Why was DeForest in old-man makeup?

[φ of π]

In Encounter at Farpoint Data gives McCoy a tour of the Enterprise.

Why did they put DeForest Kelly in old-man makeup? Would it have been too much of a stretch to believe geriatric care in the second half of the 24th Century could slow down both the physicality and appearance of aging and have the old McCoy look as young as Mr. Kelly?

 

[Mr. Laser Beam]

Whichever they decided to do - put De in age makeup or not do it - there'd be complaining. So they literally can't win.

If De had looked exactly as he did before, there'd be grumbling over why he didn't age.

(Not by me, of course. AFAIK, age 100 or thereabouts is considered the prime of life in the 24th century. So McCoy should not have looked as old as he did. Especially since he's a doctor and would know how to keep himself in shape.)

 

[Dukhat]

Well, the problem wasn't that he was in old-man makeup. The problem was that the old-man makeup looked ridiculously fake. Just like how it looked fake when Spiner played old Soong, or or when Pulaski prematurely aged, or when Picard aged in "The Inner Light":

https://slightlywarped.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/stewart-doesnt-age.jpg

Apparently the makeup department never realized that you don't need tons of rubber prosthetics and goofy fake hair in order for someone to look older.

 

[Markonian]

I can look at TNG McCoy a dozen times - I can never recognise Kelley beneath the makeup.

 

[at Quark's]

In Encounter at Farpoint Data gives McCoy a tour of the Enterprise.

Why did they put DeForest Kelly in old-man makeup? Would it have been too much of a stretch to believe geriatric care in the second half of the 24th Century could slow down both the physicality and appearance of aging

It has. The mere fact that McCoy walks around on the ship at age 137 proves that. I always just assumed that even in the 24th century, 137 is considered quite old, much like 90 today, and we can't make 90-year-olds look like they are 50 today either.

 

[φ of π]

But Star Trek tech can make people look like completely alien species, as long as they're the same age...? That stretches believability more than the lack of futuristic cosmetic surgery.

 

[Vger23]

Whichever they decided to do - put De in age makeup or not do it - there'd be complaining. So they literally can't win.

This seemingly goes for anything that is done in any way for any reason within the franchise.

 

[BigDaveX]

The weird thing is, apparently they were originally going to use less severe old-age make-up than they actually ended up going with, but then the order came down on high (presumably from Roddenberry or Justman) to make McCoy look like he had during TOS's "The Deadly Years."

 

[Christopher]

Why did they put DeForest Kelly in old-man makeup? Would it have been too much of a stretch to believe geriatric care in the second half of the 24th Century could slow down both the physicality and appearance of aging and have the old McCoy look as young as Mr. Kelly?

Well, keep in mind that later that year, in "Too Short a Season," Admiral Jameson was portrayed as a very elderly and sickly man on the verge of death at 85. So they weren't exactly thinking in terms of greatly increased human longevity at that point. They assumed that even if a man could somehow make it to 137, it would be at the upper extreme of what was possible for a human.

For another thing, keep in mind that they never explicitly said he was Leonard McCoy. He was just "the Admiral." Sure, he acted exactly like McCoy, and that's clearly what we were supposed to conclude, but they were trying to be coy about it, no pun intended. So maybe they didn't want him to be entirely recognizable.

Well, the problem wasn't that he was in old-man makeup. The problem was that the old-man makeup looked ridiculously fake. Just like how it looked fake when Spiner played old Soong, or or when Pulaski prematurely aged, or when Picard aged in "The Inner Light":
...
Apparently the makeup department never realized that you don't need tons of rubber prosthetics and goofy fake hair in order for someone to look older.

Actually aging makeup is one of Michael Westmore's specialties and he's gotten awards and nominations for it. The problem with McCoy's "Farpoint" makeup specifically is that they didn't have time to create prosthetics specifically for DeForest Kelley and thus they had to reuse a forehead appliance made for another actor, so it didn't look quite right on him.

 

[2takesfrakes]

Bones already looked like he was a hundred and two by the time TSFS came out, so TNG really need not have bothered.

 

[Herbert]

The weird thing is, apparently they were originally going to use less severe old-age make-up than they actually ended up going with, but then the order came down on high (presumably from Roddenberry or Justman) to make McCoy look like he had during TOS's "The Deadly Years."

And as I recall, he didn't. The old man makeup in The Deadly Years was more believable.

 

[Mojochi]

In Encounter at Farpoint Data gives McCoy a tour of the Enterprise.

Why did they put DeForest Kelly in old-man makeup? Would it have been too much of a stretch to believe geriatric care in the second half of the 24th Century could slow down both the physicality and appearance of aging and have the old McCoy look as young as Mr. Kelly?

In my experience, I'd say that the show never was one to depict human medical advancement as having been able to slow the aging process. They've only managed to continue our trend of prolonging life.

So, that means people grow old at the same rate, which is pretty consistent in the appearances of the show's characters being comparable to people of similar age, in reality. Picard, while in great shape, is 50-ish, & looks 50-ish. Surely, if they had available those kind of medical advancements, a person who looks that age might be 70 or more, & a person who looks Yar's age might be in their 50s. Since we don't see that. I assume it's not happening

Could they drive medical advancement in that direction? I don't see why not. Hell even WE work in that field right now. They just never have, & after all this canon, I have to think there must be a reason. Maybe it's because they aren't too fond of gene tampering, which is what it would take to slow the actual aging process. It kind of falls into the realm of eugenics, & we know they got problems with that

Certainly Bones would. The man don't even like his cells in a transporter, let alone being rewired lol

 

[Christopher]

So, that means people grow old at the same rate, which is pretty consistent in the appearances of the show's characters being comparable to people of similar age, in reality. Picard, while in great shape, is 50-ish, & looks 50-ish. Surely, if they had available those kind of medical advancements, a person who looks that age might be 70 or more, & a person who looks Yar's age might be in their 50s. Since we don't see that. I assume it's not happening

Actually, Picard was a dozen years older than Patrick Stewart. At the start of TNG, Picard was 59 (born 2305) and Stewart was 47 (born 1940).

 

[Mojochi]

Actually, Picard was a dozen years older than Patrick Stewart. At the start of TNG, Picard was 59 (born 2305) and Stewart was 47 (born 1940).

He didn't really look 47. Matt Damon is 47. If somebody who is 59 looked like he does right now, I'd say yeah... Maybe they are slowing the aging process. Stewart looked 50s at age 47, imho. That gray & balding just plays like that on screen. So I'll stick with my claim lol

 

[Dukhat]

The weird thing is, apparently they were originally going to use less severe old-age make-up than they actually ended up going with, but then the order came down on high (presumably from Roddenberry or Justman) to make McCoy look like he had during TOS's "The Deadly Years."

That would have been perfect. Even the older uniform with the newer combadge would have been great as opposed to the silly old-geezer sweater and bell bottoms they made Kelley wear.

 

[F. King Daniel]

That would have been perfect. Even the older uniform with the newer combadge would have been great as opposed to the silly old-geezer sweater and bell bottoms they made Kelley wear.

Hey man, dumpy sweaters and bell bottoms are going to be the in thing in 2364. All the kids'll be wearing them.

 

[Timo]

Let's also remember that McCoy wouldn't be your poster child for the natural aging process. He got artificially aged and then de-aged twice in the 2260s, in addition to suffering through most of the rest of disease and danger associated with deep space adventures.

Indeed, old age makeup in TNG never pertained to purely natural aging, not with McCoy, not with Jameson, not with Pulaski. Even the future views of Picard in assorted episodes, light on the makeup, were of utter fantasies or an explicitly disease-ravaged former captain, or both.

Timo Saloniemi

 

[Tosk]

Old-age make-up has come a long way. But so has the image of what someone looks like at a certain age.

 

[Tomalak]

I think if you compare the All Good Things make-up to how they all turned out, it wasn't too bad. Except Gates had more work done than Beverley Picard, and Brent has more than a streak of grey...

 

[BK613]

They were also still making TOS movies at the time of TNG's premiere, so McCoy did need to look older than his big screen version.