An interesting behind-the-scenes image from Star Trek we found at Startrekpropauthority.com. We don't know if the little girl having her pigtails tugged by Bill Shatner and Leonard Nimoy was an evidently delighted young fan allowed to visit the set or the daughter of a member of the production team...
Nonetheless, from a toupological perspective, it's always of interest to us at the WSSTS to see images of Bill Shatner interacting with hair of any kind.
In this case, the positioning of Bill Shatner's cup is notable - perhaps subconsciously, it is positioned in the perfect place for the actor to be able to easily hide the girl's pigtail should he find that it could be quickly and surreptitiously detached from its owner. We're not saying that Bill Shatner was actively trying to snip or rip the hair off the girl's head, but as someone who was always on the lookout for toupological opportunities, it just must have seemed perfectly natural to have some kind of container at the ready - just in case!
UPDATE: Reader Margaret remembers a perhaps relevant quote from the Star Trek episode "The Squire of Gothos" (did a young Shatner - expressed here through Kirk - already know in childhood that he would go bald and thus envied little girls' pigtails?):
Spock: 'Mischievous pranks', Captain?
Kirk: Yes - dipping little girls' curls in inkwells, stealing apples from the neighbors' trees, tying cans on - forgive me, Mr. Spock. I should have known better...
Spock: I shall be delighted, Captain.
He probably dipped the girl's hair into his coffee cup. Why? Because he was the captain. And jealous of anyone with real hair.
ReplyDeleteFunny pic
ReplyDeleteBut Shatner always looks good with the JKL
Toupee looks great - nice and fresh, must have been at the beginning of a season.....but Bill is obviously not wearing one of his other enhancements in this picture ie. lifts! Either that or he's standing in a hole...
ReplyDeleteDidn't Kirk once say to Spock "haven't you ever dipped a little girls hair in ink?" or something like that?
ReplyDeleteClearly, there is more going on with that cup than we can see.
This is my second blog...I originally had posted as unanimous...some weeks ago and had given reference to the Balance of Terror episode with Angela Martine staring at the captain's forhead at the end of the episode....anyway...just call me Roy..:-)...As a VERY HUGE FAN OF William Shatner, I applaud your website for its delicatness to a very sore subject I'm sure, as well as being able to gather incredibly rare pics of the Captain we all love. I have to admit, even as a kid, I always wondered how how he looked so cool and wanted to emulate the man and the actor...after all...he always got the girl!!...To find out that it was a hairpiece down the road was tough...how could it be....but in retrospect, it makes perfect sense....
ReplyDeleteAnyway, there may be some symbolism to the pic that was found, and I have to agree, the lifts appear to be missing as well. As stated in the book, "Inside Star Trek", he definitely wore lifts to achieve the 5'11" Height....Anyhow, lifts or hair piece, he is a great actor and this is indeed a great website!!
Shatner does not wear a toupee, and no one has ever shown any proof, whether in the form of an undoctored photograph or an admission by the actor himself.
ReplyDeleteWhat began as an old Hollywood myth has manifested itself into this very informative but fundamentally flawed website. I will continue to visit, if anything for it's historical reference, but I will never accept that such a great man would stoop to such a demeaning level of vanity.
Hey Anonymous, we could give you 999 toupologists out of a 1000 who all have advanced degrees in toupology with pages of proof. Yet you choose to listen to that one touplogist (who probably is on Shat's payroll)who denies hairchange! You can't judge the existence of hairchange by looking at single day, weeks or years worth of Shat's head. You have to look at its transformation over a long period of time which is what this blog does. Go back and review the science. You'll see hairchange started about 50 years ago at the "poles" of Shat's head. The next thing you'll tell us is your observations are "fair and balanced" Lastly you just about insulted everyone here but like a poor marksman you keep missing the target!
ReplyDeleteWe have been trying to encourage non-registered commenters to select the "Name/ URL" option in the "Comment as" tab and type in a username (anything at all). This eliminates the "anonymous" tag and helps other commenters to know who is saying what. Thanks! -ST
ReplyDeletehttp://community.livejournal.com/more_shatner/80140.html
ReplyDeletehow ironic that in the middle of an article on Bill Shatner in 1968, there's a large ad for hairpieces.
Please forgive my younger brother (anonymous). I too couldn't accept Shatner wearing a toupee when I was a mere tyke.
ReplyDeleteWhen I was a child, I spoke as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child: but when I became a man, I put away childish things. Now I say Viva le toup!
A great opportunity was missed when the original Star Trek episodes were remastered for HD with updated special effects. All traces of lace could have been digitally erased from Kirk's forehead, and hair colour mismatches corrected, sparing viewers the constant distraction of Spot-The-Join when presented with a close-up of the captain. Presumably, James T. requires no toupological support, so these enhancements might be compared to erasing the wire that enables Nomad to 'float' around the Enterprise, and would thus serve the interests of verisimilitude.
ReplyDeleteOf course, the original versions with the lace lines present and correct should also be retained as an alternative viewing option, along with all the other original '60s effects. And for those who prefer the JKL look over the TJ, it should be perfectly possible for for Kirk to go the lace route in alternative versions of all the Trek movies, thanks to modern digital wizardry.
NEWS FLASH - WALTER KONIG REVEALS BALD HEAD!!
ReplyDeletehttp://trekmovie.com/2010/07/20/video-walter-koenig-on-tos-movies-contrasting-nimoy-shatner-star-trek-2009-davey-jones-more/
Now Walter Konig has flippantly revealed all - maybe Bill wont think it much of a big deal either?
Maybe before the decades end - the truth will be revealed….
The truth is that he doesn't wear a hairpiece and never has.
ReplyDeleteMr. Moderator, or Blogmaster, whatever, I tried and tried to post here under my google account, but would repeatedly get error messages when I tried.
It was frustrating as hell, so I just finally gave up.
C'mon little brother. Past your bedtime.
ReplyDeleteAlllrighhht. I'm going to bed. But I'll be back tomorrow ... and Shatner still doesn't wear a toupee! He's all natural.
ReplyDeleteAnonymous, all you have to do is check out the HD screencaps from Trekcore that are closeups of Shat. You can clearly see the lace in some shots. He's got something stuck on his head.
ReplyDeleteThose are doctored photos, all part of some vast right-wing conspiracy to embarrass and humilate a man who has done so much for the betterment of mankind. Yes, I blame Bush and Cheney. Don't believe it for a second.
ReplyDelete@anonymous I still think your real name is Bill Shatner. It's the only logical explanation for your viewpoint
ReplyDeletehttp://www.imdb.com/media/rm3051126784/nm0000638
ReplyDeleteTaken yesterday. July 24, 2010
I just love how so many of you who are losing their hair think that anyone over the age of 30 with a decent-looking coif on top of their head MUST be wearing a hairpiece.
ReplyDeleteI put it to you: If I ... I mean, Shatner, was wearing a toupee than how do you explain the underwater scene from Star Trek IV? That thing would have come right off at the very moment of submergence.
@anonymous aka bill - the toupologists have already explained this one with an in-depth analysis back in August of last year. BTW I am not suffering from hair envy as you imply as I am still blessed with a full head :-)
ReplyDelete