Sunday, August 16, 2009
The Batgirl and the toupee.
What did the Batgirl see and when did she see it? According to several accounts out there on the web, in her autobiography, Yvonne Craig, who delivered a fine performance in what is arguably one of Star Trek's worst ever episodes "Whom Gods Destroy" describes catching William Shatner without his toupee during the filming of that episode.
Here's one review of Craig's book From Ballet to the Batcave and Beyond which notes that the author describes "...the time she caught noted narcissist William Shatner without his toupee...". And here is a post at a Star Trek message board where a commenter suggests "I've heard Yvonne Craig boast about seeing Shatner in his trailer without the toupee during her week on "Whom the Gods Destroy." And here, a poster writes "She said Shatner was pissed at her during the taping of that episode because she was touching his toupee in one scene."
Here's the Amazon listing - as you can see this is a very rare and costly out-of-print book. Yet, we would love to be able to verify these stories. If anyone out there has access to the relevant passage in the book, or perhaps knows a Batman fan who might, we would certainly appreciate your help.
Thanks!
Corbis has a few images of Shatner over the years. Occasionally, Shatner's solution to personal appearances in the 1960's was to simply wear a hat (even indoors)
ReplyDeletehttp://tiny.cc/bk3uU
I don't think that episode was bad at all.
ReplyDeleteIt took me ten years to reply (sorry), but I heartily concur. This episode featured neat performances by Ihnat and Craig, and there's a certain something about this ep that renders it rather fascinating in my view. Perhaps its "meta" nature, or its vaguely Shakespearean slant, or the idea that one of the most accomplished Starfleet officers of all time is nevertheless a hugely flawed, fallible figure... sort of poking a huge, glaring hole in the creator's (Roddenberry) idea of a 'space utopia.'
DeleteIf ya need a toupee
ReplyDeletethat'll make your day
Bring it on down to Shatnerville