Jonathan Frakes plays Commander William Riker in Star Trek.

Two Takes Frakes (his nickname after First Contact) was born on the 19^th of August 1952 in Pennsylvania, USA

He was an undergraduate at Penn State and extended his education at Harvard, spending numerous seasons with the Loeb Drama Centre.

He then spent 5 years in New York, with appearances on and off Broadway in various theatre productions.

Before the part of Will Riker, Jonathan had periodic roles in such shows as Falcon Crest, Bare Essence and Paper Dolls, and for years was a contract actor on the daytime drama The Doctors.

His other TV work includes the TV movie "The Nutcracker" and the critically praised roles in the mini-series "North & South" & "Dream West".

During the 3rd season of STNG, Jonathan made his directorial premier with the TNG episode "The Offspring."

He impressed the executive producers so much that he directed several of episodes in the remaining 4 seasons as well as episodes of Star Trek: Voyager and Star Trek: Deep Space Nine.

Jonathan then directed and starred in his film directoral debut in Star Trek: First Contact. The 2^nd STNG feature film.

Jonathan repeated these dual roles in Star Trek: Insurrection.

Frakes is presently an executive producer/director on the TV series Roswell.

Jonathan and Genie Francis were married on the 28^th May1988 and she is also a fellow thespian. They live in Los Angeles and have and have 2 children, a Son (Jameson 7yrs) & a Daughter (Elizebeth 4yrs).

Frakes also happens to share the same birthday as Star Trek Creator Gene Roddenberry.