We've managed to find an unusual photo of Bill Shatner at the mysterious website memory-prime.de. The picture is from an article chronicling Shats' marriage difficulties relating to his first wife Gloria Rand. That would likely date it at late 1968- early 1969. The pair eventually divorced.
But what is with the picture? The first question is: did Bill have his own thin frontal swoosh that he grew long in order to cover up his otherwise very acutely receding hair? We've seen this effect before in two photographs from the book Captain Quirk: An Unauthorized Biography:
Yet it appears that Shats is wearing some kind of hairpiece in these pics, but could they merely be to cover a bald crown? Something that would create an effect similar to this?:
Such hairpieces would be far easier to wear, eliminating the need for the frontal lace being glued to the forehead.
And yet, other pictures appear to tell a somewhat different story of more uniform thinning:
Could Captain Kirk's famous frontal swoosh be nested upon a far thinner real swoosh? Were the two somehow integrated?
Despite appearances, the above picture is indeed of Shats with his usual frontal toupee glued in place.So just what is going on?
In this case, we have so many questions and so few answers. But if we had to guess, we would say that the mysterious picture is either a toupee so worn out (or ruffled by rain?) that it is simply looks very bad or it is indeed a toup-less or semi-toup-less picture (meaning that the frontal hairline, if not the rest, is real). And would Bill, sensitive about appearances, really smile like this for a photo if he wasn't wearing a toupee? That is why we are inclined towards the first, badly ruffled toup theory.
Let us know your thoughts.
Definitely it is a toupee. It is not the Shat's real hair.
ReplyDeleteWhat hair is the Shatner wearing in the photo with his wife, with the two of them on the motorcycle? It looks designed to protect against a fall.
ReplyDeleteThe top picture features frontal hair that looks so poignantly over-long, just dangling there, it makes me wonder if it's not Bill's desperate attempt to get the most out of the real thing. It reminds me of those comb-overs, where men grow what strands they still have so long they can be coiled up like turbans. Wouldn't a hair-piece be neater?
ReplyDeleteA question - the Jim Kirk Lace has been well documented here from the point of view of when it appeared and disappeared, but I'd love to see an analysis of colour. Its difficult I realise with black and white images, but for Trek I see it as blonder for seasons 1 and 2, darker for season 3. Whereas the darker version is more in keeping with Bill's natural colour, the blonde seems to suit him more, and looks a lot better. Is my basic analysis right, or is there more to it?
ReplyDeleteI really think it is toupless. The hair at the front is very thin and the hairline is very receded. It's difficult to see the rest of the hair due to the quality of the picture.
ReplyDeleteI am a new fan of Star Trek TOS and fell on this site following photos of Captain Kirk, for whom (of course) I fell in love. Apparently everyone here are experts in wigs (probably bald people) because I just do not see where or how Mr. Shatner was wearing a wig in these pictures! His hair as Captain Kirk is not bulky, is always down and short ... I do not know where they got that fixed idea. From the nasty comments from some fellow actors who were hurt by the rudeness of the Bill?
ReplyDelete