Is Shatner really bald?

[blockaderunner]

I've heard rumors for years that Shatner wore a toupee even during TOS (Hell, FG did a joke about it) but I've never gotten any confirmation on that. Is that true? Are there any pics of the Shat (non-shopped) of him sans the rug?

-Shawn

http://jimmywallis.com/Shatner3.jpg photo shopped image , but funny nonetheless. if you look at shat's hair in tos you can clearly see where his real hair end's and the piece begin's.but it still was a good toup.

Shat as Lex Luthor: "This.....is.....the end.....for you......Superman"

 

[Therin of Andor]

I always thought the scene in ST4TVH, where he is swimming underwater, was interesting as far as the hair thing goes. They show a shot looking at the top of his head, and it appears to be hair from his scalp flowing in the water. You can see the hair at the scalp. I thought at that point it was plugs or a very good weave.

Shatner supposedly requested that shot to show off his new "so undetectable you can wear it underwater", very expensive, new hairweave.

 

[Rabittooth]

Shatner whimsically addresses this in the last line of his recent memoir Up Till Now.

...and says???

-Shawn

Last line in the book is something like:

"But the really important question remains...Do I wear a toupee?"

Or something like that.

-Rabittooth

 

[Ryan Thomas Riddle]

Shatner whimsically addresses this in the last line of his recent memoir Up Till Now.

...and says???

-Shawn

Well I didn't want to spoil it for anyone, but here ya go:

Excerpt from Up Til Now by William Shatner with David Fisher, pg. 341-342

I love a good mystery. I love wondering and speculating and guessing. I love looking at the stars and imagining what's out there. I love closing my eyes and trying to visualize a day three thousand years ago. Mysteries simply are a feast for an active mind. And while in my lifetime I've seen science make extraordinary inroads into solving the most complex questions of life, after all this time I admit that I am thrilled that there are some things that forever will remain a mystery.

For example, do I wear a toupee?

 

[Pinkle]

Have a look at B. Fraser here:

http://www.ireporter.tv/Upload/bluraymovie.tv/mummy3-brendan.jpg

and HERE:

http://img.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2007/12_01/BRENDAN1104_468x515.jpg

Big difference.

Jesus christ...

 

[The Grim Ghost]

I will never understand why people are interested in this type of thing..yet here I am posting in a thread about it!

If he has a hair weave or plugs then he isn't bald anymore, whether he was at one time or not. That just always occurs to me whenever I see this subject come up.

 

[Red Ranger]

Hey, CaptainHawk1, if the question of whether Shatner is really bald HASN'T been answered to your satisfaction, and you keep getting more and more miffed with the answers given in this thread, why don't you do your own research? See, there's a little invention called the Internet that might help! Or at the least, try to be gracious -- not your strong suit, I know, but try it sometime! -- RR

 

[Vance]

I.. thought I answered the question?

*confusion*

 

[CaptainHawk1]

Hey, CaptainHawk1, if the question of whether Shatner is really bald HASN'T been answered to your satisfaction, and you keep getting more and more miffed with the answers given in this thread, why don't you do your own research? See, there's a little invention called the Internet that might help! Or at the least, try to be gracious -- not your strong suit, I know, but try it sometime! -- RR

Thanks for that, Rump Ranger but why should I be gracious when people are giving BS, non-definitive answers.

Why should I be gracious when nobody's provided anything of substance, just rumor and speculation which is what I already had when I started the thread.

Since when are you the arbiter of graciousness? Do you even know what it means? How have I not been gracious?

And seriously, do you think I didn't check the Internet before I started the thread? Whether you want to admit or not Rumpy, I'm nothing if not well researched.

Another thing, who says I'm miffed? What, I can't respond if someone provides speculation and rumor only by saying that it doesn't cut as actual proof? Am I not allowed to engage in the conversation that I started?

You're Weird.

Also, have you noticed that I haven't responded to the suggestions about the thin hair theory? Do you understand why? I haven't responded because those posts actually make sense and confirm what we know is verified as fact, that being, that as far as we know, Shatner is not bald and does not wear a toupee.

Anyway, thanks for the personal attack and I hope you and your cat have a nice weekend together.


-Shawn

 

[CaptainHawk1]

I.. thought I answered the question?

*confusion*

Vance, I actually liked your explanation the best but as you noticed even after you posted it, more unfounded conspiracy theories continued to come out of the woodwork.

I'm getting PM's about it for goodness' sake.

-Shawn

 

[Lashmore]

making speculatory insults to someone who supposedly insults you, makes you no better than they are Hawk. Actually, less than they are for allowing to be drawn to that level.

Just a little bit of (meant to be friendly) advise. of course, I don't always follow it, but we are trek fans, we're quite flawed and often immature in debates. Comes with the title.

 

[Australis]

Well... that got ugly.

 

[Rabittooth]

I.. thought I answered the question?

*confusion*

Vance, I actually liked your explanation the best but as you noticed even after you posted it, more unfounded conspiracy theories continued to come out of the woodwork.

I'm getting PM's about it for goodness' sake.

-Shawn

Yeah, I think Vance answered the question.

Here's a high res publicity pic of Shat's head:

That's his real hair, it's just sparse like Vance said.

-Rabittooth

 

[Ryan Thomas Riddle]

Also, have you noticed that I haven't responded to the suggestions about the thin hair theory? Do you understand why? I haven't responded because those posts actually make sense and confirm what we know is verified as fact, that being, that as far as we know, Shatner is not bald and does not wear a toupee.

As I've done up thread, I gave you the capricious answer on the subject from Shatner. It's probably the most we will ever get from Shatner.

Here's what Bob Justman says on the subject in the book, Inside Star Trek: The Real Story:

Excerpt from Inside Star Trek: The Real Story by Herbert F. Solow and Robert H. Justman, p. 341-342

My gaze shifted to his [Shatner's] hairline. Examining balding actors' hairlines was a habit I'd picked up over the years. The "lace" that anchored the front of his toupee glistened. I made a mental not to tell the makeup man about it before we filmed Shatner again.

...

We had begun the first season with two new toupees for Bill because his own "personal" ones were too ratty-looking. He would wear one toupee while the other piece was being cleaned in the makeup department. but somehow, one of them disappeared during the hiatus between seasons. Each hairpiece cost $200, a pricely sum in those days. So we expected to get our money's worth.

We had always planned to have two Shatner pieces at the start of each season, and we expected to have the same two when the season ended.

 

[Therin of Andor]

That's his real hair, it's just sparse like Vance said.

There seems to be a misunderstanding in this thread. You don't have to be totally hairless before you start using toupees. And, for posed studio shots such as the one above, there will also be a professional hair stylist, lighting experts, makeup experts - and someone to airbrush the publicity pics before they are distributed! (Before airbrushing was invented they used tiny paintbrushes.)

I remember chatting to Grace Lee Whitney about TMP. She was very upset that Persis Khambatta's contract allowed her to order airbrushing of all of her TMP publicity pics, while Grace Lee was told by Robert Wise to wash off her glam makeup, and she had no say whatsoever on which pics were used.

 

[Misfit Toy]

Hey, CaptainHawk1, if the question of whether Shatner is really bald HASN'T been answered to your satisfaction, and you keep getting more and more miffed with the answers given in this thread, why don't you do your own research? See, there's a little invention called the Internet that might help! Or at the least, try to be gracious -- not your strong suit, I know, but try it sometime! -- RR

Thanks for that, Rump Ranger but why should I be gracious when people are giving BS, non-definitive answers.

Why should I be gracious when nobody's provided anything of substance, just rumor and speculation which is what I already had when I started the thread.

Since when are you the arbiter of graciousness? Do you even know what it means? How have I not been gracious?

And seriously, do you think I didn't check the Internet before I started the thread? Whether you want to admit or not Rumpy, I'm nothing if not well researched.

Another thing, who says I'm miffed? What, I can't respond if someone provides speculation and rumor only by saying that it doesn't cut as actual proof? Am I not allowed to engage in the conversation that I started?

You're Weird.

Also, have you noticed that I haven't responded to the suggestions about the thin hair theory? Do you understand why? I haven't responded because those posts actually make sense and confirm what we know is verified as fact, that being, that as far as we know, Shatner is not bald and does not wear a toupee.

Anyway, thanks for the personal attack and I hope you and your cat have a nice weekend together.


-Shawn

Really? Over the line.

Warning for flaming. Comments to PM.

 

[Green Shirt]

I've heard rumors for years that Shatner wore a toupee even during TOS (Hell, FG did a joke about it) but I've never gotten any confirmation on that. Is that true? Are there any pics of the Shat (non-shopped) of him sans the rug?

-Shawn

I can't find my copy of the ep "The Paradise Syndrome", but there's a closeup of Kirk before he fell into the obelisk with the sun shining down on a good amount of skin showing thru a sparse amount of hair beginning at the hairline and working its way back. He must not have been wearing his toup in that scene.

 

[btflash]

I've heard rumors for years that Shatner wore a toupee even during TOS (Hell, FG did a joke about it) but I've never gotten any confirmation on that. Is that true? Are there any pics of the Shat (non-shopped) of him sans the rug?

-Shawn

I can't find my copy of the ep "The Paradise Syndrome", but there's a closeup of Kirk before he fell into the obelisk with the sun shining down on a good amount of skin showing thru a sparse amount of hair beginning at the hairline and working its way back. He must not have been wearing his toup in that scene.

the toupe he wore during tos was made to look like it had a thinning hairline to make it appear to be real. the more expensive ones are made like that. if you look at him from a side view in that episode you can clearly see where the piece is fixed to his head. the color is somewhat off.

 

[CaptainHawk1]

<snippage>

As a courtesy to btflash, I've decided not to post the contents of his last PM to me (he/she has sent 3 about this subject) as they were private correspondence be tween the two of us and I don't think it would be right to post those comments without his/her permission (sorry, I have no idea what your gender is), but needless to say btflash is worked up about this and here is my response:

"Why are you getting so worked up over this? We're not curing cancer here, we're talking about the Shat's melon.

You're right, apparently I was mistaken about what was in the book, but it still doesn't change my position. And I think you're misunderstanding my position anyway. I'm not suggesting that Shat's not bald, I'm suggesting that there's no verifiable proof that he is. I'm sorry but Bob Justman's statement doesn't really carry that much weight with me for a couple of reasons. What is he defining as a toupee? He's not specific? If it's a hair piece to make it look fuller and more forward on his head, that doesn't make it a toupee as you would think of it.

What I'm getting at is that there's never been any proof that he's bald... not that his hairline has receded or that he has thin hair. I'm talking bald.

Stop fucking PMing me over this, it's fucking retarded!"

Biut seriously, why is anyone getting worked up about this thread, I had Red Ranger go off on me for no reason, btflash is having kittens because I refuse to believe, other posters are whipping out their copies of The Making of Star Trek... c'mon now... this isn't the Warren Commission, here.

Relax, already.

-Shawn

 

[Therin of Andor]

What is he defining as a toupee? He's not specific? If it's a hair piece to make it look fuller and more forward on his head, that doesn't make it a toupee as you would think of it.

What I'm getting at is that there's never been any proof that he's bald... not that his hairline has receded or that he has thin hair. I'm talking bald.

Well, he's not bald, as in hairless. As I said before, he did have thin, receding hair and wore a toupee hairpiece - which doesn't mean a full wig - in the series, blended into his own hair. I've read an interview with Fred Philiips where he talked about Shatner removing his hairpiece for the final aged makeup in "The Deadly Years", and I've heard Yvonne Craig boast about seeing Shatner in his trailer without the toupee during her week on "Whom the Gods Destroy". By ST IV, Shatner had gone for a very expensive hair weave.

So, maybe you're just splitting hairs over terms?