Shatner's TOS toupee

[Dale Sams]

I recall one of the older books saying that he wore a toupee even back then. If so it was a damn good one.

Is this true?

[137th Gebirg]

IIRC, there was an account of some woman, who might have actually become his first wife, who said he appeared at her front door for a date without the hair and it surprised her how she didn't recognize him at first. So yes, I believe that was the case back then.

[Albertese]

What I understand is that it's not really a toupee as such. But that the Shat's hair was always thin (and I don't mean balding... just that each strand of hair was thin) and that it looked balder on camera than it did in person, so he did have a hair piece just to fill out his natural hair.

However, I'm not sure if this counts as Trek Tech. I bet a moderator will magically whisk it away to General Discussion or the TOS forum.

--Alex

[Dale Sams]

Albertese wrote:

---

What I understand is that it's not really a toupee as such. But that the Shat's hair was always thin (and I don't mean balding... just that each strand of hair was thin) and that it looked balder on camera than it did in person, so he did have a hair piece just to fill out his natural hair.

However, I'm not sure if this counts as Trek Tech. I bet a moderator will magically whisk it away to General Discussion or the TOS forum.

--Alex

Probably. I was making a wittle joke about Shatner's toupee being so good, it must be future tech.

[137th Gebirg]

I also seem to remember another reference in "The Deadly Years" with Shatner in the really super-old makeup and his natural thinned-out hair dyed white without any additional assistance from a hair piece. My memory is really foggy on that one, though.

I was always quite impressed at how good it looked in his whale-rescue swimming scenes in Voyage Home. Some serious coin went into making that rug.

[jayrath]

Koenig had a toupee at first, too, and Nichols and Whitney had wigs all througout TOS.

Also, Nimoy's ears were actually latex add-ons and the Talosian performers didn't really have big, throbbing brains. And I believe that each and every actor also wore (gasp) make-up! At least, I heard that at a convention once.

[Racer_X]

The best source for information on Shatner's toupee is http://shatnerstoupee.blogspot.com/

[Admiral Buzzkill]

Yes it was a toupee; Justman even addressed the subject in at least one internal memo - the production actually paid for and owned the toups Shatner wore on screen during the series, which might help explain the evolving appearance of his hair in the years following cancellation.

[Dale Sams]

jayrath wrote:

---

Koenig had a toupee at first, too, and Nichols and Whitney had wigs all througout TOS.

Also, Nimoy's ears were actually latex add-ons and the Talosian performers didn't really have big, throbbing brains. And I believe that each and every actor also wore (gasp) make-up! At least, I heard that at a convention once.

What??? Next you'll be telling me the pointy sideburns were fake and that there's no Santa.

[scotpens]

According to the Shatner's Toupee website (referenced above), the Shat-Man was wearing hairpieces as early as 1958, when he was in his late twenties.

Albertese wrote:

---

What I understand is that it's not really a toupee as such. But that the Shat's hair was always thin (and I don't mean balding... just that each strand of hair was thin) and that it looked balder on camera than it did in person, so he did have a hair piece just to fill out his natural hair.

I believe that, technically speaking, the "Kirk lace" he wore to fill out his frontal hairline qualifies as a toupee.

Dale Sams wrote:

---

Probably. I was making a wittle joke about Shatner's toupee being so good, it must be future tech.

That's what I figured -- putting this in Trek Tech was a bit of humor on the OP's part. Got a good laugh out of it, actually.

[Albertese]

^^^
Gotcha. I haven't slept much lately and my sense of humor has eroded. But now I get it...

--Alex