Exclusive excerpt from Star Trek The Illustrated Oral History: The Original Cast
Titan Books has done it again! With the upcoming Star Trek The Illustrated Oral History: The Original Cast, it has given fans a rare opportunity to discover more details about Star Trek: The Original Series and to hear from the cast, the crew, the writes, and more about the three seasons the series spent on the air as well as The Animated Series and the six follow-up movies that brought the series to a complete close. I had the privilege of reviewing the book recently [see link below], and now, Titan Books has graciously provided us with an exclusive excerpt.
Books like these are precious commodities that should be added to any fan's bookshelf. With all of the new Star Trek series that are on the air, and the new movies and series to come, it's nice to see a return to the original, to be able to dive deeper than before into these talented actors who gave us one of the best science fiction series to ever air.
Many of the individuals who are quoted in this book are no longer with us so this book is especially poignant for Star Trek fans. Enjoy this brief except that comes from the end of the first season of Star Trek: The Original Series and pre-order your copy of the book at the links provided below.
Read an exclusive excerpt from Star Trek The Illustrated Oral History: The Original Series
By the end of the season, the cast had firmly established themselves in their roles, even
though James Doohan was told his time on the show had drawn to a close, much to the
actor’s surprise. Thankfully his suspension was temporary.
James Doohan (Mr. Scott): My agent was really upset that Gene sent me a letter instead of talking to him. He spoke to somebody and later that day, I was back in! I can remember Gene saying to me, “Jimmy, I just want to let you know that when I want people to believe in what’s going on up there in space, I cut to your closeup.” I did maybe 450 live television shows and I remember other actors saying to me, “How do you get so many close ups?” I never thought about it at the time, but maybe what Gene said may have been the reason.
George Takei (Hikaru Sulu): There was one director who wanted me to hit a button near the top of the panel, just for the camera effect, but that’s not where warp one, two, three, four or impulse power is. We got into a very involved discussion about it. He kept saying, “This is science fiction, I just need it for a shot.” So to persuade away from that, I told him that was the button we used last week to implode the engines. There are certain conventions and you just can’t break them.
DeForest Kelley (Dr. McCoy): A fan sent me a letter and inside the envelope was a small
piece of cardboard with a marijuana cigarette taped to it. Underneath it said, “You have
turned me on so many times I thought I would return the favor!”
Nichelle Nichols (Nyota Uhura): I never considered turning down the role. After the first
year, I was delighted with having had the opportunity to work with such fine actors, and to have this beautiful role which Gene Roddenberry allowed me to develop. But my first love is musical theater which I was doing when I first got the part of Uhura. I never expected to have a career on television. I was now being offered roles in musical theater.
I went to an NAACP (National Association for the Advancement of Colored People) fundraiser in Los Angeles and met Dr. Martin Luther King. He praised my work and the manner in which I held myself with dignity, efficiency, ability, and beauty. I thanked him, but told him that I would miss the cast as I was leaving the show. He became very somber and told me that I could not do that. People were seeing African Americans for the first time as they should be seen, as intelligent beautiful people. He told me that I had changed the face of television forever and could not leave. It was my legacy. I told Gene what he said and he invited me to stay in the show.
Leonard Nimoy (Mr. Spock): I was impressed with the stories that work. Not all of them do, but by and large the success of the series was based on the fact that we had interesting stories to tell. We were also budgeted in such a way that we couldn’t afford a lot of expensive special effects, so we were dependent on performance and story. The ones that had strong stories still have strong stories. “City on the Edge of Forever” was terrific. “The Menagerie” was as good as TV gets.
D.C. Fontana (script consultant): I love those characters. I love them more than the characters of all the other iterations of Star Trek. I thought they were just wonderful. They were fresh when we made The Original Series and when I go back to them now, I still find freshness in great possibilities for storytelling and character growth. A cartoon was done by the artist Bill Rostler for me of a woman who has a manacle around one of her ankles. The manacle has a chain coming from it, which has a small Enterprise at the end of it. The caption read: “It keeps following me around!” I’m happy with that. Star Trek is a good thing to be associated with.
Star Trek The Illustrated Oral History: The Original Series releases on July 30, 2024 but is now available for preorder at various retailers for only $19.99. I also had the opportunity to talk with the volume’s editor, Jonathan Wilkins, about the research that went into this project and what fans will find special about the book. You can read my exclusive interview here on July 26.
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