Toupergate and the missing thirty minutes.

We've often compared the study of Bill Shatner's toupee-wearing to the 1970s Watergate scandal. Both involve the seeking out of intriguing and seemingly endless threads of information, which ultimately coalesce around a single unmistakable premise. In this post, we'll stretch that analogy a little further. One aspect of the whole Watergate affair was a notorious 18 1/2 minute gap in the Nixon White House tapes. What was on them? Why did Nixon risk his presidency by possibly wiping incriminating evidence, which was being subpoenaed in a criminal investigation? Does not the gap itself add to the picture of intrigue and even guilt?


In the ongoing investigations into Bill Shatner's toupee-wearing, we find something akin to that missing 18 1/2 minutes. But in this case, the gap is even longer - a full thirty minutes of what we believe to be toupologically crucial time for which Bill Shatner has not, and, dare we say, cannot account without conceding the full truth about his toupee usage! We present the case:


On page 102 of the 1993 behind-the-scenes book Star Trek Memories, author Bill Shatner described the makeup process, which fellow actor Leonard Nimoy had to endure in the 1960s Star Trek TV series in order to transform himself into the Vulcan Mr. Spock:

By about six A.M., Leonard had already reported for work and could generally be found relaxing in Freddie's [Fred Phillips was the series' makeup artist] barber chair, stinking up the makeup room with his fried-egg sandwiches while Phillips proceeded to turn him into a Vulcan. First Freddie would shave off the tips of Leonard's eyebrows, leaving just the inner third on each side. Then he would whip out his trusty spool of yak hair (yes, I did indeed say "yak hair") and glue the upswept edges of Spock's brows into place. The ears would go on next, followed by a quick dusting of pancake and a final once-over in the mirror. When the look had met with Leonard's approval, Freddie would move on to the rest of us.

Star Trek's makeup artist Fred Phillips with Leonard Nimoy.

Though it generally took about an hour to do Leonard's makeup, the rest of us actors could each be in and out of the chair in about ten minutes. This was of course due to the much more elaborate cosmetological process behind creating Spock...

Setting aside the implications of Bill Shatner talking about glue and yak hair, let's instead focus on several key points relayed above - Nimoy: one hour; the rest of the cast: in, out, straight to the set...

But something here doesn't quite seem right.

Charlie Washburn, who sadly passed away this April, served as assistant director on Star Trek. And, as noted by Memory Alpha, "Washburn [was] the first African-American who applied, and then graduated from the Director [sic] Guild of America." Back in 1986, Washburn penned a (very interesting) article for the sci-fi magazine Starlog proudly and nostalgically reflecting on his work in the legendary series - this article was recently posted by the blog My Star Trek Scrapbook to mark Washburn's passing.

Charles Washburn with Leonard Nimoy and William Shatner.

In one section of the article, Washburn manages to walk a very clever, and dare we say classy, tightrope by revealing a crucial nugget of toupological information without actually overtly doing so or dwelling on or expanding upon the inference. As with the segment from Star Trek Memories, this part also recalls the makeup process involving the cast and Fred Phillips:

The reporting times for our main cast almost never changed. Nichelle Nichols' and Leonard Nimoy's reporting time was 6:30 a.m. to be ready for an 8:00 shoot. Bill Shatner's was 7:00. And DeForest Kelley, George Takei, Jimmy Doohan and Walter Koenig were all expected at 7:30 since their makeup requirements were minimal.


Let's go over and try to expand upon what Washburn is saying here:

-Leonard Nimoy as the pointed-eared Spock: considerable makeup requirements, reports at 6:30 a.m.

-Nichelle Nichols as Uhura: heavy female makeup and also wig application, reports at 6:30 a.m.

-Kelley, Takei, Doohan and Koenig: minimal makeup requirements, report at 7:30.

But Bill Shatner reports at 7:00, a full thirty minutes before those with "minimal" makeup requirements were needed in the makeup room. This begs a very simple question:

Basic math can help us deduce the most obvious possible answer. If prosthetics (1 hour, Nimoy) or heavy makeup (1/2 hour) and a wig (another 1/2 hour, Nichols) require a full hour more than "minimal", and if we know that Bill Shatner wore no prosthetics (1 hour) or heavy makeup (1/2 hour), then there is only one logical conclusion - the extra half hour was required for Bill Shatner's toupee to be applied.

Thus, the actor did not simply rush in and out of the makeup room, but rather was there for a full thirty minutes each day having his toupee applied (including gluing the lace line at the top of the forehead and then covering it with pancake makeup). Only then would he, along with Kelley, Doohan, Takei and Koenig undergo the relatively quick process of applying makeup to the rest of his face (this is done to prevent harsh lighting from "bleaching" the skin and also to absorb potentially reflective sweat).

In his clever use of language (evidently balancing loyalty to those actors he worked with against the importance of the toupological historical record), Washburn essentially suggests the above conclusion without directly saying it. It's circumstantial, but what other possible logical conclusion is there? Bill Shatner might have wanted to arrive on the lot early for a number of reasons, but a makeup call is for one reason only - to apply makeup. Thus, once we have eliminated the impossible...

Deductive reasoning used in the Star Trek episode "Court Martial".

As many of the behind-the-scenes folks from the original Star Trek gradually leave us, we can't help but be eternally grateful for any nugget of shared toupological knowledge regarding their historic and historically significant contributions to a television series in which Bill Shatner's toupee-wearing was and continues to be a central, if not the central, component. There's still so much of their work to be done in the galaxy...

"The Deadly Years" - an HD study.

The Star Trek website trekcore.com continues its important mission to bring us better quality images of William Shatner's toupee with the publication of high-definition screen-caps of the original series episode "The Deadly Years".

As Trek fans will know, this particular episode features probably the most remarkable changes to Bill Shatner's toupee in the entire three-year run of the series. The plot sees a landing party, which includes Kirk, Spock, McCoy and Chekov exposed to a particular form of radiation that brings about rapid aging. All the actors get to have considerable fun with these circumstances.


Let's have a look what happens to Captain Kirk's hair in the episode - click on the below images for more HD detail.

We start out with the usual "Jim Kirk lace", albeit looking rather more freshly-combed than usual (a sort of combed by your mother after having a bath look).


During the first phase of aging, the hairline is raised a little, with a widow's peak visible and the hair either side of it receding more than normal.


The front lace allows the hair to be combed back, while still maintaining a natural-looking hairline.


As Kirk ages, he gains more wrinkles, but his hairstyle stays the same.


Rather unusually, the sides are gray (Bill Shatner's real hair has been dyed - correction: a reader tells us its a spray-on hair color), while the toupee starts out light brown and slowly gets yellower.


We do see areas of receding at the top sides not normally seen.


Then, as the aging process continues, something truly extrordinary happens.


Bill Shatner's hair not only turns white, but his hairline moves down and his hair actually thickens!


Whereas the first hair stage was likely a modified version of Bill Shatner's usual lace, here we have a new lace with gray hair. The style is combed back into an unusual shell.


During the very final aging stage, we get yet more weirdness. Kirk's hair thickens yet again and the famous frontal swoosh makes a sudden comeback.


Astonishing...


So what happened? It's possible that Star Trek's head of makeup Fred Phillips intended for stages 2 and 3 to continue the trend visible in stage 1. That would have meant a graually receding hairline and a continuing thinning of the hair. Did Bill Shatner step in and refuse? Did Phillips, in true Scotty fashion say "But Bill, I cannot make it any thicker, it isn't realistic!"?

Did Bill Shatner, echoing Kirk talking to Scotty, retort: "I want thicker hair in five minutes or you're all dead!" Was the Phillips-Shatner relationship fraught with tension over occasional rejected hairpieces?

Fred Phillips with Leonard Nimoy.

In a sense, the strange reversal evident in the episode serves as a precursor to the later shocking increase in hair thickness visible as the "Jim Kirk lace" became the "Lost Years" of the 1970s and then the even thicker hair of the "TJ Curly" era (below).


Also of note is that cameras were allowed in to photograph the aging hair and makeup being applied during the production of "The Deadly Years":

This really is what it seems to be, glue going over the lace line.

Was an agreement reached beforehand that no pictures showing the toupee being applied onto Bill Shatner's head would be allowed? Or were the photographers only allowed in once the "hair" was on? Why is there a young toupee but aging makeup being applied in the picture above? Some falsification for the cameras?

See startrekpropauthority.com for yet more images from the makeup chair.

This publicity exercise contrasts sharply with a previous toupee-related incident in which a photographer was brought in to take pictures of Leonard Nimoy's Spock ears being applied a year earlier - Bill Shatner was angry as he didn't want to risk having his "little makeup secrets" revealed.

There have been some rumors out there that Bill Shatner may have worn a wig on top of a toupee during the aging stages in this episode. Upon consideration, we don't think there's any evidence to support these claims - after all, the cast and crew knew the actor wore a toup and all that ever mattered was that us the audience be kept in the dark. To place a wig on top of a toup would thus have been completely pointless and would also have looked ridiculous.


At the end of the episode, Kirk makes one of the most awesome returns in the history of everything. The acting captain Commodore Stocker is failing at his job, frozen as the Enterprise is pummeled by the Romulans. Enter Kirk, young once again, his toupee back to normal! A truly iconic Star Trek moment.


We'll conclude with two short clips of Kirk mentioning hair in "The Deadly Years": once Dr McCoy's and then his own (including a "Real Hair Reflex", pictured above). The latter of the two features a unique explanation for what has happened to his hair "radiation will do that to you". Perhaps that's also the explanation for why Captain Kirk's hair seems to get thicker as he ages in this episode! These are possibly the only ever times Bill Shatner as Kirk mentioned hair in the entire Star Trek series (any other examples, please let us know):

The toup timeline.

There is an interesting discussion at the Star Trek fan message-board Trek BBS called "Is Shatner Really Bald?" Link here. On page 3 of the discussion, user "Adm Drake" claims that:

"Shatner went through various pieces over the years, waring [sic] a top piece in the first two Star Trek movies. He switched to a full piece by the time Star Trek III was filmed. By the time of Trek IV, he was wearing a weave which is simply a wig sewn into the existing hair to keep it more secure. Shatner ditched the wig in favor of a transplant done in 1999."

Another user "Therin of Andor" mentions that:

"Interviews from the 60s with makeup artist, Fred Phillips, mentioned that, to save the stupidity of Phillips having to apply a bald cap over a toupee for the final stage of Shatner's "The Deadly Years" makeup, Shatner simply whipped off the toupee."

These posts are very interesting, but sadly lack sources/citation. We would love to have the source for the latter interview as well as some idea of where "Adm Drake" got his impressive latter-years toup timeline from.

If anyone out there has these, please let us know. Some other great finds would be a Joan Collins television interview in which she described Bill Shatner's baldness, and a radio interview done a few years before even Shatner stopped playing hardball about his toup wearing - in the interview, he was asked if he wore a toupee and became very agitated at the questioner. Are these things out there somewhere? Shatner toup fans, please help us if you can.