Deep Roy

Deep Roy  is an actor and stuntman who played the role of Keenser in 's  and 's . A screenshot of Roy from Star Trek is used for card #52, Engineer Keenser, of the virtual collectible card battle game Star Trek: Rivals. On , Roy confirmed that he was reprising this role for the  sequel  by cancelling a convention appearance in October 2015. 

He is noted for playing Max Rebo Band member Droopy McCool, an Ewok, the stunt R2-D2, and Master Yoda during his walking scenes in addition to his work as stand-in for the character Yoda in the two Star Wars films, Star Wars: Episode V – The Empire Strikes Back (1980) and Star Wars: Episode VI – Return of the Jedi (1983) and for his frequent collaborations with director , particularly his portrayal of all 165 Oompa-Loompas in 2005's Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. In the special features of Star Trek, he is shown doing the Oompa-Loompa dances between takes.

Personal life 
Deep Roy was born Mohinder Purba in Nairobi, Kenya, to Indian parents. He stands at 4 ft. 4 in. (132 cm) tall. Roy began his career in entertainment in England as a stand-up comic in local cabaret clubs.

Career

Television 
Roy's first television appearance was the part of Klokoe in The New Avengers episode "Target!" in 1976 followed by the television short film Benji's Very Own Christmas Story (1978) and several appearances in the British science fiction series Blake's 7 (1978-1980).

In 1977, he appeared as Mr. Sin in the Doctor Who serial "". Roy is among the ranks of actors who have appeared in Star Trek and Doctor Who. Given his role in Star Wars Episode VI: Return of the Jedi, Roy is the first and, along with Simon Pegg, one of only two actors to appear in Star Trek, Doctor Who, and Star Wars on television or film. (Christopher Neame and W. Morgan Sheppard appeared in Star Trek and Doctor Who on television, and provided voices for Star Wars video games.) Roy returned to the Doctor Who franchise for a role in the 1986 serial .

Further television work includes the western Desperado: The Outlaw Wars (1989, with Brad Dourif) and episodes of Night Stand (1996, with Michael Bofshever) and The X-Files, playing the role of Beggar Man in the 2001 episode "Badlaa". The X-Files was executive-produced by John Shiban, and the episode in which Roy appeared also featured Jane Daly and Michael Welch. Between 2003 and 2004, Roy appeared in several episodes of the reality comedy show The Jamie Kennedy Experiment.

In 2010, Roy played the role of Aaron in three episodes of the hit HBO comedy series Eastbound & Down, working with Adam Scott and Marco Rodriguez. He also appeared with Leon Russom in an episode of the web series Wolfpack of Reseda (2012).

Film 
Roy's first film role was the Italian assassin in the 1976 comedy The Pink Panther Strikes Again, followed by the German crime drama Die Brut des Bösen (1979) and the British action comedy Licensed to Love and Kill (1979, with Nick Tate). In the 1980 science fiction cult film Flash Gordon, Roy played Princess Aura's pet, Fellini. He later appeared as Teeny Weeny, the rider of the "racing snail", in the popular 1984 fantasy film The Neverending Story. Fellow Star Trek alum Alan Oppenheimer lent his voice to this latter film. Beside these two films, Roy also worked as puppeteer on 's adventure The Dark Crystal (1982, choreograped by Gates McFadden) and on the adventure Greystoke: The Legend of Tarzan, Lord of the Apes (1984).

Roy's subsequent film credits include the science fiction film Starship (1984), the fantasy film Return to Oz (1985), the comedy Weekend Warriors (1986, with Lloyd Bridges, Vic Tayback, Graham Jarvis, Matt McCoy, Tom Villard, Camille Saviola, Brenda Strong, Jeff Allin, Randal Patrick, and Mark L. Taylor), the comedy Going Bananas (1987), the fantasy comedy Alien from L.A. (1988, with Tony Epper), the drama Lethal Woman (1989, with Ed Anders), the science fiction comedy Rising Storm (1989, with Zach Galligan and John Rhys-Davies), the horror thriller Disturbed (1990, starring Malcolm McDowell and Clint Howard), the horror sequel Howling VI: The Freaks (1991, with Joe Gieb), the horror film The Resurrected (1991, with Chris Sarandon), the science fiction comedy Freaked (1993, with William Sadler, Lee Arenberg, Patti Tippo, Don Stark, and David Bowe), the short comedy Dickwad (1994, with Musetta Vander and Billy Campbell), the comedy Under the Hula Moon (1995, with Carel Struycken, Musetta Vander, and William O. Campbell), and the comedy Jane Austen's Mafia! (1998, with Billy Burke, Lloyd Bridges, Gregory Sierra, Andreas Katsulas, Anthony Crivello, and Frank Welker).

He also played the post office clerk in the 2000 fantasy blockbuster How the Grinch Stole Christmas, working with Clint Howard, Landry Allbright, and cinematographer Don Peterman. Roy first worked with Tim Burton on the 2001 remake of Planet of the Apes, in which Roy played the niece of the villain, General Thade. This film also featured Erick Avari, Cary-Hiroyuki, and David Warner in the cast. Roy's next collaboration with Burton was the acclaimed 2003 fantasy film Big Fish, in which Roy played Mr. Soggybottom. Perhaps Roy's most notable performance is that of the Oompa-Loompas in Burton's 2005 adaptation of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. He played all 165 Oompa-Loompas in the film, which sometimes required him to repeat the same movements several hundred times. Each individual performance was then digitally inserted into the film. Roy's most recent collaboration with Tim Burton was the 2005 stop-motion animated Corpse Bride, in which he voiced General Bonesapart.

Other film work includes the fantasy comedy The Haunted Mansion (2003, with Wallace Shawn, Rachael Harris, Michael McAdam, and Derek Mears) and the comedy Surviving Eden (2004). Roy made a cameo appearance as an Egyptian guard in the 2009 science fiction sequel Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen, which was co-written by Star Trek screenwriters Alex Kurtzman and Roberto Orci. The film also featured David Bowe, Spencer Garrett, Aaron Lustig, Glenn Morshower, Eric Pierpoint, and the voices of Robert Foxworth, Tony Todd, and Frank Welker. Roy and Star Trek co-star Leonard Nimoy both lent their voices to the 2012 South African animated film Zambezia. He also played the lead role in the 2011 short comedy The Ballad of Sandeep.

Prior to his appearance in Star Trek Into Darkness, Roy filmed the short comedy Jewtholic (2012) and the comedy Paranormal Movie (2013). In 2014, he appeared in the comedy Mantervention.

Stunt work 
In addition to his acting career, Roy has performed stunts in a number of films. He worked as stunt double for  in the family movie The Adventures of Ragtime (1998, with Mic Rodgers, Dana Hee, Edward Conna, and stunt coordinator Charles Picerni, Jr.), as stunt double for  in the family comedy The Kid (2000, with Janet Brady, Jeff Imada, Matt McColm, and Manny Perry), as stunt double in the action thriller A Man Apart (2003, with Scott Workman and Anita Hart), and as stunt double for Atticus Shaffer in the horror thriller The Unborn (2009, with Marie Fink and Randy Hall).

Other films he performed stunts in include 's science fiction film Alien (1979), the science fiction film Enemy Mine (1985), the horror sequel Poltergeist II: The Other Side (1986, with Dana Dru Evenson, Beth Nufer, and George Wilbur), the comedy Hot Shots! (1991), 's fantasy adventure Hook (1991), the horror film Leprechaun (1993, with Kurt D. Lott, Denise Lynne Roberts, and Susan Rossitto), the horror sequel New Nightmare (1994, starring Heather Langenkamp and with stunts by Chris Doyle, Maria Kelly, and Lynn Salvatori), the family comedy The Little Rascals (1994), the adventure The Jungle Book (1994), the action thriller Sudden Death (1995), the fantasy film Matilda (1996, with Dana Dru Evenson, Eddie Hice, and stunt coordinator R.A. Rondell), the action thriller Face/Off (1997), the sport comedy BASEketball (1998), the action film Three Kings (1999), and the fantasy film Van Helsing (2004).

Roy also performed stunts in episodes of In the Heat of the Night, Rescue 911 (with host William Shatner), The Adventures of Brisco County, Jr. (coordinated by Chris Doyle), Buffy, the Vampire Slayer, and Touched by an Angel.

External links 
  – official site
 
 
 

Performers
Film performers