One of the joy of being a father is that you can share your love of Star Trek with your children. Over the last two months, I have been re-watching the first six Star Trek movies with my kids - and I've been puzzling over Shatner's changing physical appearance. Much has been made of Shatner's hair, but I'm a bit confused - what appears to be a VERY obvious hair piece in the first movies later looks much more real in "The Undiscovered Country" and "Generations." Did the make up artists finally figure out how to tape on a convincing rug? And did Shatner have a face lift during the movies, or did the weight gain contribute to a smoother brow? All in all, it's interesting how much more realistically Nimoy aged than Shatner - which only contributed to Spock's memorable look
Of hair pieces and face lifts
- Thread starter Komack
- Start date
Supposedly, Shatner got a very expensive hair weaving just before ST IV and was excited to push for the underwater scene to boast how "undetectable, even under water" it was.
I'd say Shatners' hairpiece looks very unconvincing in Generations, check out the scene where he crouches down to stroke Butler..
That's why Picard didn't ask Kirk where he gets his toupees.
On the back of one of Shatner's "Star Trek" hardcover novels, the publicity photo shows that the webbing of his toupe has come unglued, just near one of his sideburns.
Added hair in movies tends to look more real or less so depending on the extent to which the actors let the makeup people exercise their own judgment versus indulging the vanity of the actor. The biggest "mistake" that people make in picking out hairpieces for themselves is that they tend to choose rugs with more density and loft than is really plausible for their face, age and necessity of blending with their remaining natural hair.
I have a client who is mid-50s and he's got the worst rug I've ever seen - he a little weasel type and his rug is this thick jet black thing that ends in a small quiff. It looks like he has a badger on his head. It's the stupidest thing I've ever seen.
And I imagine that he tries to comb the edge to blend it in to a fringe of medium brown/grey, rather lank and thin hair?
Spot-on - seriously, it's like a dead badger on his head. Sometimes when we meet I hurt my face because I have to clinch my jaw so tight so that I don't laugh.
Given how Shatner had hair loss problems so early in his life, I guess Rogaine is simply ineffective. The hair restoration techniques with plugs has come a long way, but still doesn't look as realistic as a top quality toupee. I'd bet TMZ would pay handsomely for any photos of Shatner without the rug. 
How much time was there between Star Trek V and VI? In the last one, you can really start to see the weight gain in Shatner's face. Prior to this, he had been doing a very good job of keeping it at bay. Of course, catch him in Boston Legal and it's shocking how much weight he put on. If he worked hard at keeping trim, he'd probably look a lot younger than he does today.
Then there's Doohan... wow, he looked terrific in TMP, started to show some stoutness in TWOK, then wow... TVH showed him as a seriously portly man. I wonder if health problems were contributing to it at that point.
How much time was there between Star Trek V and VI? In the last one, you can really start to see the weight gain in Shatner's face. Prior to this, he had been doing a very good job of keeping it at bay. Of course, catch him in Boston Legal and it's shocking how much weight he put on. If he worked hard at keeping trim, he'd probably look a lot younger than he does today.
Then there's Doohan... wow, he looked terrific in TMP, started to show some stoutness in TWOK, then wow... TVH showed him as a seriously portly man. I wonder if health problems were contributing to it at that point.
Given how Shatner had hair loss problems so early in his life, I guess Rogaine is simply ineffective. The hair restoration techniques with plugs has come a long way, but still doesn't look as realistic as a top quality toupee. I'd bet TMZ would pay handsomely for any photos of Shatner without the rug.
How much time was there between Star Trek V and VI? In the last one, you can really start to see the weight gain in Shatner's face. Prior to this, he had been doing a very good job of keeping it at bay. Of course, catch him in Boston Legal and it's shocking how much weight he put on. If he worked hard at keeping trim, he'd probably look a lot younger than he does today.
Then there's Doohan... wow, he looked terrific in TMP, started to show some stoutness in TWOK, then wow... TVH showed him as a seriously portly man. I wonder if health problems were contributing to it at that point.
Yes, he did put on a lot of weight. For health reasons I hoped he would be able to take it off. However he is 80 and I think he looks very good for his age.
ST II acknowledges the actor's heart attack between TMP and ST II with an in-joke: "Aye, I had a wee bout." (We then realise he means Shore Leave.)
Doohan was on steroids, which are known to cause ballooning weight gain.
Doohan had a heart condition from about 1981 on and had to take steroids for the rest of his life as part of his treatment. They can bloat a person's physical appearance. I've friends who'd met Jimmy at conventions and dined with him and said he ate like a bird. Drinking...well, that's another story, LOL!
There has been much talk about The Shat and hairpieces. In fact, the majority of television and film actors and actresses wear hairpieces or wigs (Gates McFadden and Marina Sirtis wore wigs the majority of their time on TNG). Many people have thinning or thin hair and those with such wear some kind of piece on camera. The Shat has always had very thin hair for most of his adult life, hence the pieces. From most accounts, he is NOT totally bald, but his thin hair doesn't photograph well.
Dwight Schultz, who played Barclay in TNG in the series, Voyager and First Contact wore hairpieces for all of his appearances, yet no one brings that up, LOL!
Back to The Shat, he looks like a beached whale. At 80, I don't think he really cares anymore. He knows he is the all-powerful Shat and we love him! If he did lose a lot of weight, he'd look a lot older than he does as all the wrinkles would show which the excess weight covers up. From ST6 forward, it's been an uptick in the weight department. Every time I see see him, he looks bigger.
Speaking of Boston Legal, I thought he was brilliant!
Another one who has put on a ton of weight is Kate Mulgrew. Her face alone looks twice the size it was in Nemesis, if we want a film comparison. She's built like a fireplug these days.
There has been much talk about The Shat and hairpieces. In fact, the majority of television and film actors and actresses wear hairpieces or wigs (Gates McFadden and Marina Sirtis wore wigs the majority of their time on TNG). Many people have thinning or thin hair and those with such wear some kind of piece on camera. The Shat has always had very thin hair for most of his adult life, hence the pieces. From most accounts, he is NOT totally bald, but his thin hair doesn't photograph well.
Dwight Schultz, who played Barclay in TNG in the series, Voyager and First Contact wore hairpieces for all of his appearances, yet no one brings that up, LOL!
Back to The Shat, he looks like a beached whale. At 80, I don't think he really cares anymore. He knows he is the all-powerful Shat and we love him!
If he did lose a lot of weight, he'd look a lot older than he does as all the wrinkles would show which the excess weight covers up. From ST6 forward, it's been an uptick in the weight department. Every time I see see him, he looks bigger. Speaking of Boston Legal, I thought he was brilliant!
Another one who has put on a ton of weight is Kate Mulgrew. Her face alone looks twice the size it was in Nemesis, if we want a film comparison. She's built like a fireplug these days.
Shatner's weight yo-yo'd throughout the movies. A month or two prior to TMP he went on a crash diet in order to gain a similar physique to the one he had in his TOS days. In TWOK he was of a more normal weight for a man in his early 50's. Then in TSFS he had dropped some weight again, perhaps to look good for the action scenes. He maintained this physique for TVH too. In TFF and TUC, Shatner had put on weight again and by the time GEN rolled around, he just seemed able to fit into the uniform.
Shatner still manages to look good for a man of his age though. Wigs or not, he manages to carry himself well.
Shatner still manages to look good for a man of his age though. Wigs or not, he manages to carry himself well.
Stage lights can be very unforgiving. I've seen actresses who've had to have their hairlines darkened with makeup because they have fine hair and the light goes right through it and illuminates the scalp. The camera's pretty unforgiving in this regard because they exaggerate any thinness, which is doubtless why hairpieces and wigs are so common.
It's interesting how the TOS crew aged between TMP and TWOK. I know canon-wise the movies take place about fifteen years apart, but in the real world only three years passed, and in TMP they don't look all that different from TOS, except for the dated uniforms and hairstyles. Since aging is one of the themes of TWOK it's kind of fitting....
A great example is Sean Connery's rugs from "Diamonds are Forever", which is just awful, and Never Say Never Again", which is indistinguishable from the real thing. Of course, in NSNA, he's wearing a rug of appropriate length and thinness to be appropriate for a guy his age.
Indeed, I'm amazed to be reminded he is that old.
The thing I find really strange to think about is Star Trek VI was their 25th Anniversary.
TNG is 25 next year. I've not seen all of them recently, but it in no way seems that long. They didn't have a 10 year break and come back older.
Of course there were all the old age jokes when Trek hit 25, yet on hindsight some of them could have kept going another 15-25 years no problem! To think its 20 years since some of them effectively retired... it seems they bowed out too early.
