Jonathan Scott Frakes (born August 19, 1952) is an American actor and director. He is best known for his portrayal of Commander (later Captain) William T. Riker in the television series Star Trek: The Next Generation and subsequent films and series. He has also hosted the series Beyond Belief: Fact or Fiction, voiced David Xanatos in the Disney animated series Gargoyles, and narrated the History Channel documentary, Lee and Grant. His other well known TV roles are as Stanley Hazard on the miniseries North and South, Sandy Parris on ABC's Paper Dolls, Marcus Marshall on NBC's Bare Essence, and Damon Ross, a recurring character on Falcon Crest. He began directing episodes of The Next Generation during its third season, and went on to direct the feature films Star Trek: First Contact (1996) and Star Trek: Insurrection (1998) and episodes of the later Star Trek series Deep Space Nine, Voyager, Discovery, Strange New Worlds, and Picard. He later directed the feature films Clockstoppers (2002) and Thunderbirds (2004). He has since directed prolifically for television, including for The Librarian television films and series, Leverage, Burn Notice, and Roswell (of which he is also a producer). He is the credited author of the novel The Abductors: Conspiracy, which was ghostwritten by Dean Wesley Smith. He has been married to actress Genie Francis since 1988 and they have 2 children.