See Rare Film Of First Star Trek Cast Reunion from 1975 Trek Con February 23, 2010
by John Tenuto , Filed under: Conventions/Events/Attractions, TOS , trackback
A rare film from one of the first Star Trek conventions is now online. Shot at the Star Trek Chicago 75, a con which had the first public reunion of the entire original Star Trek series crew since the show was cancelled in 1969. Check it out below.
Star Trek Chicago ‘75
The film below comes from Star Trek Chicago ‘75, held at the Hilton Hotel in Chicago, August 22-24, 1975. 16,000 fans attended the event. The YouTube video (courtesy of broadbarn.com) was recently transferred from the original 8mm film. The short film features the appearances of William Shatner, Leonard Nimoy, DeForest Kelley, George Takei, Walter Koenig, James Doohan Nichelle Nichols (with quite the 70s fro), and Arlene Martel (T’Pring “Amok Time”), all appearing on a recreation of the USS Enterprise bridge. There is no sound, but Rich Portnoy, who shot the film, provides a narration.
There have only been a very few instances of public reunions of the Star Trek crew, such as the the dedication of the Gene Roddenberry building on the Paramount lot and the 30th Anniversary convention in Hunstville, Alabama.
The Star Trek Chicago ‘75 event was big news. You can read an original Time Magazine article about it from their September 8th 1975 issue, online at time.com. Here is an excerpt:
For the first time at a Trekkies’ convention, all the TV actors were in Chicago to represent such Enterprise stalwarts as Dr. Leonard McCoy, who in one episode contracted an incurable disease and fell in love with the green high priestess of a doomed planetoid; Chief Engineer Scott ("Scotty"), for whom "relaxation is a stack of technical journals"; Lieut. Uhura, the black female communications officer who sings soprano for relaxation; and Ensign Chekov, the Russian pilot. The stars were greeted by standing ovations.
Thanks to BroadBarn, Time, and My Star Trek Scrapbook
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Fascinating
Oh, the Leisure Suits!!
wow Shatner had quite the rug back then! Awesome video! Thanks!
Very Cool, George still does that Vulcan salute when he comes out!
OMG (Goosebumps break out on the neck and arms)
Awesome, even without sound…
Does Shatner really wear a wig? If you watch The voyage Home, in the swimming scene, how would that be possible? His hair is clearly attached to his scalp in that scene…
This is a me too post, precisely echoing post #5.
#6 – Superglue. There’s a great skit on Robot Chicken detailing the private life of Shat’s rug. Well worth looking it up on youtube.
@6 I’ve been wondering that too. It was stated numerous times in ‘Star Trek – The Real Story’ by Justman and Solow that Shatner wore a “toupee”. If he did, it’s the best example of one I’ve ever seen – completely natural looking.
@ 6 – a toupee then, hair plugs later, hair transplants now
@6,8,9 — I think he had hair plugs by the time he did ST IV. I don’t know it for a fact (can’t remember where I heard it), but it would make sense given what is depicted onscreen.
THAT”S THE CAPTAIN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Awesome!!
They all look so different from the show!
Really great, wish they could have something like this again nowadays.
Also happy birthday to Majel Barett-Roddenberry! :)
Liked it lots. :) Very young looking group of people there, and they almost all needed haircuts (Nimoy and Doohan were okay).
I feel like I am watching video of Elizabeth I, Napoleon, or George Washington… spectacular…
While we’re on the topic of hairpieces, according to his autobiography, Mr. Walter Koenig has been follicularly augmented since the late ’70s. Nobody ever talked about his though. Bill got all the “Shatner Turbo2000″ jokes.
Was that David Gerrold mackin’ on Nichelle?
Also, polyester was such an unflattering fabric.
Many, many, many thanks, Portnoy! I have no complaint whatsoever. Great job. Thanks for sharing.
Ah, glory days. Wasn’t this during or right after they were doing voice overs for The Animated Series? I wonder if any of them had a clue they’d be doing a motion picture together not long after this.
I was there too. It was fantastic. I sat next to the guy that had built the Bridge set. He was so proud to have the actors standing in it. When Bill sat in the chair the place went crazy. The actors must have been half blind with all of the flashing. They of course answered questions as well. The hotel was so packed it was hard to walk around.
This was the first time I had seen upcut episodes. They projected them on the wall and we got to see stuff we had never seen on TV.
Pictures from this event also appear in the book “Letters to Star Trek” by Susan Sackett.
Lol, if you have the blu ray set of the first 6 movies, lol, its a wiggy wiggy, no doubt..
Is it me, or does Shatner in this video really resemble Chris Pine? The mannerisms included.
Shatner doesn’t have enough hair to transplant the amount of hair needed! Don’t be fooled by him swimming in The Voyage Home. For the longest time now they’ve had hair weaves that one can shower, swim, stand in a cyclone wind and the damn thing won’t come off! Those things are “poly-fused” to one’s scalp. Not to mention, anyone standing over the weave-wearer would swear that they can see right through to the person’s scalp! They’ve come a long way with hair-replacement technology! Nowadays Shatner would, every few weeks, move up to a brand new “head of hair”. Hey, if you have the money, it can look pretty darn real!
The gal who played T’Pring bears a fair resemblance to a young Jolene Blalock!
To all those interested in the tale of Shatner’s hair, there’s a well-researched blog: http://shatnerstoupee.blogspot.com/
Basically, he’s worn a hairpiece since at least the 1960s. Whether he’s wearing one *now* is up to debate.
This, without sound, is ripe for rifftrak.
Oh, the days when our heroes were so young.. I felt like I was watching family home movies. I guess that says something about these actors, they really became like family to so many fans, even if they never met them in person. I only missed out meeting DeForest, darn it!
Shatner has worn a toup since the early 1960s. When his own money is involved, they are often quite ratty, but with studio money, they are state of the art. The one in ST IV is a breathable membrane with individual hairs sewn in. Not unusual. Today, he wears something similar, but in a “balding” style for authenticities sake. See http://shatnerstoupee.blogspot.com/
#22
“Is it me, or does Shatner in this video really resemble Chris Pine? The mannerisms included.”
Ditto.
I tend to think that his current hair is his own, simply because in the days when he was relying on extensive toupees – the 70s and 80s – he never showed very good judgment about the believability of them. He was of the “Bert Reynolds” persuasion, always going with a rug that had more follicles per square inch than the most hirsute teen.
One of the builders of that bridge set, I believe, was Michael McMasters – the fellow who drew the blueprints of the bridge that have been widely used for reference by fans since the mid-1970s. There are more accurate references available today, but for a very long time the McMasters blueprints were the gold standard.
Doug Drexler or Geoff Mandel may also have been involved in constructing the set, but I’ve forgotten.
Wow incredible.
I was there – 13 years old and digging every minute of it. I still have a tribble that I purchased at the event.
Thanks so much for sharing.
I wonder if it has been absolutely substantiated that Shatner has ever worn a toupee. Or if it is just some crazy rumor that has somehow become a part of Treklore.
That was a great video, their style was so scary! I can’t believe Takei was doing the stupid Vulcan salute way back then!
Dose anybody know where can I find old days convention pics like these above? Those are quite rare.
I also thought that was David Gerrold talking with Nichele in that clip. Regarding the toupee, I believe that in the 1960’s, it was just enough to cover up a bald spot on the top of his head. It became more extensive as the 1970’s wore on.
I always thought that Koenig had the worse hair of the bunch. The toupee was very obvious, especially by the time ST6 and 7 rolled around. It never really looked natural.
Interestingly, the episode of Trek Phase II that Koenig appears in must be his own hair as he quickly ages.
#32: “I wonder if it has been absolutely substantiated that Shatner has ever worn a toupee. Or if it is just some crazy rumor that has somehow become a part of Treklore.”
Only by the dozens of eyewitnesses who’ve mentioned and written about incidents involving Shatner’s toupee – including Robert Justman, Fred Phillips, William Campbell and Walter Koenig.
The shatnerstoupee blogspot is a pure delight. Thanks for the link.
That’s really cool.
Thanks for the link in the post! glad to be a helpful source. Here is the Time magazine article about the same convention:
http://mystartrekscrapbook.blogspot.com/2008/09/1975-time-article-trekkie-fad.html
I know you posted a link to their archived version, but the link I gave is my actual clipping of the original article, with the photos, for what it’s worth.
That was cool. Wish they had done a reenactment of an episode.
hey if theyd made the 1st star trek movie in 1975 wed be looking forward to Star Trek 13 next summer having already seen 12 in summer 08
Nice film. Thank you for posting. I think they used that same bridge set at New York Star Trek ‘76, which had thousands in attendance also.
as others have already said that video kinda of reminded me of the end scene of ST09…especially when Shatner appeared
also what the heck does ‘posed for the lollypop’ refer too?
I love seeing stuff like this!
Yay!
I remember that time very well…I went to the Bicentenial 10 convention the next year in New York…everyone was there but Nimoy, he couldn’t get away because of a play he was in . I remember wishing Shatner was my dad…especially when I was told to mow the lawn.
Would have been super cool to have Trek continue into the 70’s, but only if the writing had improved.
It’s great to see everybody ‘young’ … and seemingly at ease around each other; I mean around Bill. Ah well…
44. philpot – February 23, 2010
There is a famous photo of Spock holding a half-eaten lollypop that has been around forever. It’s in the blooper reel, I think, but you kind find stills of it everywhere.
Man that clip brought back memories. I didn’t make this convention, but back in 1974/75 Ruth Berman visited the little Hennepin Co. library near us and bring her batch of film clips and tell all the inside stories behind them. Later, she and David Gerrold were guests of honor at another Trek gathering that I only vaguely remember now.
In 1977, we (my kid brothers, mom and dad and myself of course) finally made it to a real convention, in Philadelphia. Koenig was the principle guest but a lot of other Star Trek luminaries were there, too.
These were wonderful experiences, people. They had not yet been commercialized (although they were going in that direction) and they were still fan labours of love.
Anthony, it would be wonderful to see articles here on Trek history, such as these old conventions, as well as Star Trek Welcommittee, Star Trek Enterprises, and the many other outlets we had in the days before GCI and Bluray!
Sincerely,
C.S. Lewis
See… James Cawley’s Elvis-do is actually legit Shat!
That was quite an era for the conventions where the fans created almost everything in the dealers room that was for sale. I attended some of these in the 70’s here on the west coast and I remember the excitement that seeing the actors engendered in the crowd. I was able to meet almost all of the original actors and even took one to the airport. A very different era with consideration to security and the like.
And yes, Shatner did wear a hairpiece, I have an original Episode Budget from May 1966 and under item 28-9 are “3 Hair Pieces for William Shatner” at a cost of $546.00.
i once met a girl in a bar in new york (early 80’s) who SWORE she did the shat in the seventies. she said he was making bald jokes as they copped (i remember the line: “touch my dome, baby”) and was really not so bald, really sweet, really drunk and really funny. for some reason i believed her and it seemed too low key to be a lie. and yeah, she was hot, and no, i didn’t go where the shat had been.
That was like watching video from the moon. Or some Galaxy Quest-esque alternate universe.
Makes one glad Phase II didn’t happen. (Obviously I don’t mean New Voyages’ version.)
I remember being shocked their hair was so conservative in TMP- wise decision. (heh…)
@ C.S. Lewis – you should check out Doug Drexler’s blog is you haven’t already. Some wonderful ’70s era in-the-trenches fandom recollections from the great and powerful Drex.
#50 Interesting. Where did you get the episode budget from? It must be worth something if its still in good condition.
I wish I’d been around back then ;__;
You know, if Mr. Shatner has never publicly mentioned he wears a toupee, it strikes me as mean-spirited, rude and spiteful for people to be poking fun about it. Give the man some privacy. Really.. just grow up.
Don’t you guys have anything better to do?
56
Hey, if he bought it as hair, we should buy it as hair!!
Why must this turn into a “Shatner wears a rug” discusssion? Who cares? My God people, get over it already.
Can’t believe The Shat wore a toupee in TOS; it’s just too authentic-looking; post TOS, yes, then it looks like he used a tribble to augment his thinning locks………..
Anyway, The Shat’s hair is a fascinating topic as it’s been so changeable over the decades, it inspires conversation………
And, I love the guy too, no way would I dis him which is what this “Toupee or not Toupee” question is all about……:-)))
Stuff like this makes me wish I were around at those times. D:
#22
“Is it me, or does Shatner in this video really resemble Chris Pine? The mannerisms included.”
Good point.
(Mannerisms, yes. Appearance, IMO, no. Shatner looks better)
I have to laugh at the comment in the video about Nimoy’s “I Am Not Spock” phase since I later attended an NYC convention in 1977/78 where he showed up unexpectedly (and boy was it crazy seeing everyone stream to the main ballroom) just to bawl out the over-zealous fans who were criticizing him for not wanting to do the new series/movie being planned. Now look where we are over 30 years later.
Those conventions during the lean years were great fun and exciting times which will never be recaptured again because of all the over-commercialization today. Someday I will have to haul out all of my con memorabilia, photos and audio (if it is still intact) and post them online as well.
Thanks, Rich, for posting such a terrific memory of those golden years!
24
I thought the same thing!
Very cool video!!
Man, that “recreated” bridge looks pretty darned good in that film…
You know, I look at this, think back to how that was arguably the first year I watched Trek as a kid (at the ripe age of 11, when Trek was heavy in syndication on local stations), and think how tragic it was that the franchise was so badly handled that it took *four more years* from this event to see them all on screen again.
Yeah, I know, eleven movies and umpteen TV shows over four decades makes it hard to call the franchise “mishandled,” but thinking how the prospective new series spun up, then got cancelled, then became TMP, and that was a production nightmare we all know too well, and I can’t help but think geez, had Paramount been able to shoot straight with this, think of how it all might have unfolded differently….I wouldn’t have minded that Phase II series…talk about a potential alternate timeline!!!
Great stuff. Truly a bygone era.
for this Portnoy deserves a cameo in the trek sequel
I wonder if that is the same Portnoy who wrote the book about his complaint. And liked bologna.
God I miss the 70’s!
I miss DeForest Kelley.
I don’t miss the bell bottoms.
28. Al – February 23, 2010
Haha … that Shatner Toupee Blog is hilarious. I didn’t know toupee analysis was its own pseudo-science.
#52/63 – ok how about this – you get sucked into an alternate reality for a very limited time – just enough to seek out and bring back ONE item (just one) for everyone to watch, so what would it be?
TOS Season 4
Phase II season 1 ( the only one)
Bennetts ST VI: Starfleet Academy
ST: Generations done ‘yesterdays Ent’ style – written/directed by N. Meyer
Enterprise season 5
and also:
ST IX – TNG Mirror Universe (Geordies temporal vortex at the end of FC takes them into the MU)
Nemesis – directed by Frakes
ST XI – Crossovers (2005) – a TOS/TNG/DS9/VOY/ENT epic (like Bring Back Kirk.com)
Bermans ST The Beginning (xmas 2008)
Cool beans. I miss the old convention days. Heck, I enjoyed the 80’s conventions too. Guess I’m a weirdo.
70. TOS Season 4
No brainer!
Q: How did Shatner always get his toupees delivered in a timely fashion?
A: Easy! He had them sent by……(wait for it)……..Hair Mail!!
Enterprise Season 5, thanks.
Is there anyone out there who attended the Chicago ‘75 Con that filmed any of it WITH sound?
C’mon, in 1975 8mm cameras were common enough. It’s not like we’re digging for the Dead Sea Scrolls here……it almost feels like it though!
1975’s “Star Trek: Planet of the Titans” for me, please.
#70 – sign me up for:
“ST: Generations done ‘yesterdays Ent’ style – written/directed by N. Meyer”
id be torn over TOS season 4 and Generations.
but id cheat anyway and bring them all back stuffed in one dvd case – along with Camerons Terminator 3 from 1996, Spielbergs Return of the Jedi, Indys 4, 5 & 6 (made in 95, 01 and 08), Oliver Stones Planet of the Apes, the proper Donner version of Superman 2 from 1980 and Burtons Superman Lives
77
sorry Planet of the Titans dosnt exist in that alternate timeline…try the one that also has the 1969 ST: Origins movie written by Roddenberry, starring Shatner, nimoy and the rest with Gary Lockwood and Jeff Hunter
70- Phase II.
Polyester.
70’s hair.
Magicam effects.
Lt. Xon & Ilia… hmmm.
And Brad Nelson phasers!
Love it Richard is great
Great film!
Never been to a convention myself but the whole time I was watching the vid I kept thinking about the scenes from Galaxy Quest when they were all talking about the “commander” behind his back. Bet there was a lot to hear behind the scenes that day in Chicago.
Interesting idea on what I’d bring back.
For me, it would be a very close race between TOS Season 4 and Phase II.
I think Phase II would have had a VERY successful run – more than 1 season – because the *only* reason TOS was dumped was because Nielsen didn’t do demographics in the 60’s. NBC never knew they had hit gold with the kind of demographic the networks would kill for these days. Given the intensity of popularity of Trek in that mid-70’s timeframe, I think it would have to have been one awful train wreck to only go one season.
Then again, we probably would never have gotten ANY movies…….
We’ll obviously never know…unless somone can get Chris Pine to check it out in the alternate timeline (har har har)
Very nice. Very reminiscent of the old New York Trek cons. I loved them. So many guests. I remember running into Isaac Asimov a number of times.
That brought back some wonderful memories, since I was quite fortunate to have been in the audience at the Chicago Conrad Hilton that weekend in 1975 (when I was just 12 years old!)
Not only was the TOS cast there, but so was Mark Lenard and Gene and Majel Roddenberry.
Here’s a much better pic, taken by a friend, of Shatner on the Bridge set that weekend: http://www.box.net/shared/svnp2z84af
#5
Same here. :)
Thanks for sharing, John.
#67
Me too.
[...] See Rare Film Of First Star Trek Cast Reunion from 1975 Trek Con … [...]
In the Inside Trek book and audio…Bob Justman or was it Herbert Solow? clearly speak about Bill’s toupee needing repair. But it was to hide his top front, not his full head like a wig. Full wigs were worn by Nichols & Barrett and Whitney, as well as Koenig intitally.