• Welcome! The TrekBBS is the number one place to chat about Star Trek with like-minded fans.
    If you are not already a member then please register an account and join in the discussion!

New interview with Laurel Goodwin (Yeoman Colt from "The Cage")

Skipper

Rear Admiral
Rear Admiral
Catching Up Laurel Goodwin, Yeoman Colt from "The Cage"

Some interesting bits

Let’s fill in a blank or two. You and Leonard were initially going to be back for the second pilot, but it was Hunter’s contract that needed renegotiating and…

That's where things went up in smoke.

His wife didn’t want him to do it. Correct?

She apparently told him, "You're a movie star. You're not a TV star." Now, I got this story from a very dear friend of mine back East, who was a network honcho, because we were having dinner. I knew him quite well, and we were involved in a lot of stuff in New York. I said, "So, what happened?" He said, "Well, to tell you the truth, we were going with it. We were going to go with Jeff." I said, "Why'd you keep me?" He said, "Because we felt you were so damn cute." That was nice. I said, "Well, thank you very much." He said, "No, no, it was great, and Leonard, of course, because of his ears and his very special look."

So he then said that when they were renegotiating Hunter’s contract, Mrs. Hunter came and made a list of demands. He said, "We agreed to all of them. Then she came a second time, with another list, and we went along with that. She came again with a third list." And he said, "They called a meeting. We all got together" -- the powers that be that make those decisions – and said, “You know, if this thing is successful and goes for a year or two, do we really want to put up with that woman?'" They all said, "No." They said, "Well, let's not do it with Jeff." That's how the luckiest man in the world stepped into it. And they let me go.

[...]And I was very pleased with all of that. And I had come up with the pointed sideburns. And a few other things. But that, very specifically.

You suggested that?

Oh, yeah. When I was in makeup, Leonard's going, "You know, I’ve got to play this non-feeling alien, and all that." I said, "Honey, trust me. When they get these ears right and they get that right, we get that look just right, you're gonna be the sex symbol of the '60s." He brushed it off because he was a serious actor. So, even though I was crushed not to be on the show, I was delighted for Leonard. And, when the show starts, not being sour grapes, I took a look at it. The first moment that William Shatner walks on, I go, "He's got Leonard's pointed sideburns." That did it. I turned it off and never watched it again.
 
And it's nice to see a woman who hasn't tried to mess with her looks through cosmetic surgery or botox...

Also, even had they kept her for the show, it is possible that she might have been dumped midseason like Grace Lee Whitney (although she lacked the latter's personal complications).

And her nursing career was probably a greater contribution to humanity than anything she might have done had she stuck around in Hollywood.
 
Last edited:
And if we can trust her memory, this interview can shed some light on the reason why Hunter didn't return for the second pilot (it is my understanding that it's not clear what exactly happened).
 
And if we can trust her memory, this interview can shed some light on the reason why Hunter didn't return for the second pilot (it is my understanding that it's not clear what exactly happened).
Goodwin's story jibes with other accounts that have circulated about Hunter's wife interfering in the negotiations, and basically pricing him out of the series lead. What's interesting to me is Goodwin's account about how it affected her position on the show. Can't comment on its veracity, though.
 
I thought Hunter's wife said that Jeff wasn't going to commit to a series, no matter what, because he was strictly a "Feature" kind of guy?
 
Thank you, sir! Always learning something new about STAR TREK on this site. Very few are particularly knowledgable, though. There used to be a guy on here named Therin of Andor who knew every in and out of STAR TREK. If I wanted to know anything behind the scenes, I'd just have a look what he was saying about it. You know ... I liked Jeffrey Hunter in the STAR TREK pilot, but the problem was he was good. The Shat's so hammy and Avery Brooks is the exact same way. It seems like Hunter and Sir Patrick Stewart were the only leads that were really what you'd think of as "actors." The rest were cast for their camp qualities, pretty much, it seems like.
 
Read this at work today. Fascinating stuff! It's amazing that after 50 years, we're still learning new things about the conception of the show, like the origin of the pointed sideburns.

Reading between the lines, she doesn't seem to have the highest opinion of Mr. Shatner.
 
I thought Hunter's wife said that Jeff wasn't going to commit to a series, no matter what, because he was strictly a "Feature" kind of guy?
Which is interesting considering that Hunter made a guest appearance on The Green Hornet the same year as TOS' first season.
 
That was great, I'm so glad they were able to get her story on the record.

Her account of Jeffery Hunter also jibes with most of what I've read from people who worked with him, that he was a decent and likable guy. Her saying that he was "one of the gang" makes me suspect that the Pike character would have loosened up considerably as the production went on, if the pilot had been picked up.
 
Interesting.

Actually, I believe the word is, "Fascinating." :vulcan:

To view this content we will need your consent to set third party cookies.
For more detailed information, see our cookies page.

She's great, very down to earth and real.

Just knowing who came up with the sideburns is a new thing for me that I find interesting.

From the Goodwin interview: "And I had come up with the pointed sideburns. And a few other things. But that, very specifically." (http://www.startrek.com/article/catching-up-laurel-goodwin-yeoman-colt-from-the-cage)

I'm a little skeptical about Goodwin's pointed sideburn claim. In "The Cage," Huner and Nimoy seem to have them:

thecagehd0061.jpg


But other male cast members don't:
thecagehd0082.jpg


And certainly the pointed sideburns weren't in the second pilot:
wherenomanhasgonebeforehd006.jpg


Except for Spock:
wherenomanhasgonebeforehd010.jpg

The pointed sideburns didn't become ubiquitous until the series proper:
thecorbomitemaneuverhd143.jpg


I recall reading about the sideburns in the Whitfield The Making of Star Trek book and their origins. But I no longer have a copy. @Harvey, any fact check here on the sideburns and who came up with them?
 
Last edited:
If you are not already a member then please register an account and join in the discussion!

Sign up / Register


Back
Top