Law, Murphy Brown, Star Trek: The Next Generation, and Law & Order.

Ethan is no stranger to feature films, either. He appears in the film "Jeffrey," in which he plays a sexaholic attending a 12-step group meeting. In addition, Ethan can be seen in the movies "The Shadow," "Wagons East," "Man Without a Face," "Green Card," "Bloodhounds of Broadway," "Glory," "Lean On Me" and others.

In addition to acting in stage, television and movie projects, Ethan is also a published and produced playwright. His original work, "Penguin Blues," was published by the Samuel French company, and has been produced more than 150 times throughout the U.S. and Canada.

Ethan lives with his wife, Patricia, and their West Highland terrier, Frank. In his spare time, he is a devoted backpacker and rock climber, and fancies himself an amateur ornithologist and botanist. He dreams of hiking the Appalachian trail from end-to-end.