[Played by Armin Shimerman]
Principal Snyder was appointed to Sunnydale High School after the
premature death of Principal Flutie (in 'The Pack'.) His arrival
in 'The Puppet Show' brought a new tough regime to the school, and
more trouble for Buffy and the gang: "My predecessor Mr Flutie may
have gone in for all that touchy-feely relating nonsense, but he
was eaten. You're in my world now!"
Armin Shimerman was born in Lakewood, New Jersey, on November
5th 1949. He planned on becoming a lawyer, before being bitten by
the acting bug. After learning his craft during several years playing
New York theatre he migrated to the West coast, and started appearing
in various TV series and movies. Shimerman came to the attention
TV fantasy fans as Pascal in the popular 1987-1990 series 'Beauty
and the Beast', but he's better known as Quark, the Ferengi bar
owner in 'Star Trek - Deep Space Nine', hidden behind an extensive
prosthetic makeup that made him the show's least recognisable, but
perhaps best-loved, star. Shimerman appeared in two episodes of
'Star Trek: The Next Generation', including the 1987 episode that
introduced the Ferengi, before being cast as a regular on 'Deep
Space Nine'.
'Star Trek - Deep Space Nine' ended its seven-season run earlier
this year, meaning that some of the time Armin was working on 'Buffy'
he was also starring in 'Star Trek'. This was a logistical challenge
for the producers of both series, and meant long days for Armin,
who would start 'Star Trek' very early in the morning, (so that
his makeup could be applied), drive across state over lunch, and
shoot 'Buffy The Vampire Slayer' in the afternoon!
He originally auditioned for the role of Principal Flutie, (the
one who was eaten by the wolf creatures in 'The Pack'), but eventually
ended up as his replacement, the menacing Principal Snyder. Armin's
other genre roles include appearances in 'Alien Nation' and 'Stargate
SG1'. He's also appeared in 'Seinfeld', and as a judge in two David
E. Kelley series: 'The Practice' and 'Ally McBeal'.
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2000 20th Century Fox.
