One of the least liked episodes of Star Trek was also responsible for the pause in an John Drew Barrymore’s career.
The first season of Star Trek: The Original Series brought the underwhelming episode “The Alternative Factor,” during which a man named Lazarus was running from his alter ego in a parallel universe. It doesn’t have high ratings and isn’t high on anyone’s list to be rewatched, but it played a large part in the brief suspension of Drew Barrymore’s father’s career.
John Drew Barrymore was hired to play Lazarus, and while he showed up on the very first day of filming, when it was time for lunch, that was the last the crew saw of him as he never returned. The producers sent people out looking for Barrymore but were unable to locate him. Gerd Oswald, who was the director of the episode, was already on a tight shooting schedule and filmed as much as he could around the Lazarus scenes for the rest of the day. But that was all the leeway he could give Barrymore.
Star Trek producers were forced to replace John Drew Barrymore for the next day of filming
According to ScreenRant, when Barrymore didn’t show up the following day for filming, the producers had a choice—either find another actor or scrap the entire episode. They chose the former, and Robert Brown, who had appeared on three episodes of Perry Mason, was convinced, even though it was his birthday, to take over the role.
Not surprisingly, Trek producers didn’t take kindly to Barrymore’s disappearing act, and they filed a grievance with the Screen Actors Guild. Barrymore was suspended from acting for six months and only worked sporadically after that. Often being ranked as one of Star Trek’s worst episodes, The Alternative Factor wouldn’t have been a big boon to Barrymore’s career anyway.