Ricardo "Richard" Alpert is a
fictional character played by
Nestor Carbonell in the American
ABC television series
Lost. Alpert is introduced in a flashback of the character
Juliet Burke (
Elizabeth Mitchell), where he claims to be a doctor for a
bioscience company called Mittelos Bioscience; he is later revealed to be a member of a native island faction called the
Others, where he plays a role in the group's hierarchy that has been compared to that of the
Panchen Lama in
Buddhism by the series' producers. A major facet of the character is his seeming agelessness; he has been seen with a similar physical appearance both in the show's present events in the mid-2000s as well as flashbacks dating as far back as the late-1860s. Richard becomes mortal at the end of the series.
Originally introduced as a guest star in the third season episode "
Not in Portland", Alpert reappears throughout the third season, both in flashbacks and present-day island events. In the spring of 2007, shortly before the conclusion of
Losts third season, Carbonell was contracted as a regular on the
CBS television series
Cane, which jeopardized his future on
Lost. Nevertheless, the
2007–2008 Writers Guild of America strike resulted in
Cane being cancelled and allowed Carbonell to return for the final three episodes of the fourth season and several in the fifth. Producers
Damon Lindelof and
Carlton Cuse confirmed in January 2009 that Carbonell had been contracted for the show's sixth...
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