A surviving Jeffrey Hunter?

[The Four Doctor]

one has to wonder, had Jeffrey Hunter lived, would he have regretted missing out on the fame and fortune that the Trek stars got? Of course, at that time, nobody knew how big Star Trek would become. We have hindsight on our side.

Still, imagine the Classic Trek movies, with Jeff Hunter in the lead. How different would they have been?

Maybe, even with Shatner, a living Jeff would have been invited back for the movies. Imagine Pike as the Federation traitor in Star Trek VI instead of that irritating black guy?

 

[Lance]

Hunter did survive long enough to see the show in its original run. Or most of it. I sometimes wonder if he did ever watch it, and wonder what he thought about the direction it took. Chances are he didn't

 

[mb22]

Hunter died in May 1969. If Trek was known for anything then, it was as a cancelled (or soon-to-be cancelled) has-been show.

 

[Kor]

Hunter did survive long enough to see the show in its original run. Or most of it. I sometimes wonder if he did ever watch it, and wonder what he thought about the direction it took. Chances are he didn't

I doubt he cared about Star Trek at all any more once he had his check in hand. It was one little job among many. If I do a little job for a company and then move on to other things, I don't spend years keeping up with the details of the first company and wishing I was still there.

But if Hunter had occasionally appeared as an admiral in the movies? Well, it would have been... glorious, to coin a phrase.

Kor

 

[Shawnster]

Admiral Pike instead of Morrow in ST:III?
Mention of Admiral Pike instead of Nogura in TMP? This would mean we don't have "The Menagerie."

 

[Kor]

Admiral Pike instead of Morrow in ST:III?
Mention of Admiral Pike instead of Nogura in TMP? This would mean we don't have "The Menagerie."

He got better!

Kor

 

[WarpFactorZ]

He got better!

Kor

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[mb22]

I doubt he cared about Star Trek at all any more once he had his check in hand. It was one little job among many. If I do a little job for a company and then move on to other things, I don't spend years keeping up with the details of the first company and wishing I was still there.
Kor

Although Hunter's career wasn't exactly in such great shape at the time of his death. While Trek was nothing special in 1969, he might have regretted his decision had he lived longer and seen it's success.

https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0001374/

 

[CRM-114]

Although Hunter's career wasn't exactly in such great shape at the time of his death. While Trek was nothing special in 1969, he might have regretted his decision had he lived longer and seen it's success.

https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0001374/

That's the most likely outcome. I don't know if he would've embraced the fandom, but the fans would've embraced him. In the end, it's a case of What Might've Been.

 

[Maurice]

Terry Garr is an example of someone who's quite glad to have put Trek far far behind her. Not everyone cares to have been associated with it.

 

[Phaser Two]

His manner of death has always saddened me. I would have loved to have him around to enjoy the revival of TOS, its spawning of a megafranchise, the convention circuit, etc. Fans would have loved him and I'm sure he would have appeared in a show or movie.

 

[Kor]

And William Windom thought the Trek episode he acted in was silly.

Kor

 

[Phaser Two]

Welp, he was wrong about that.

 

[Nerys Myk]

Sometimes it's just a job.

 

[J.T.B.]

one has to wonder, had Jeffrey Hunter lived, would he have regretted missing out on the fame and fortune that the Trek stars got?

His perspective on "fame" may have been different than we might expect today. The Star Trek cast did not have that great a decade after TOS ended, and when they started making movies, they were still widely regarded as B-list, and locked into single roles for which they looked increasingly out of date. OTOH, we don't know what Hunter's career would have looked like if he's lived. He might have had movie or TV comebacks or his career might have petered out; he would be in/around his 60s in the OS movie era. But, though no doubt good money, hosting Rescue 911 would probably not be looked on as highly prestigious by a 70 year old Hunter.

 

[Tenacity]

hosting Rescue 911

Hunter would have put on some weight and successfully played Denny Crane

 

[mos6507]

Not all actors who appeared in Trek have had the same reverence to it in retrospect. Most do (or at least pretend they do) when interviewed. However, one in particular that I know doesn't is Teri Garr, someone who, like Hunter, came close to being a series regular when they almost spun off Assignment Earth. A quick google search can probably find you some unflattering or dismissive quotes from her about her guest spot.

There's at least one print interview of Hunter while The Cage was being shot where he says he was jazzed about the high concept of Star Trek, that it was primarily about gender relations in the future. This turned out not to be as big a theme in the show than he thought it was, but at the time he did seem to be drinking the kool-aid that there was more motivation to do it than slumming for a paycheck to produce throwaway entertainment.

The influence of his soon-to-be-ex-wife acting as his agent and perhaps as a svengali-like figure is what made him seem more mercenary.

 

[JonnyQuest037]

Terry Garr is an example of someone who's quite glad to have put Trek far far behind her. Not everyone cares to have been associated with it.

Yeah. I'm not really sure what went down when she was on the show, but it was obviously a very bad experience for her. I frankly wonder if Roddenberry harassed her on set or something. (Please note: I have NO idea if this actually happened. This is just me speculating.)

Sometimes it's just a job.

This is important to remember. Not everyone is a fan like we are.

However, one in particular that I know doesn't is Teri Garr, someone who, like Hunter, came close to being a series regular when they almost spun off Assignment Earth. A quick google search can probably find you some unflattering or dismissive quotes from her about her guest spot.

The main thing I remember is her saying in a Starlog interview that Star Trek fans were the same type of people you saw at swap meets. I don't know how she ever came to that conclusion without ever going to a ST convention, but there you go.

I have a feeling that if Assignment: Earth had gone to series, Garr would have been replaced, much like Stephanie Powers replaced Mary Ann Mobley as the lead on The Girl From U.N.C.L.E. after the backdoor pilot on The Man From U.N.C.L.E. (Again, this is just pure speculation on my part.)

 

[Maurice]

Assignment: Earth was never close to being picked up, in large part because Roddenberry was super-late to the spy craze which was already waning. Its use as a Trek episode was a desperate hail-Mary pass on the part of Roddenberry, and a pathetic one, too, because the script was not good or compelling, serving neither the prospective series nor Trek well.

 

[trekshark]

And William Windom thought the Trek episode he acted in was silly.

Kor

Yet he agreed to be in New Voyages , so maybe his opinion changed over the years.