Quiz picture - what is this image from?Firstly, all of us at the William Shatner School of Toupological Studies, and in particular the staff of Shatner's Toupee would like to wish our readers a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year - or just a happy holidays depending on where in the world you are reading this. We have readers not just across the US, Canada and Europe, but also in Russia, Japan, Hong Kong, Brazil, Australia and New Zealand and beyond - so to all of you, our sincere thanks for visiting our blog and also for your largely insightful, intelligent and polite contributions during these last months.
Over the holiday period, we thought we'd ask for your Shatner toupee stories. When did you first begin to suspect that Bill Shatner wore a toupee? Was it while watching the original Star Trek series? Or was it that thick curly hair in the Trek movies or T.J. Hooker? Perhaps it was a comedy sketch, or review or an interview with a Shatner-bashing co-star. Or was it this blog - surely not!!??! We'd really love to read your "When I first learned that Bill Shatner wore a toupee" stories in the comments section!
Our posting will be a little light until the New Year. By the way, we've erected and decorated a giant festive toupee in the main lobby of the William Shatner School of Toupological Studies - we'll try to post a photo at some point! Thanks again, everyone!
Probably when I was 6 or 7 years old. My dad had seen Shat in one of the city's Gentlemen's Clubs (this was during the 1970's) and casually remarked that he'd seen Captain Kirk and that Shatner wore a toupee. "What's a toupee?", I asked. Later, he told me Shat wore a toup even during the Star Trek TV series.
ReplyDeleteWhen STTMP came out in 1979, it was the first chance for many people to see him since the reruns, and it seemed obvious that a rug was being used as his hair was a different color and much thicker.
During the 80's, Shat was regularly accused by different publications of having the worst toupee in show business, so his toup use had become notorious by that point.
The pic is from the TV production of Little Women (1978) - sort of an early version of the florid TJ-curly toup
Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to all of you!
ReplyDeleteWell, when I watched STOS in my B&B TV set in the early seventies, I never suspected of a toupee. When I watched some of the lost year toupee TV movies, I thought: “well, he is having another bad hair day”. It was the seventies, and everybody had bad hair and sideburns. But the curly TJ year were a shock. Later, I read about the toupees. Voila! Now we’re here!! By the way, I had a Star Trek toupee moment when I met Walter Koenig here in Brazil some years ago...
For me, I think it was TMP.
ReplyDeleteI watched TOS re-runs in the 70's as a child, and didn't suspect Shatner was wearing a toupee.
But when seeing the posters for TMP, even as a kid, I knew something was suspicious with his hair.
So happy to have found this blog - I've recently been watching TJ Hooker on Quest here in the UK, and I have to admit I've become obsessed with William Shatner's "hair". I can't concentrate on the plots. He seems to be in some sort of big hair contest with Romano - even Heather Locklear. They've all got huge hair. Hooker's "hair" changes colour - sometimes it's flecked with grey, sometimes it's jet black, sometimes it's slightly less huge. Clearly he had a range of toups. I'm also guessing he wore a corset? what a guy - I've been a fan since Star Trek, he's amazing!
ReplyDeleteThe seventies and eighties were the worst moments of mankind as far as hair and clothes were concerned. So, Mr. Shatner had to suffer. Big hair and sideburns anyone?
ReplyDeleteI was 10 when STTMP came out. I liked TOS growning up but when the movie came out, I knew Kirk's look different but I couldn't put my finger on it. Who knew at that age Mr Shatner had a rat stuck to his head
ReplyDeleteWow, now there's a blast from the past! That pic is from Little Women. Shatner played the German guy that Jo falls in love with at the end. I remember watching this on TV in the seventies.
ReplyDeleteIt's an episode of The Partridge Family. Bill wandered onto the set by mistake.
ReplyDeleteBill Shatner with a David Cassidy hair... oh, my god!
ReplyDeleteI haven't laughed this hard in a long time.
ReplyDeleteI'll be sure to have my asthma medication on hand for our next meeting.
I love the detailed chronology of events. There is so much to be read and seen (literally) that I have many many return visits planned.
Ama
I did not know Shat wore hair at all in TOS until I stumbled over this site. All my life I simply thought that Kirk's increasingly ratty-looking hair in the series was due to the make-up people having to use increasingly creative styling techniques to cover Bill's hair loss. When ST:TMP came out, I assumed that he finally lost the rest of his thinning blond locks in the early 70s and went for the awful Sy Sperling job. Incidentally, it seemed that in the 70's, those elegant lace jobs all got replaced by bad rugs. Shatner, Frank Sinatra, Jimmy Stewart, Burt Reynolds, Tony Bennett, Tony Curtis, and John Wayne all started sporting obvious wig-hats. What happened?
ReplyDeletehair fall? wow, is that like Autumn in a follicular sense?
ReplyDelete