Sunday, July 19, 2009

William Shatner's technically correct toupee denial: a ruling from the Shat-no-meter.



In a May 2008 interview with the British newspaper The Daily Telegraph, William Shatner voluntarily denied that he was wearing a toupee. But to get to that point, we begin with the corset (the other rumor!) :

"Actually, I wasn't wearing a corset,' he corrects. 'I had fallen off a horse and broken some ribs. I had to be strapped up and some kind soul told the tabloids I'd got so beefy that I needed a corset to get into Kirk's costume.' Shatner smiles broadly, his earlier introspective mood erased. 'And no, it isn't a toupée,' he says, tugging his hair."


Now, according to the Shat-no-Meter, Bill is being a little clever in his wording here. The fact that he does not have a full head of his own hair is beyond doubt. We also suspect that he has had a hair transplant in recent years (or some other form of drastic change from his previous Trek movie-era hair - the jury's still out. UPDATE: See here for our latest findings suggesting it's still a toup) - from curly long to shorter hair more naturally attached to the scalp.

A visible scalp.

That being the case, the hair that Bill was tugging on during the interview was indeed likely not a toupee per se - as a toupee is technically a hairpiece or partial wig and that is something that Shatner no longer needs to wear. Is a hair system a hairpiece?

But the wording is revealing: "And no, it isn't a toupée."

The use of the word "it" is calculated and avoids having to commit to a broader claim, such as "I have never worn a toupee." Shatner is merely pointing out that what is on his head at that moment is not a toupee ("it's a hair system" perhaps?) and in that sense he is correct - but he very carefully does not deny that he has ever worn one in the past, and in that kind of wordplay, he is being a little disingenuous. Nonetheless, we rate his statement to be "Mostly True".



UPDATE: See here for our latest findings suggesting it's still a toup, which would shift this ruling into the "barely true" category - the argument, from Bill Shatner's theoretical perspective, being that a "hair system" doesn't necessarily qualify as a toupee.

16 comments:

  1. A world where there is a toup-less Shatner is not a world I want to live in.
    Do you think this actually looks real?

    http://tiny.cc/ADLyF

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  2. do you think shatner would ever get hair implants? painful as they may be...

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  3. Maybe the hair he was tugging WAS his own natural hair, low down at the side or back - and thus his statement was technically correct, i.e. "It" (this sparse remnant of natural Shatnerian hair) "isn't a toupee". But as for all that other stuff up top, well, that's a different matter ...

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  4. I saw Shatner one Friday in Burbank shooting an outdoor scene for T.J. Hooker. He was DEFINITELY wearing a corset then for his policeman's uniform. I watched him closely for about 40 minutes shooting the scene over and over as he climbed in and out of a squad car and ran his scene after exiting. Absolutely, I saw his corset under his uniform, and saw how he could really not bend. I was stunned at what a potbelly he had.

    Those were my two main impressions that surprised me about William Shatner when I saw him in person--

    1. that he had such a big potbelly
    2. that his belly would have been all the more enormous if he was not stuffed like a sausage into a corset. It looked like he was wearing a bulletproof vest underneath his TJ Hooker uniform except that it only wrapped around his stomach and back.

    From someone who at one time has worn all the same things Shatner wore and became an expert on who is and who is not wearing a hairpiece or a "system"--yes, yes, unmistakably Shatner wears a hairpiece.

    His hair looked very strange on Boston Legal because so much scalp was visible in side shots or when he tilted his head down. I thought it was the worst hairpiece I had seen on a major star because it looked what a hairpiece looks like after shedding too much hair.

    But, hair transplant or now hair transplant, William Shatner definitely, absolutely was wearing " assistance" on Boston Legal. It was always very clear that his temples and sideburns were GLUED on. And sometimes when he would turn sideways it was very visible that in various scenes the back of his hairpiece had separated at the collar leaving a whole layer of hair separated away from the skin of his neck.

    Also, in the open to the show that was used over and over there is a quick cut of William Shatner/Denny Crain where the hair at the temples has lifted up and away from his scalp in a manner that hairpieces always do when ruffled by wind, or a hand, for instance.

    The hair in hairpieces looks unnatural because it tends to separate and stay stiffly away from a natural position for hair that is actually growing from follicles. No lace tying or any other implant technique for even a super thin latex base can approximate the action of hair that is growing from follicles.

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  5. Okay, so youre contending that this Denny Crane hair would be a rug http://images.ientrymail.com/photoshopdigest/shatnerpopart/shatner-bg.jpg

    Do you think the same for this pic or is it transplanted stuff
    http://www.stuff.co.nz/entertainment/2441207/Shatners-raw-nerve/

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  6. I'm convinced Shatner's wearing a Hair Helmet. What surprises me, however, is just how strong the glue must be. Whatever glue-softener he's using to free it off his scalp, combined with all that tugging to get it off, has clearly thinned out the top, especially. But I have serious doubts he had a transplant. Oh, what his wife's eyes must have seen ...

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    1. She is probably thinking...... i am married to a STUD .... the biggest star that ever worked on STAR TREK....gee..im lucky

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  7. Hair reflects the face and the hair style improves all over personality of the person.

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  8. Why all the concern over whether he does or doesn't wear a toupee? Shall we next talk about what actor has dentures? There's vanity . . . and there's practicality. A film or TV performer who wants to present a particular "type" -- dashing hero, nubile heroine, elder statesman, bitchy temptress -- will use whatever cosmetics, prosthetics, and/or appliances to get that look.

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  9. This blog is such an amazing post, one that's very humorous ans fascinating. Taking time and effort to post was really worthwhile. Thank you and kindly keep on posting.
    Content Writer

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  10. This is one of the most fucking stupid blogs ever. Who fucking cares of Bill wore a toupee or not - get a fucking life.

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  11. It's the greatest blog in the history of mankind. You know it. I know it. The American people know it.

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  12. Just for clarification, A toupee, Hair system or hair piece are all the same thing. Saying system or piece just makes it sound better, Since toupee has always had a stigma attached to it.

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