Michelle Hurd

Michelle Hurd

From Dropping Names ...and other things by Brent Spiner & Jonathan Frakes

September 2, 2026 · 60 min · Season 1 · Episode 17

About this episode

Michelle Hurd discusses her father's legacy, her experiences in Star Trek, and the impact of her family's history on her life.

Michelle Hurd sits down with Brent Spiner and Jonathan Frakes on Dropping Names and the first thing she gives them is her father. Hugh Hurd was 18 when he shipped out with a Black battalion in World War II, and he was one of the soldiers who walked through the gates of Dachau, where the prisoners who crawled out of hiding called the men who freed them black angels. Ten years later a hand reached out on a New York City bus to ask whether he thought a face like that could ever be forgotten. From there Michelle keeps going: her father in Shadows, the very first John Cassavetes film, Peter Falk pretending his glass eye had fallen out in Times Square, Godfrey Cambridge as her godfather, Maya Angelou raising money for Doctor Martin Luther King at cabarets her dad helped organize, and Hugh on Broadway in The Little Foxes with Elizabeth Taylor, who gave up her first class seat to go sit with the cast. She also explains why a Black father and a white mother sat their three daughters down in front of Star Trek every week so they could watch Nichelle Nichols take up space. The rest is just as good. Michelle talks about playing Raffi Musiker on Star Trek Picard opposite Patrick Stewart and…

People in this episode

Hosts: Brent Spiner, Jonathan Frakes

Guest: Michelle Hurd

Topics covered

  • family history
  • Star Trek
  • acting
  • World War II
  • cultural impact
  • survivor guilt

Keywords

  • Michelle Hurd
  • Brent Spiner
  • Jonathan Frakes
  • Star Trek
  • acting
  • family
  • World War II
  • survivor guilt
  • Hugh Hurd
  • cultural impact

Mentioned in this episode

Books & works: Star Trek, Star Trek Picard, The Little Foxes

Places: Dachau, New York City

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