Spock's ears and William Shatner's hairpiece.
- Thread starter Cheapjack
- Start date
Because Shatner underwent some kind of very expensive hair transplant or hair weaving in the mid 80s, a procedure that was guaranteed to hold up in water, hence Shatner's insistence that he perform his own underwater stunts in ST IV to show off the new handiwork.
It hardly helps the illusion if people keep dredging up old memories of dodgy hairpiece discussions from TOS, TMP and ST II.
Here's a cap from Balance of Terror. You don't have to look too closely to see the tape under Shatner's "hairline".
http://tos.trekcore.com/gallery/albums/1x14/balanceofterror031.jpg
http://tos.trekcore.com/gallery/albums/1x14/balanceofterror031.jpg
Where? I can't see it at all. Those look like bubbles of sweat on his head. You just can't get wigs that good. Not now not in the 60's. If you could, everyone bald would wear them. I've never seen one yet than thins at the front. I've looked at all my DVD's, paused them and stood about six inches from the screen.
I'm sorry.
I'm sorry.
Guys, give up trying to persuade Cheapjack. For whatever reason, he's intent on keeping to his position.
It's a free country, Cheapjack. Think what you want. One word of advice: Don't read Inside Star Trek: The Real Story, written by Bob Justman and Herb Solow, producers of the show. Despite being the single most informative book on Star Trek, Justman and Solow waste your time and money, talking about the expense of buying new hairpieces for Shatner each season. You don't need to know that.
It's a free country, Cheapjack. Think what you want. One word of advice: Don't read Inside Star Trek: The Real Story, written by Bob Justman and Herb Solow, producers of the show. Despite being the single most informative book on Star Trek, Justman and Solow waste your time and money, talking about the expense of buying new hairpieces for Shatner each season. You don't need to know that.
poor old Bill.
Yeah, he wore a piece. To be fair, a majority of folks on film do at one point or another.
As it's been said, any thinness of hair is accentuated by the lighting conditions on a set; many, many people wear partial or whole wigs to offset that effect. I don't know how thin Shat's hair really was, but there wouldn't be a big reason for him to keep it a secret that he wore something like that during the 60's. It would almost be a given under those circumstances that he would. Maybe he got touchier about it as he got older, and it became a real age thing - who knows?
To pull an example from one of my other nerd knowledge pools: during the filming of the Star Wars prequels, they had problems with the hurricane fans blowing "Anakin's" weave out. He wasn't going bald at the age of 22, but wore extra hair to look better on film.
I really want to see that footage.
As it's been said, any thinness of hair is accentuated by the lighting conditions on a set; many, many people wear partial or whole wigs to offset that effect. I don't know how thin Shat's hair really was, but there wouldn't be a big reason for him to keep it a secret that he wore something like that during the 60's. It would almost be a given under those circumstances that he would. Maybe he got touchier about it as he got older, and it became a real age thing - who knows?
To pull an example from one of my other nerd knowledge pools: during the filming of the Star Wars prequels, they had problems with the hurricane fans blowing "Anakin's" weave out. He wasn't going bald at the age of 22, but wore extra hair to look better on film.
I really want to see that footage.
Actually, guys, I got my DVD out again last night and looked again at the clip from the Balance of Terror, from six inches from my portable.
I'm amazed!
There does seem to soemthing funny going on there. Unless it's a makeup line on his head, there does seem to be some sort of latex thingy down from his hairline. It disappears in the next shot.
I'm 50/50 convinced.
But why he wore a worse one in the 80's when he was richer and there was more money running on it, I don't know. Perhaps he doesn'r brush his hair up now because it would make him look older, and more comparable to those days.
I'm 50/50 convinced. There's definitely something funny abou that shot.Amazing they only did it in the sixties. I thought latex wigs were invented in the 80's.
I'm amazed!
There does seem to soemthing funny going on there. Unless it's a makeup line on his head, there does seem to be some sort of latex thingy down from his hairline. It disappears in the next shot.
I'm 50/50 convinced.
But why he wore a worse one in the 80's when he was richer and there was more money running on it, I don't know. Perhaps he doesn'r brush his hair up now because it would make him look older, and more comparable to those days.
I'm 50/50 convinced. There's definitely something funny abou that shot.Amazing they only did it in the sixties. I thought latex wigs were invented in the 80's.
Check out "The Paradise Syndrome" at 2:17 and 2:22 into the episode. The sunlight plainly shows the skin of top of his head. Like you, I don't recall any episode where his hair appears so thin. If he did wear a toup, he apparently didn't have it on during that scene.
I would have provided a screencap, but I am having trouble uploading it to photobucket.
Transplants are real hair (from the back of the same head) and thus there wouldn't need to be any guarantee as to how it acts in water per se'. After the procedure, it's just 'normal' growing hair. What you're describing sounds like a weave ala' "the hair club for men" commercials that used to hog up all the late night infomercial spaces after Popeil (aka Ronco), got rich selling pocket fishermen and bald spot scalp paint. This was before girls gone wild took over all the time slots.
Actually he kept the piece on-they just flatened it out
Here's a good view of the webbing
The reason it isn't mentioned in the 60's is that many actors wore them. Ken Lynch had one, Carl Reiner played it up for laughs on Dick Van Dyke, Warren Stevens wore one while working but not usually in his daily life.
Once you know what to look for they are pretty easy to spot-it's the traditional "Kirk flip" in the front and the hair is always combed forward and flipped over to one side to hide the webbing.
All right, Shatner/Kirk wore a hairpiece and Nimoy/Spock wore fake pointed ears - and still they managed to look that hot that people keep writing erotic fanfic about them. 
Always choose best quality replacement parts, and people will love you, regardless...
Always choose best quality replacement parts, and people will love you, regardless...
Many actors, then and now, wore or wear hairpieces while filming. Often, it's easier than having to touch up or trim an actor's hair, especially in films where literally months may pass between scenes that are supposed to be hours apart. If you don't believe in how good the wigs were in the 1960s, just watch a show like "Mission: Impossible" or "The Man From UNCLE," where the actors would go in disguise, often wearing pretty convincing makeup and wigs as part of their cover. (Watch David McCallum take off his wig in "The Project Strigas Affair," which has the bonus of a pre-Trek Shatner and Nimoy.) Sean Connery wore a hairpiece in every James Bond movie he ever made, and Roger Moore, who has a full head of thin, straight hair, nonetheless actually had a special "paint" made for him to hide the scalp underneath when filming under bright lights. I actually think the hairpieces look a lot less convincing in the 1980s and 90s, where the hair was so think and the texture so shaggy that it often looked like someone had a dead animal on their head.
Carl Betz (the father on "The Donna Reed Show") also wore a toupee of the "flip front" style that Stompy notes above.
The hairpieces seemed more natural back in the 60's because they were affixed with spirit gum to a very fine mesh netting. The were removed with a little acetone. Taping a toupee to your head was associated with cheaper wigs and wig makers. The adhesive used in the tape also very frequently led to ulcerations on the scalp that could be very uncomfortable.
My father was in the entertainment industry and he wore a hairpiece that he paid quite a bit of money for at a "salon" in Studio City, California run by a toupee maker named Lazlo. Lazlo had a large clientele of famous men. I recall going to the salon with my father a few times when I was a kid to get the "hair" cleaned and there was pictures of Frank Sinatra, John Wayne, Jack Klugman and the ilke on the walls.
The hairpieces seemed more natural back in the 60's because they were affixed with spirit gum to a very fine mesh netting. The were removed with a little acetone. Taping a toupee to your head was associated with cheaper wigs and wig makers. The adhesive used in the tape also very frequently led to ulcerations on the scalp that could be very uncomfortable.
My father was in the entertainment industry and he wore a hairpiece that he paid quite a bit of money for at a "salon" in Studio City, California run by a toupee maker named Lazlo. Lazlo had a large clientele of famous men. I recall going to the salon with my father a few times when I was a kid to get the "hair" cleaned and there was pictures of Frank Sinatra, John Wayne, Jack Klugman and the ilke on the walls.
Yes, I can see it quite clearly. Those aren't forehead wrinkles either, you can definitely make out the edge of the toupee.
^ That would be the edge of the fine mesh.
Probably not. Unlike his hairpiece, the imprint of his girdle underneath his shirt was easily seen.
Yeah, the man boobs hanging over the front and sides of the girdle are a dead giveaway.
The toupee "edge" -- isn't that what Justman referred to as the "lace" (in "Inside Star Trek") when he noticed how shiny it seemed at times?
Next up for discussion, the boot lifts, the pants sock and why his eyebrows are always combed downward.
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