Showing posts with label Day of the Dove. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Day of the Dove. Show all posts

Monday, May 3, 2010

That better not be my toupee!



In his book How Bill Shatner's Toupee Made Star Trek - The Real Story, producer Bob Justman noted a trick that he successfully used to add extra spice to Bill Shatner's performance:

"In the second season episode 'By Any Other Name' featuring actor Warren Stevens as Rojan, and the third season episode 'Day of the Dove' featuring actor Michael Ansara as the Klingon Kang, I didn't tell Bill that these actors would be wearing toupees that quite closely resembled the one that he wore. When those actors turned up on the set, there was an instant tension between them and Bill - almost as if someone was treading on his turf."


Bob Justman continued:

"Truth is, I knew that this kind of toupee hostility - Bill even suspected they were wearing one of his toupees - would add an additional layer of animosity and energy to Bill's performance, and I think that shows up on-screen in both of those episodes. There is a real visceral tension there."


While our intention here at Shatner's Toupee is certainly not to "out" toupee wearers...


...nonetheless, it is pretty clear that both Stevens and Ansara were/are indeed adherents to the philosophy of the universal piece.


However, unlike Bill Shatner, Ansara has been photographed toup-less and has also appeared bald on-screen (for example here):


But what really matters here is that in true Star Trek style, both "Day of the Dove" and "By Any Other Name" end with Captain Kirk and his nemesis finding a resolution to their conflicts.

Gene Roddenberry wanted to show how toupee squabbles can hinder mankind's progress

Peace triumphs over piece, while the universe proves big enough for more than one Jim Kirk-style toupee on the Enterprise. A truly uplifting message indeed.


note: Bob Justman never said or wrote any of the above.