150th post - more on the moving story.

150 posts! Who would believe it? And still going strong, with plenty left to explore...

In our 100th post, we brought you what we thought was a very moving story. It concerned an industry source we contacted, and who wished to remain anonymous, recalling a conversation he had had with Bill Campbell, who played the character of Trelane in the Star Trek episode "The Squire of Gothos". Basically, the story he recalled being told by Campbell was that in November 1966, when Bill Shatner arrived on his motorbike at Campbell's house to rehearse his sword-fighting scenes for "The Squire of Gothos", Shats came without his toupee. But, unbeknownst to him, Campbell had told some local kids that Captain Kirk would be there. Shatner was hurt when the kids didn't believe that this bald guy was Captain Kirk.

William J. Campbell as Trelane in "The Squire of Gothos"

Well, it turns out that we have found a version of this story from a first-hand source - William Campbell himself. However, a few details are different. The quote below is from the December 1991 issue of the magazine Cinefantastique. A story in the magazine covers a Star Trek convention (called "Sea Trek") that took place on a boat. Cinefantastique quotes Campbell as saying the following at a public question and answer session with Trek fans:


"I have a marvelous story on Bill Shatner, which I can tell because he is able to laugh at it. Everyone knows that when Shatner goes from one series to another, his hairdo changes dramatically. I remember one wig he had which made him look like Shirley Temple!

"When we were doing 'The Trouble with Tribbles' [a Star Trek episode in which Campbell made his second appearance in the series -ST], Shatner called me and said, 'I have a script that I own that I would like you to look at, which could possibly be produced through your connections in Yugoslavia.' Shatner planned to come out to my place the next day with the script. My wife told the kids that Captain Kirk was coming to our house. The next day, there are thirty kids out in front, waiting for Captain Kirk to arrive.

"I see a motorcycle pull up and this guy parks it. He was bald. I did not recognize him at first as Shatner! The kids see him but don't recognize him either. Bill said that he did not wear his toupee whenever possible for comfort reasons. Shatner saw all of those kids but was smart enough not to tip off to them, so they never knew who they saw."

Bill Campbell's descriptions are clearly not colored by negative emotions directed at Bill Shatner as is often the case with Shatner toupee stories. Indeed, one senses a lightheartedness and camaraderie stemming from the tone of the above story. In fact, one might even say that Bill Campbell is somewhat naïve in that Bill Shatner isn't anywhere near as open or publicly self-deprecating about his toupee use as Campbell seems to think he is!

Shatner, touped up, with wife Gloria Rand. Image sourced here.

Anyway, there are some very interesting statements in the above quote. The first is that "[Shatner] is able to laugh at it." We have no examples of Bill Shatner laughing or reacting jovially to stories of his toupee use (examples like the Comedy Central Roast are indirect at best). Thus, what Campbell is likely suggesting is that privately, among friends and colleagues, the toupee may not be as much of an issue as in the public arena.

Secondly, we have "Bill said that he did not wear his toupee whenever possible for comfort reasons." This would also appear to suggest a private preference - again, that is certainly not the case in public. This statement is also a unique (we have found no others) hearsay account of Bill Shatner actually discussing his own toupee use and the various preferences that he has regarding its usage. In itself, that is particularly remarkable.

William J. Campbell in "The Trouble with Tribbles"

Finally, we have "Shatner saw all of those kids but was smart enough not to tip off to them, so they never knew who they saw." This, along with several other aspects of the story relayed above differs somewhat what we originally presented to you via our source. There, the children laughed at the bald Bill Shatner. In this version, they did not recognize him. There, it was a rehearsal for "The Squire of Gothos", here it is a script being brought over during "The Trouble With Tribbles".

There could be a number of reasons for this. First, our source has recalled it incorrectly (we contacted him again, and he reaffirmed his recollection the story). The second option is that Bill Campbell, as is often the case with decades-old stories, has changed his recollections. After all, how many contradicting versions are there of the famous "Star Trek first interracial kiss story"? The final option is that Campbell tells a version in public that protects Bill Shatner's image a little better. Who knows? It is possible that it is a combination of the last two.

100th post: A very moving Bill Shatner story.

Actor William J. Campbell

Did you ever think that a blog that is dedicated to William Shatner's toupee would be celebrating its 100th posting? Neither did we to be honest - yet here we are! So to mark the occasion, we want to bring you a somewhat moving story - one that is pivotal in understanding Bill Shatner's sensitivity to his hair. Imagine if Shats' autobiography had contained the following passage (it doesn't):

"In mid-November 1966, we started preparations on the first season Star Trek episode 'The Squire of Gothos'. There were some complicated sword scenes in the episode, so Bill Campbell (who was cast as Trelane) and I decided to take a little time out beforehand to rehearse our moves in order to avoid piercing each other's eyes out on the set.

"Bill suggested his backyard would be the ideal location for choreographing our sword-fighting follies, so the next day I headed over to his house on my motorcycle. Things seemed to be going very well until...have I mentioned that with every purchase over $10 at WilliamShatner.com, you get a free un-signed photo of Captain Kirk (me)? Of course, we also sell autographed merchandise, but that is just a little bit more expensive - but well worth it! For example, an autographed picture of me in the Star Trek episode 'Mirror, Mirror' will cost you a very reasonable $79.95...anyway, back to the story.

"So one day I arrive at Bill's house for some more running and jumping around his backyard. But unbeknownst to me, he had invited some of the neighborhood children from the area to 'see Captain Kirk!'. I wished he had told me. I wasn't prepared for that at all. The kids rushed up to see Captain Kirk just as I was taking off my helmet. At that point, I experienced something so horrible and hurtful that it still makes me shudder to think about it today. Imagine a group of kids standing there laughing at you. Why were they laughing? Because, they didn't believe that I was Captain Kirk. Why? Because thanks to certain makeup secrets that I don't really wish to discuss (I really don't get why so many people out there seem to be so fascinated with this subject), Kirk looked a little different from the man that was standing in front of these youngsters. And they weren't shy in letting me know just how disappointed they were by that!

"For some reason, in the midst of their cruel laughter, my mind went back to that moment when I was six-years-old, performing the play Winterset to a bunch of kids at Jewish summer camp. You know the story - I played a boy who had to say goodbye to his dog because the Nazis were coming. Everybody cried. I cried. My father hugged me. It was incredible how I had finally been able to empathically reach everyone around me. And now, thirty-years later: this! Kids laughing at me! It was just horrible.

"At that moment, I vowed that I wouldn't ever let that happen again. The fans loved Captain Kirk, but apparently weren't so forgiving of the many flaws of Bill Shatner. So, I started to wear my 'makeup secrets' home; I would never again let myself be photographed or seen in public without those 'secrets' in place. Perhaps it was a comfort blanket of sorts - I really don't know - but for years now I have lived with the fear that something similar may happen again. Humiliation and ridicule is one of the most painful experiences a person can experience and who wouldn't want to do all they could to avoid that?

"So now you know! And can we please talk about something else? Like the time that I hung Leonard's bike up in...Oh, by the way, our rehearsals couldn't have helped us that much as Bill Campbell still managed to briefly dislocate his shoulder while we filmed one of those scenes!"

Just to repeat, this story is not in Bill Shatner's book Up Till Now; rather, we tried to write it up as if it had been.

Now, a disclaimer - Normally, we are very meticulous in providing sources for what we publish here. In this case, things are a little different. This is a story (we've added for dramatic purposes Shatner's pondering on his experiences during Winterset, and, of course, his toupee-related ruminations and decisions) that was apparently told by Bill Campbell many years ago to somebody - an industry insider - who wishes to remain anonymous. We have contacted that person and are satisfied that they are telling the truth. As another layer of verification, the person mentioned another man that was present at the event where he had met Bill Campbell. We contacted this person to double-check that part of the claim - although they did not remember hearing the story, they did confirm that they had been at the function and that they had met Bill Campbell. This was enough to satisfy us.

You are free, of course, to disbelieve both us (we could just be making all of this up - we promise that we are not) and/or the teller of this story. The latter is a valid point. The only two people (other than the kids in the garden) that can verify this incident are William Shatner and Bill Campbell. Until then, officially it is hearsay, but unofficially, we think that it is an incredibly revealing and important incident, perhaps the most pivotal that we have ever chronicled here.