| James Cawley | |
| Birth Date: | 23 June 1967 |
| Birth Name: | James Cawley II |
| Birth Place: | Ticonderoga, New York, U.S. |
| Yearsactive: | 2004—present |
James Cawley (born June 23, 1967) is an American executive film producer and actor, known for his portrayal of Captain James T. Kirk in the fan film series .
A big Star Trek fan growing up, Cawley, at age 17, contacted Bill Theiss, the head costume designer for the original Star Trek series (ST:TOS) for advice on making his own Captain Kirk costume. The two became friends and this led to Theiss hiring him as an intern in the costume department of (ST:TNG). Theiss left ST:TNG after the first season and Cawley subsequently left the show to pursue a career as an Elvis impersonator, but he never lost his love for the Star Trek franchise[1]
After Theiss died in 1992, Cawley received a package in the mail from his estate with complete sets of blueprints for the sets of both ST:TOS and ST:TNG. Using money earned from his thriving career performing as Elvis, Cawley began building some of the ST:TOS sets in a former car dealership in Port Henry, New York and then he and a group of Star Trek fans began filming fan episodes based on ST:TOS, which became Star Trek: New Voyages.[2]
Cawley and the New Voyages cast and crew shot and released eleven episodes of the show online, but then discontinued the series when Paramount introduced stricter rules about fan productions.[3] Cawley then moved the sets to a former dollar store in Ticonderoga, NY, his home town, completed building the remaining ST:TOS sets and in July 2016 opened the set to tours by the public.[4]
Cawley’s prominent role in Star Trek: New Voyages gave him the opportunity to play small roles in a few other Star Trek fan episodes. He portrayed Mackenzie Calhoun in the 41st episode Vigil, and had a cameo as Captain Kirk along with ‘’New Voyages’’ co-stars Jeff Quinn and John Kelley in the premiere episode of Starship Farragut titled The Captaincy.
The starship Ticonderoga in the episode "The Aenar" was named as a nod to Cawley's hometown. His sets, props and costumes have also been used by in the episode "In a Mirror, Darkly" and in the fan film Of Gods and Men in which Cawley also plays one of Captain Kirk's nephews.[5] In addition to producing more episodes of Phase II, Cawley appeared in the cameo role of a bridge officer in the new Star Trek movie.[6]
In 2009, Cawley and his production company, Retro Film Studios, secured the license to Buck Rogers, which began filming in late 2009,[7] with planned to offer episodes online in 2010.[8] However, as of 2022, no episodes have been produced or released. Cawley is also developing a continuation of the cult spy/western series The Wild Wild West.