Paul Fix

[Stompy]

You guys gotta remember that this was the time of Doc Adams in Gunsmoke and the old Sawbones in Bonanza-doctors were old and they made house calls.

Fix played the role really well, personally I liked John Hoyt a lot better

After Kelley was shown to the suits they really liked him and brought "the doctor" closer to a contemporary of Kirk's-he became Kirk's sounding board rather than the wise sage as originally written.

While SFX played a major role in why the first episode shot wasn't the first aired, it is interesting to note that "the Man Trap" featured Kelley so prominantly.

 

[Mr. Laser Beam]

Number6 said:

LavianoTS386 said:
I'm more surprised they got John Hoyt for The Cage to be honest

He was in another sci-fi flick around the same time of the filming of the Cage, the title of which completely escapes me. It involved getting caught in a time loop and featured post-apocalyptic mutants with three fingers.. Do you recall this film??

There were two movies like that. Same plot, and AFAIK some of the same *script* too. The Time Travelers and Journey to the Center of Time...

And: Let's not forget the (excellent, IMHO) episode of the original BSG that Fix was in. He played Commander Kronus. ("Take the Celestra")

 

[Basil]

Fix, who was always a dependable character actor and, along with Harry Carey, Sr., is suspected of having taught John Wayne his characteristic walk, was nonetheless underwhelming as Dr. Piper. I wonder if it was because Roddenberry really wanted Kelley and told Fix to play it as bland as possible.

 

[MikeH92467]

I have to say that while Fix's performance wasn't anything special, there really wasn't a hell of a lot he COULD have done with it. That said, I have to do doubt that GR would have told him to underplay the role. I can't really imagine any actor going along with those kinds of instructions.

The biggest problem was that WNMHGB was really Shatner's star vehicle and the rest of the characters, except for Spock, were pretty much window dressing. I really do regret that they killed off Paul Carr's character. There's no doubt in my mind that he would have been a terrific regular cast member.

 

[Lord Garth]

A beaker full of death said:
How did Trek manage to snag this esteemed character actor? And why didn't they keep him?

A good actor but I preferred him The Rifleman.

If he were something besides the doctor, fine, but Leonard Nimoy and DeForest Kelley had a chemistry that allowed for writers to pick up on the Spock/McCoy dynamic, helping both characters grow. I don't see how that would've happened with Paul Fix.

Even in The Rifleman, Paul Fix's role was that of someone passed his prime who had to count on Lucas McCain. DeForest Kelley was just the right age, older than Shatner and Nimoy, but not to the point where it would look strange to see McCoy in the thick of things besides Kirk and Spock.

 

[Saxman1]

Hoyt was much better, but had a bigger part, loved him in "The Cage." Fix did what he could with less than nothing. No one tops McCoy/Kelley, however.

 

[AC84]

Slightly off-topic, but Doc Cottle on the new BSG reminds me of Fix's Dr. Piper. Which is weird because we never got to see a "Boyce/McCoy-like" Piper, but I have no doubt that that's how he would have been like.