Merritt Butrick/David Marcus

[Joker]

He was also in a play called 'Kingfish' shortly before his death which he got really good reviews for (he played a 'petulant muscular prostitute'):

Sadly I think it's more obvious there.

He actually looks fine to me in that picture, at least there's obviously nothing bad in it that couldn't also be explained by stage makeup or lighting.

 

[Praetor]

You might be right. I was thinking that his face looked kind of withdrawn but it could just as well be the lighting and makeup. I tried to find the other promotional images for the play (apparently there are at least two more) but had no luck.

At this point, maybe I'm just seeing things because I'm looking for things.

 

[Amaris]

I just watched ST:III last night (great movie and I forgot how much I loved it). I'm sure it will never go down in history as an artistic film, but I watched Butrick play the part of David so very well, and I felt sad at the loss of a good talent and a good human being.

J.

 

[Stag]

Can't figure out how to get them side by side, but the similarity is there.

 

[Praetor]

Wow... that's pretty amazing to see.

I think the top one is slightly too big for side by side. I would redo but I don't think it needs to be done. I think even seeing them like that, it's quite clear - they're even almost doing the same reverse expression. Merritt is of course thinner than the Shat but even their hairline seems similar - and they're still about five years apart there.

 

[Peach Wookiee]

The casting worked there. They did look like father and son.

 

[Maurice]

I was also just reading that apparently the HIV vaccine is nearly ready.

That'll be news to the CDC.

Just which of the clinical trials or findings are you referring to?

 

[Praetor]

I'll see if I can find the link. It was a Yahoo news blurb a few days back.

I thought I would note that today, the 17th, marks twenty years since Merritt's death. He was 29. Rest in peace, man.

 

[Frontier]

What did he die from? I can't recall the specifics. I know Bibi Besch died, as well, not long after, if I recall? One of them died of cancer?

It was all before my time...

 

[Praetor]

Merritt had contracted AIDS and died of the sort of immune system compromise-related complications resulting from that - he had pneumonia and toxoplasma of the brain at the time of his death. Bibi had cancer, IIRC.

 

[cardinal biggles]

Bibi Besch died of breast cancer in 1996.

 

[NathanielM]

I was also just reading that apparently the HIV vaccine is nearly ready.

That'll be news to the CDC.

Just which of the clinical trials or findings are you referring to?

That's one goddamn thing down... we need to get the one for cancer and stemcells roilling too... It could so help humanity if we had those to help those in need.

 

[NathanielM]

I'll see if I can find the link. It was a Yahoo news blurb a few days back.

I thought I would note that today, the 17th, marks twenty years since Merritt's death. He was 29. Rest in peace, man.

yea and what sucks that dana plato of Different strokes, is the same age as i am... i will be 36-37 this year...

And she died at 31...

Bibi beche too wasn't well even when they were filming st ii and iii and her performce was flawless... she was a very good actress... anyone know how old she was?

 

[Ssosmcin]

I thought he was a fine actor and brought a real presence to the role of David. I never once thought that he didn't seem "Kirk-ish" or that he was a bad choice to play Kirk's son. David did, you know, have another parent. He was raised by his mother and would no doubt exhibit more of her traits in daily life. There's also no rule that he has to look anything like his father. I have a step son who looks a lot like me and neither of us look like his biological father.

David was the product of his upbrining and environment. Had has the fire and no-bullshit attitude of his mom, which was also shared by his father (probably part of the mutual attraction).

When I saw him in TNG, I had no idea that he was sick and, frankly, the pictures of him in the episode wouldn't accurately reflect the man's state of health. He was wearing make-up, had a 5o'clock shadow and was acting the part of an addict needing his fix. Also, he looks to me like he put on some weight and filled out some.

It's a shame he's no longer with us. He had the makings of a real good and intense actor. He already showed promise and the future would have been bright for him.

As for Robin Curtis: I was never a fan of her work as Saavik and part of that is because Kirstie Alley created a really memorable character (even considering some flat line delivery). The other part is because of how the Saavik character was completely underwritten. She could have been any female Vulcan.

However, this is not fair to the actress. Ms. Curtis is a good, solid professional and has gives us soe really nice performances. She was a fiesty photographer on MacGyver and she was excellent.

And, on the shallow side, she's aged extremely well. Check her out on the TRek III DVD interviews, she looks amazing, even more beautiful now than back then. No way Kirstie Alley can say that, with or without Jenny Craig. ;-)

Bibi beche too wasn't well even when they were filming st ii and iii and her performce was flawless... she was a very good actress... anyone know how old she was?

She should have been 42 in Star Trek II. Was she sick even then? That was 10 years before she died and did a good number of films and TV work in that time. Not saying it's not true, but cancer treatment wasn't was it is now.

 

[Basill]

Wow, I can't believe its been that long since either of them died. I remember hearing each time when both of them passed but it seems like only yesterday. I thought Merritt Butrick died in the early 90's, but he didn't even make it out of the 80's. I was still in High School!

And it seems like Bibi Besch just died a few short years ago, but 12 and half years?... Jeez, time flies.

 

[Praetor]

I watched the special featurette on Merritt on the 'Square Pegs' DVD.

Aside from John Femia's faulty memory and therefore slightly annoying comments regarding a movie called 'Kingfish' that was actually a play Merritt was in (picture upthread), there were some interesting things said.

One of the actors who played a teacher said he thought Merritt was a person who always seemed 'troubled' and Sarah Jessica Parker said something similar. I believe the former actor said Merritt seemed 'determined to be unhappy' or something like that. SJP and Jami Gertz talked about having to take him to work. SJP said that he would ride with her family in a small car and brush his teeth and spit out the window on the way to work.

Jami Gertz said she was sometimes called to come wake him up because they lived in the same building and he always overslept, and once spent a minute banging on his door only to have him suddenly swing the door open buck naked. She then awkwardly averted her eyes and told him they were supposed to take him to work and his mother was downstairs, and he wandered off to get dressed.

One of them also told the story of him once sleeping under his trailer on the set but couldn't quite figure out why - said something about him 'not quite making it to the door' but I'm not sure how serious she was. All of them basically said that he was a different person when the cameras were off, but that when they were on he was a pro doing his job.

Take from all that what you will. I don't know that it means anything one way or the other beyond being their observations of him.

 

[hellblazer]

in the late 80s early 90s Entertainment Tonight did a feature on Hollywood actors with HIV, they interviewed a young guy who i recall as been in a Baywatch episode , playing a character who had seen a UFO , during the interview He mentioned he had been Merritts partner and that was when i first heard that Merritt had died.

ild love to track that interview down and find out if the actor concerned is still with us (i think he may have geusted on square pegs as well but not sure...

 

[hellblazer]

Just did an internet search based on "baywatch /UFO " and can confirm that the actor i am thinking of was Tom Villard who sadly died from AIDS complications in
1994

had completely missed him as Prylar Bek in DS9

(damn dont you just hate the internet sometimes ....

anyway , it was definatly him on Entertainment Tonight talking about his relationship with Merritt , and Merritts death

 

[Basill]

Wow. He was Merritt Butrick's partner? That's a newsflash for me. I remember him on We Got It Made and was just horrified when I learned in a magazine article that he had died earlier that year. Another I can't believe was so long ago now.

 

[Lightinspire]

I read last week that a mutated version of the HIV virus had been discovered in Africa...so that will set things back to square 1 maybe...this new strain is defiant of all the drugs we currently use against the HIV we know today. I believe in Everett Coop, former attorney general that there will never be a cure for AIDS because it becomes part of the genetic makeup of the body it is in..now that a new strain has been discovered...(sigh)