John Garman Hertzler Jr. (born March 18, 1950) is an American actor, author, screenwriter, and activist best known for his role on Star Trek: Deep Space Nine as the Klingon General (later Chancellor) Martok, whom he portrayed from 1995 until the series' end in 1999.
Hertzler began his acting career in the 1970s, doing mostly stage acting and appearing in some films. He guest starred in a few episodes for different television shows before landing the part of Alcalde Ignacio De Soto in the early 1990s show Zorro. In addition to Deep Space Nine, Hertzler has appeared on several other Star Trek shows, written two Star Trek novels, and has made appearances at Star Trek and science fiction conventions. Hertzler lives in the Finger Lakes region of New York where he was a lecturer at Cornell University's theater department, and has been active in the area's regional politics, as well as writing a screenplay.
Hertzler was born in Savannah, Georgia. His parents were from Port Royal, Pennsylvania, and his family is descended from German-speaking Amish families. His father John G. Hertzler served in the U.S. Air Force, and his mother Eleanor Frances Beaver Hertzler was a Latin and French teacher. His family lived in cities around the world including: St. Joseph, Missouri; El Paso, Texas; and Casablanca in Morocco. He grew up mostly in the Washington, D.C. area, and attended Bucknell University, playing linebacker on their football squad. While there, he got into acting when the drama department recruited him for a production of Marat/Sade as they were looking for a big guy for one of the roles. After graduating in political science in 1972, he got his master's in set design at the University of Maryland, and attended law school for a year at American University. While he was in the DC area, he worked in the federal government, including with the Nixon Administration for the National Environmental Policy Act, and took an assortment of jobs to practice theatre including waiting at a dinner theater, bartending, and taxi-driving.

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