The neverending toupic, uh topic
- Thread starter Admiral Buzzkill
- Start date
Umm, ok. I don't really care one way or another if Shatner had a toupee or not. I am curious about its endless fascination, specifically why people give him such a hard time for it, and not to Sean Connery who reportedly even wore one for Dr. No...
Would that imply Bond has a veneer of coolness that checkmates Kirk's and makes fans overlook many things?
I just thank god Shatner didn't have a comb-over as was a solution to male pattern-baldness back in those days
Would that imply Bond has a veneer of coolness that checkmates Kirk's and makes fans overlook many things?
I just thank god Shatner didn't have a comb-over as was a solution to male pattern-baldness back in those days
Looking through a general budget for the first season of the series at UCLA, I found this item: "3 Hair Pieces for William Shatner," for a total cost of $546.00. This wasn't that expensive, really. The same document indicates Grace Lee Whitney's wig cost $1,350.00!
I think the fascination comes from the fact that photographs of Shatner without his hair piece have never surfaced and Shatner has never really admitted publicly that he wears one (though I haven't seen that episode of Raw Nerve in which Koenig confronted him about it).
I think the fascination comes from the fact that photographs of Shatner without his hair piece have never surfaced and Shatner has never really admitted publicly that he wears one (though I haven't seen that episode of Raw Nerve in which Koenig confronted him about it).
Shatner was bald enough that the kids in William Campbell's neighborhood noticed it on meeting him - Campbell told the story that Shatner was coming by his house for some reason, the kids were excited about "Captain Kirk" showing up and were mightily confused by the bald guy. 
Back when I was a kid, having grown up and lived very near William Shatner's home in Studio City, I personally recall seeing him without his hairpiece, washing his car in his driveway on some weekend day when I was out and about riding my bicycle around the neighborhood. So I think it's old news to those who were Mr. Shatner's neighbors.
William Shatner wore a toupee. But... did Captain Kirk? Or are people of the future meant to be beyond such vanity?
William Shatner wore a toupee. But... did Captain Kirk? Or are people of the future meant to be beyond such vanity?
And did Captain Kirk also go to a Synagogue? Was there a minyan on the Enterprise?
For the most part, I've never found Shatner's toupees to be noticeable; maybe I just didn't know what to look for. But I just watched the movie version of TekWar the other day, and I couldn't help noticing the bicolor hair of Shatner in the role of Walter Bascom -- grayish or blondish on top, darker brown below. It was subtler than I'm making it sound, but once I noticed it, it was rather distracting. I think they had it fixed by the second movie, though.
Yeah, my news reporter eyes lit up when I saw that bit of the article. Couldn't wait to write it up.
I always think it's weird that people seem to think its surprising that young men might be balding. It's not uncommon. I noticed I was starting to thin on top by the time I was 22.
I never thought Shat's hairpieces were that noticeable until the 70s. His hair from TMP through the 80s was pretty awful looking.
I never thought Shat's hairpieces were that noticeable until the 70s. His hair from TMP through the 80s was pretty awful looking.
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I recently saw a 1972 Mission: Impossible episode Shatner was in, and I realized his hairstyle there was basically the same as Kirk's hairstyle in The Animated Series, which premiered a year later. I always figured that TAS Kirk's hair design was just sort of a streamlined version of his TOS look, one that was simple and symmetrical enough to work in limited animation, but now I realize they must've based it on how Shatner actually looked at the time.
Bob Fosse started losing his hair at a young age, which is why he habitually wore a hat — and made hats a distinctive part of his dance routines.
The T.J. Hooker Fleece was the worst rug Shatner wore in his entire acting career. You expected the damn thing to start moving and crawl off his head.
Connery's slightly different though as he's always given the impression he doesn't give a toss if he wears a wig or not, he'll put one on for a role if needed but otherwise doesn't care who knows about his receding hairline. There's a lovely story about how, during the filming of You Only Live Twice in Japan, he took out his increasing frustration with the whole Bond thing on some journalists at a press junket by ripping his wig off and throwing it at them before storming back to his room.
With Shatner, I think the fascination is that because he has the reputation of being a raging egotist people enjoy poking fun at what they perceive (fairly or not) to be his flaws, be it the wig, the weight or the odd moment of pure ham acting.
For me, his wig doesn't bother me except when it becomes really noticeable as the films go on. HD hasn't been kind to it and by the sixth film it looks as if it has a life of his own and will jump off his head and throttle Chang at any moment. What's odd is I've seen people claim he'd had a hair transplant by that point. If he did he should have gotten a refund as it looked far less convincing than his old rug did.
Though I'm surprised the actor quoted in the opening post would be shocked at a man in his 30's being receding, a great many of my own friends just hitting that age are already on their way to baldsville so I can't see why his age in particular would amaze anyone.
How come nobody cares about DeForrest Kelley's hairpiece? Or Jonathan Frakes? Or anyone else? Hairpieces are common, especially when you have a matinee idol leading man involved. It costs money and takes much effort to look perfect in Hollywood. How about those million dollar, bright white smiles? No coffee or cigarette stains? Or just natural discoloration? Not in Hollywood.
Johnathan Frakes too?? I had no idea. An awful dye job, yeah, but....
I still think his TekWar hairpiece was worse.
Just looked that baby up o GoogleImage. The edges look very hemmed or turned under. Someone in his position would get a better one, right? Maybe that is from the weave era.
Whatever, peace be to him.
Greg, as a long time observer of the Shatman's hairline, I have to ask - what lies beneath the captain's toupee?
Thinning hair? The odd tuft, as is often mentioned by fellow cast members? Or is he completely bald?
