Editing Merritt Butrick (section)

==Early life and career==
Butrick was born in [[Gainesville, Florida]], and was an only child. He graduated in 1977 from [[Tamalpais High School]] in [[Mill Valley, California]].<ref>{{cite book| title=Tamalpais High School Alumni Directory 2002 | location=Purchase, New York | publisher=Bernard C. Harris Publishing Company | year=2002 }}</ref> He attended the [[California Institute of the Arts]] for acting, but did not complete his degree.

His first screen role was as a rapist in two 1981 episodes of the police drama ''[[Hill Street Blues]]''.

He was cast as John "Johnny Slash" Ulasewicz, a major supporting character in the teen sitcom ''[[Square Pegs]]'' (1982), which received critical praise but was cancelled after 19 episodes (one season).<ref>{{Cite journal|url = https://books.google.com/books?id=AOgCAAAAMBAJ&q=Merritt+Butrick&pg=PA84|title = Slow Times at Weemawee High|last = Wolcott|first = James|date = November 8, 1982|journal = New York|access-date = March 13, 2015}}</ref> The character was described by one critic as an "apparent (but never declared) gay student."<ref>{{Cite book|title = Christmas on Television|last = Werts|first = Diane|publisher = Praeger Publishers/Greenwood Publishing Group|year = 2006|isbn = 978-0-275-98331-4|location = Westport CT|pages = 66}}</ref>

While ''Square Pegs'' was in pre-broadcast production, Butrick was cast to play [[David Marcus (Star Trek)|David Marcus]], the son of [[James T. Kirk]] ([[William Shatner]]) and his former lover Carol Marcus ([[Bibi Besch]]), in ''[[Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan]]'' (1982). He continued the role in the follow-up film ''[[Star Trek III: The Search for Spock]]'' (1984), in which the character was killed. He later appeared as T'Jon, the captain of a cargo vessel rescued by the crew of the ''Enterprise'' in "[[Symbiosis (Star Trek: The Next Generation)|Symbiosis]]" (1988), an episode of ''[[Star Trek: The Next Generation]]''.

Meanwhile, he appeared in the comedy film ''[[Zapped!]]'' (1982), the horror film ''[[Fright Night Part 2]]'' (1988), and as [[Barbara Hershey]]'s hillbilly son in the drama film ''[[Shy People]]'' (1987). He had a variety of guest roles on television series and television films.

He received critical praise from ''[[Time (magazine)|Time]]'' magazine for his performance at the Los Angeles Theatre Center in the play ''Kingfish'', in which he played a ditzy, petulant muscle-boy prostitute. It was his last acting role.