Charles Washburn

Charles "Charlie" C. Washburn was an assistant director who worked on  and the first season of. Lt. Washburn, portrayed by Richard Compton in the episode, was named after him.

His work on The Original Series was Washburn's first professional job following his apprenticeship at the Director Guild of America (DGA)'s trainee program. Later people nicknamed him "Charlie Star Trek" because of his association with the now legendary series. In an interview for the fan-magazine "Inside Star Trek", Washburn explained that there were two second assistant directors on the production of The Original Series (the other being Tiger Shapiro) and that it was among his duties to prepare the shooting schedule, creating the call sheets, releasing the calls for the actors, and hire and pay the background extras with the help of Independent Casting. He had also worked with Star Trek alumni Rex Holman and was instrumental in casting him as Morgan Earp for the third season episode, after the original actor cast was fired.

Around 1986, Washburn considered writing a book about his experiences in television, especially regarding his work on Star Trek. However, the book never materialized. In that year though, he did submit a feature article to the magazine , that was published, detailing his career.

In 1987, Washburn was among the production staff members from The Original Series, whom Gene Roddenberry recruited for Star Trek: The Next Generation. He worked as a First Assistant Director on the first season of the new series.

Outside the official Star Trek framework, Washburn joined in 2007 the filming of James Cawley's fan film production Star Trek: New Voyages, and worked as first assistant director on David Gerrold's double episode "Blood and Fire" which was released in 2008 and 2009. Beside writer and director Gerrold, the two episodes also featured Trek alumni Daren Dochterman, Bill Blair, Leslie Hoffman, Fred Steiner, Ronald B. Moore, Denise Crosby, and John Carrigan. 

Career outside Star Trek
Charles Washburn left college in Memphis with a degree in Business Major. Some years later he went to school again in Milwaukee, feeling that writing ads was exciting for him. There he discovered directing. The following years he moved to New York and Los Angeles. In Hollywood he got into an apprentice program. Washburn was the first African-American who applied, and then graduated from the DGA's trainee program.

Washburn's first job following his time on Star Trek was the part of the second assistant director on adventure movie Skullduggery (1970) on which he also appeared as a Papuan. The film also featured Trek actors Roger C. Carmel and Booker Bradshaw. The following years he worked as assistant director on the comedy series The Bill Cosby Show (1969-1971), the drama Brother John (1971, directed by James Goldstone), the television science fiction film Earth II (1971, with Gary Lockwood and Mariette Hartley), the crime drama Melinda (1972), the music drama Lady Sings the Blues (1972), the documentary Wattstax (1973), the comedy Uptown Saturday Night (1974), the television series Vega$ (1978-1979), and the television drama Don't Look Back: The Story of Leroy 'Satchel' Paige (1981, directed by Richard Colla).

Beside his credits Washburn appeared as a background actor in the crime thriller Dirty Harry (1971), was the executive in charge of production on The Six Million Dollar Man episode "Bigfoot V" (1977), and worked as unit production manager on the comedy Bustin' Loose (1981, set decoration by John M. Dwyer).

He died of kidney disease on 13 April, 2012 in his native Memphis. 

Star Trek credits
(This list is currently incomplete.)
 * - Second Assistant Director (uncredited)
 * - First Assistant Director
 * - First Assistant Director
 * - First Assistant Director
 * - First Assistant Director
 * - First Assistant Director
 * - First Assistant Director

Star Trek interview

 * "Behind the camera: Charles Washburn", interviewed by D.C. Fontana, , issue 9, March 1969, pp. 3-6