Star Trek: Deep Space Nine Star Aron Eisenberg Dies at 50

Star Trek: Deep Space Nine star Aron Eisenberg has died. He was 50 years old. His wife, Malissa Longo, broke the news on Facebook. “It is with extreme regret and sadness to announce that my love and best friend, Aron Eisenberg, passed away earlier today,” Longo writes. “He was an intelligent, humble, funny, emphatic soul. He sought to live his life with integrity and truth. He was so driven to put the best he had into whatever work was put before him. He lived his life with such vigor and passion. He was like a breath of fresh air, because I knew I would always hear the truth from him. Even if I didn’t want to hear it and even if the truth was inconvenient. He made me (and still makes me) want to be the best human I can possibly be, because he always strove to be the best human he could be. His resilience and willingness to learn was and is an inspiration. We didn’t officially announce that we had eloped on December 28th, 2018. We were hoping to have a big shindig in celebration of our nuptials, but had to wait to save up the money. While, our marriage, on paper, was a short one. Our hearts had been married for far longer. I will be forever thankful for the time we had to love each other. Five years felt like a lifetime, in the best possible ways. There will never be another light like Aron’s. The beauty that he was and the legacy he leaves behind is beyond words. I love him dearly and will miss him eternally. At the moment I’m not sure how to do life without him… He is and always will be My California.”

Before joining Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, Eisenberg appeared in the television series Straight Up, the television movie Amityville: The Evil Escapes, and the films The Horror Show, Playroom, and Beverly Hills Brats. In addition to his acting career, Eisenberg was also a professional photographer who shot events, portraits, and landscapes.

As Nog on Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, Eisenberg was a recurring guest star. At the start, he didn’t know how many episodes he’d appear in. He went on to appear in 40 episodes of the series, charting Nog’s course as he grew up to become the first Ferengi to serve in Starfleet. Eisenberg took a lead role in one of the show’s most popular and moving episodes, “It’s Only a Paper Moon,” in which Nog struggles with post-traumatic stress disorder. Eisenberg also played the Kazon-Ogla named Kar in the Star Trek: Voyager episode “Initiations.”

Eisenberg was born with a single, partially-functioning kidney. He received a kidney transplant when he was 17 years old. In 2015, he required a second kidney transplant. He waited on the transplant list for four months before a friend, Beth Bernstein, volunteered her own kidney for the procedure. He underwent a successful transplant on December 29, 2015.

The cause of Eisenberg’s death has not been revealed. He is survived by Longo, his mother, and his two children, Christopher Ryan Eisenberg and Nicholas Lawrence Eisenberg.