Wednesday, June 24, 2009

How soon did Shatner start going bald?

(UPDATE: See here for more on this question)

William Shatner started thinning in his mid to late twenties. The image below from 1957's Studio One: The Defender highlights just how thin his hair was by the mere age of 28 (more on this here).


Below we have a few stills from the 1958 film The Brothers Karamazov. Here Shatner is already wearing a hairpiece, although in this case it is probably best described as a simple wig. The point though is that the hair-stylists evidently didn't have much natural hair to play around with.



Finally, below we have a TV appearance from 1960 in The Twilight Zone (episode "Nick of Time"). Here, Shatner already displays his famous lace hairpiece similar to the one he wore on Star Trek.

6 comments:

  1. This is definitely a hairpiece, though I believe the front hairline is artificial.

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  2. This is from an episode of the Twilight Zone.

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  3. The episode is called "Nick of Time" (1960)

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  4. I had heard the rumors, of course, but I never noticed that Wm. Shatner wore a toupee. I'm no expert, but I find that his hair looks perfectly natural. Compliments to the toupee-maker.

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  5. The actor in the second picture (the first in the group of three), the actor on the right, is Richard Basehart.

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    1. And Bill looks like a balding 12-year-old

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