A Matter of Shatner's Perspective

more Shatner tweets on Trek etc: (he now doing via 'fan mail' as opposed to responding to tweets so cant recite questions, have to click on links to see Qs)

on The Cage:

on City on Edge chinese spock

on Discos Enterprise

on fav ep

on TJ

on Trek V

on a sequel to City

on TJ bluray

on UFOs

on Kirks return

on twitter

and a couple from a few months ago:

 

Grain, no...boatload of salt. Like the case of Yvonne "Batgirl" Craig, certain TOS guest stars piled on or flat out pulled fiction from their nether-regions about Shatner (and in Craig's case, about Bruce Dern, as well) to make themselves more attractive to convention organizers, magazines, etc. Its the tabloid "journalism" effect, where dirt--no matter how buried in fiction--sells. In other words, you're less likely to sell a story about how Elvis once helped you cross the street, but if you claim you witnessed him screaming at his so-called "Memphis Mafia" to give him cocaine enemas, you would make the sale, and it would be a Globe / Star / National Enquirer cover story.

Still, some supporting players spent decades trying to condemn the man for hair-thin reasons. It has made those actors appear to be astoundingly petty, when in the grand scheme of things, TOS as a production did not hold them in some high regard, given the nature of their roles. "But that mean 'ol, evil 'ol Bill Shatner! H-he ruined my time on the show!"

Yawn.

Great point.

Exactly.

Well, over the years, after seeing / hearing their decades-long whining / bitterness, it often made me skip over interviews with them, since they were never going to offer any greater insight on TOS, but somehow, they were paying so much attention to one man.

 

Just what did Yvonne Craig say about Bruce Dern?
JB

 

She claimed Dern smelled bad while they co-starred on Land of the Giants' penultimate episode, "Wild Journey". Dern had the habit of jogging at the time, and she claimed he would follow such a session by running to wardrobe sans taking a shower first, leading to her oft-repeated story about alleged body odor. Of all of the things she could have shared about working on the episode, Dern's body odor was what she sold to her fans.

 

I'd buy that for a dollar!

 

That's a good one thanks, TREK_GOD! Apparently after Giants Jack Nicholson told Dern to stop appearing on shows like Giants for the sake of his career! Giants..!!!
JB

 

Bruce Dern was a competitive runner at the time and would compete in marathons. He'd train by pretty much running everywhere when on set and locations. He probably didn't have time to hit the showers between his runs and his call times.

I loved Yvonne Craig, but she seemed to like to tell the more mean spirited stories to entertain her fans.

 

At least he was training or doing something positive when he was younger! I knew people who just didn't bother to wash or they had some kind of nervous ailment that activated their sweat glands!!! Phew!
JB

 

..and that was pathetic on her part; if negative gossip was the bait for her fans, then it suggests she did not have much else to talk about. Unlike Craig, I cannot recall any of her co-stars dragging her through the mud with gossip; if they did, I'm almost certain she would have played "victim" for all it was worth.

 

Winkler's a mensch, and Frakes is a gem. Gene Hackman once observed that actors have a noblesse oblige -- they exist because of the fans. They should be good to the fans. (you may agree or disagree; that's just what Hackman said.)

 

Thank you. I was gonna say. TV in the mid 60s is crammed with ensemble shows. Addams Family, Burke's Law, COMBAT!...

 

That said, fans can get pretty annoying. I'm not and never have been in any way famous, but back in the 80's I wrote for several computer and videogaming magazines, one of which would print the author's photo with your byline, and I was at a computer show in Anaheim and people kept coming up to me because they recognized me. At first it was flattering, but it quickly because exhausting, because many of them would just hang around and not disengage. I cannot imagine what it would be like to have to deal with that day in day out in the real world.

Funny story: For years Robin Williams used to live in the SeaCliff neighborhood in San Francisco, two blocks from some good friends of mine. One day, one of them was in line at the local bagel shop and saw Robin in line, too, with his (then a child) son, Zachary. Well, my friend walked right past Robin to his son and said, "Aren't you Zach Williams?" He ended the story with, "I made Robin Williams laugh."

 

That's awesome. And no doubt fame can be annoying as can fans. I'm not denigrating Shatner for not being into his fans, though I do tend to lean toward the Hackman side of the issue.

I probably have achieved about the same level of fame as you had in the 80s. What was your byline?

 

I know this is from way back at the start of the thread, but on recent episodes of The Retro Hour podcast, they interviewed some former executives from Commodore, and asked about the commercials Shatner did for the VIC-20 computer. Apparently as part of the deal Commodore gave him a brand new VIC-20 with some software and peripherals, which he later upgraded to a C64 that he used for most of the 80s.

I know, citation needed and all that, if I can find the episodes in question again I'll come back and post them.

 

Maybe Leonard Tramiel?

 

If he used that Vic20 then he DEFINITELY wanted to upgrade to a C64.

 

Could have been, come to think of it, but I don’t know if the Tramiels were ever on the podcast.

 

Thats good to hear.
Man he's good for someone who's nearly 90.

Must suck to be Shatner but I'm sure he'd miss it if fans didn't want his autograph (not just the money ).
I'm sure he likes the fame.
I heard in the gossip mags (so it must be true) that Nicole Kidman doesn't like visiting Australia all that much because we Australians can't stop harassing her in the street. Maybe you're all cooler in the US or don't think she's that much of a big deal.

 

Shatner charges money for everything but i think its just a priority mechanism for him - he literally is besieged with opportunities and this is his way of ensuring its worth his time. He also runs whole charities for causes he is interested in.

 

Here in the U.S. it depends very much where you live...

IE - I live in the Los Angeles/ Hollywood area, and I've seen in my fair share of 'Movie/TV stars" going about their daily lives like filling their tanks with gas or getting groceries, or a few years ago when I golfed; hitting balls on the driving range.

It's very rare that I've ever approached someone of fame when they're doing that kind of thing because I figure, "Hey they're just out here doing shores like me and I don't think they'd enjoy being asked for an autograph, etc."

But there are times if it's someone that I am a big fan of, I have occasionally said hello and that I like their work in whatever it was I saw them in, and on a couple of occasions yes I've asked for an autograph.

When I was 20 in 1983, there was a situation I was embarrassed by, which was the fault of my father (who knew I was a huge Star Trek fan).

He ran a kennel business boarding dogs, and one week one of his customers turned out to be James Doohan. I didn't know that until he called me at home telling me to hurry up and drive down to the kennel, because James Doohan was there, picking up a dog he had boarded while he was on vacation; and my father had asked him if he would wait until I came down because my father told him I was a big Star Trek fan.

I felt really bad and even told my dad to please let him go, because it was a 15-minute drive and I didn't want him sitting there waiting until I showed up; and my father told me that he had asked and Mr Doohan had graciously agreed, after my father had told him it might take me 15 or 20 minutes to get down there; so I got in My car and race down to the business.

And yes Mr. Doohan was very gracious; and it even brought a Star Trek Ii promotional photo, what she autographed for me while I was there (and to this day I still have hanging in my home office); and when I got there my father and Mr Doohan were talking about various areas of Germany Mr. Doohan had visited on his vacation (My father was German and grew up in Germany during World War II); so I guess I didn't feel so bad because Mr Doohan seemed genuinely interested in what my father was relating about the various locations in Germany that Mr Doohan had visited (he had gone to Germany on Paramount's dime to a Star Trek convention to promote Star Trek II The Wrath of Khan. I actually apologized to him because I said I normally don't do stuff like this and was sorry for making him wait; and Mr Doohan told me It was his fault in that my father asked when Mr. Doohan boarded the dog if he wouldn't mind if my father arranged for me to be there when he picked up the dog because again I was a huge Star Trek fan; and Mr. Doohan had agreed to call my father beforehand so that I could actually be there when he arrived; but he forgot to do that, Even though he remembered to bring the photo he signed for me; so that's why he didn't mind waiting at all.

He also had some interesting stories about the on set filming of Star Trek Ii that I enjoyed; but afterwards I honestly still felt a little embarrassed about the whole thing.

So yeah while I seem to have digressed a bit, In the end I think it comes down to how often someone encounters someone famous. If you live in the same areas where they live and you see them from time to time, you don't think much of it.