Their Careers if Not for STAR TREK

[ZapBrannigan]

If not for Star Trek, I say William Shatner would still have gotten lead roles in other shows. More than one, as he did with The Barbary Coast, TJ Hooker, and so on. He would still have become a nationally famous star. Not everybody's got it, but he really had it, whatever "it" is.

My guess is that Leonard Nimoy would have been a visible supporting actor and steadily-working voice actor. Without his cult following from Star Trek, I think he would have been seen as too "exotic" or something to get leads. Even after ST, his role on Mission: Impossible was of the ensemble variety. I don't suppose his poetry and photography books, and autobiographies, had a real audience beyond Spock fans, his pre-sold audience. And I doubt he would have directed any major motion pictures if not for his Spock-induced leverage over Paramount, which got him started on that.

The whole cast deserves discussion. One actor, whom I'll call Walter K (not his real name) seems to have been of two minds over the years. Sometimes he'd say that ST typecasting cost him all kinds of roles, and other times (I think later on) he would admit that, were it not for ST, he might have simply been an unemployed actor altogether, instead of getting supporting roles in the ST movies. Could he have been the next Dustin Hoffman, if only there were no Star Trek?

 

[2takesfrakes]

William Shatner's mass appeal is not easily defined. But he's most definitely a working actor, as opposed to those celebs who are choosey about their projects ... their "craft." He kept himself busy and visible, though, the decade betwixt TOS and TMP seems to have been rather lean for the actor. Had STAR TREK not become a Pop Culture Icon, I suspect that Shatner would've simply kept plugging away. People would know who he was, maybe even be glad to see him popping up in their favourite shows, or whatever, but his appeal would've likely have been restrained, somewhat. He's certainly no Steve McQueen!

Leonard Nimoy ... probably the same thing. He'd keep himself working, have himself a nice career going, but as a working actor. Not so much an International Celebrity, or anything of that sort.

DeForest Kelley would've continued to slip further into obscurity.

The 2nd bananas of STAR TREK like George, Walter and Nichelle would've probably struggled with guest starring roles as character actors, not quite making it into the 1980's. Their falling stars snuffed out, they would've found themselves in the private sector working as Real Estate Agents and such. And whilst Nichols could certainly sing well, the material she chose to sing just wasn't cutting it. She even had to assign STAR TREK themes to her records to get them noticed. Jimmy Doohan, though, could do the voices and accents and all that. He'd probably have the best shot of any of them, working in cartoons and commercials. He might've even ended up with a local radio show, up in Canada. Playing Motown and other Oldies ...

 

[Harvey]

Shatner had already been a leading man on a television show before Star Trek (For The People), had already been guest starring on many shows, and had already been appearing in both featured roles and starring roles in movies (both independent and studio pictures). His career probably would have continued in that manner - Star Trek certainly didn't "make" him into a bigger name than he had been previously.

 

[CRM-114]

Correct me if I'm wrong, but hasn't Shatner said publicly that at least one reason why he took Star Trek was that acting roles were already starting to dry up for him?

 

[2takesfrakes]

That was my understanding, too! But 50 years on -- wow! half a century (!!!) later -- before The Internet, back when entertainment and the news was a Top-down system, with everything controlled by the spin doctors, who can really say, for sure, though? Hell ... Neil Armstrong's bootprints on the Moon were still fresh, then.

 

[ZapBrannigan]

Neil Armstrong's bootprints on the Moon were still fresh, then.

His footprints hadn't even been made yet. But your point is valid.

 

[Harvey]

Correct me if I'm wrong, but hasn't Shatner said publicly that at least one reason why he took Star Trek was that acting roles were already starting to dry up for him?

He had just done another (short-lived) series as well as at least two other (unsold) pilots (maybe more, I would have to look). It sure seems like he was trying to get a regular TV gig.

 

[The Old Mixer]

The Shat was CBS's sacrificial offering in the death slot against Bonanza.

 

[CrazyMatt]

I think Shatner would have gotten another series lead, maybe just not one that fit his personality so well as Star Trek offered in the role of Captain Kirk. The others would have been frequent guest stars, familiar faces on numerous shows but likely not stars in their own right.

Then again, the story of Jeffrey Hunter serves as a cautionary tale. In 1965, he (through his wife) turned down the opportunity to continue as the lead on the show for the second pilot, claiming (paraphrasing) that 'he was a movie actor (star).' Less than five years later, he died after his career cratered, with his last roles being cheep spaghetti-type westerns ("Viva America," "Super Colt 38").

Star Trek made its ensemble cast--especially the three leads--essentially immortal. I think it unlikely that would have happened to any of them without Star Trek.

 

[Push The Button]

I think that Shat would have still had a solid acting career, eventually landing the lead in another TV series. The rest of the cast would have continued on as the journeyman actors that they were, landing small TV roles, theater work, voice acting, commercials, etc.

 

[Spock's Barber]

But Shatner could always guest star in A-movies like this one....

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[Push The Button]

But Shatner could always guest star in A-movies like this one....

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Ah, the one and only big screen appearance of pre-refit Enterprise. We applauded in the theater when she sailed by.

 

[Spock's Barber]

Ah, the one and only big screen appearance of pre-refit Enterprise. We applauded in the theater when she sailed by.

To paraphrase Murdoch/Shatner....

"You're the big man....the top dog....the head cheese....numero uno."

 

[2takesfrakes]

Despite their raising their (relatively modest) fee, whenever they could get away with it, I'm almost surprised the 2nd bananas kept returning to the STAR TREK movies. Especially, when the only careers taking off were the guest stars, like Stephen Collins, Kirstie Alley, Christopher Lloyd and Kim Catrall ... leaving the 2nd bananas sucking their wake, at those same consoles, saying the same lines. I'm not aware of too many other instances of that, where an actor continues to play that one character for the rest of their lives, without ever getting anywhere, with it.

 

[ZapBrannigan]

Despite their raising their (relatively modest) fee, whenever they could get away with it, I'm almost surprised the 2nd bananas kept returning to the STAR TREK movies. Especially, when the only careers taking off were the guest stars, like Stephen Collins, Kirstie Alley, Christopher Lloyd and Kim Catrall ... leaving the 2nd bananas sucking their wake, at those same consoles, saying the same lines. I'm not aware of too many other instances of that, where an actor continues to play that one character for the rest of their lives, without ever getting anywhere, with it.

Well, if your acting career is moribund but you don't want to take a real-person job, it's awfully hard to turn down (say) $50,000 for one month's work. So of course the supporting cast kept coming back.

The studio wanted them in every movie due to the notion of fan loyalty, but I've always thought the films would have been better off without them. Casting appropriate young actors in new roles would have been both more realistic (same little group of officers together for so long???) and yielded a better quality result, because the casting director could easily find actors who were more talented and charismatic.

 

[2takesfrakes]

The studio wanted them in every movie due to the notion of fan loyalty [...]

Back in the day when Fans had the POWER!!! Wow ... hard to believe such a time ever existed, really. Nimoy seemed to be of the mind, certainly, that the original cast needed to stay together. Unlike Shatner, he really felt like he was "one of them." He was a team player ... and I have to say, that kind of surprises me, still. Then, you hear stories about how Nimoy refused to do the cartoon, unless the 2nd bananas were signed on. Other stories, too, of him going to bat for his co-stars in other instances. It makes you wonder how that kind of attitude came about. Maybe it was Nimoy's having been somewhat typecast, himself? But when he started directing the movies, he certainly wasn't about to cut anybody loose and you can just tell that from his giving the 2nd bananas more to do in those films.

 

[mb22]

The movies kept George Takei in the public eye and let him become an activist and pop culture icon.

 

[Laura Cynthia Chambers]

But Shatner could always guest star in A-movies like this one....

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Shatner looks like he's employed by IPS. LOL could you imagine Doug Heffernan in Star Trek?

 

[Jedman67]

Shatner certainly landed some roles that had little to do with Star Trek (aside from his celebrity status). Boston Legal comes to mind. Koenig had a nice recurring role in Babylon 5, but if he hadn't been famous from Star Trek he still could have landed the role.

 

[EnsignHarper]

Remember that Doohan had an offer to be a regular Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea....