Front Row Dress Circle

It was not just about wonky sets and bad fashion; Star Trek was responsible for many ‘firsts’ in television history as well as having the first multi-cultural cast for a show. As the latest Star Trek film is set to open to eager Trekkies let’s take a look at what the original cast are up to now and some trivia as well…

William Shatner (Capt. Kirk): Played Kirk in the series as well as the seven spin-off films. He struggled to find work after the TV series ended and fell into the type-cast trap; fell on hard times and suffered marriage breakdowns and the drowning death of his third wife. Found fame again with the show T.J Hooker and won a Golden Globe for his part in Boston Legal. Now 78, he has moved on from his Capt Kirk persona and wishes his adoring fans would too…

Nichelle Nichols (Lt. Uhura): Nichelle was the first black American woman to feature in a major role on television in the US. Her influence was such that when she considered leaving the show mid-series she was persuaded by Martin Luther King to remain in the role as she was such an example to black women at the time. She followed his advice and went on to share the first interracial kiss on telvision with Capt. Kirk. Nichelle maintained an intense interest in all things cosmic and went on to work at NASA in recruiting women and people from racial minorities. She has even been on a mission to view Mars and Saturn. She is now 76, is divorced with one son and admitted to an affair with Trek producer Gene Roddenberry.

Leonard Nimoy (Spock): Already an established actor when he joined the cast of Star Trek, Nimoy went on to acclaim as a director and producer. He blamed the pressure of the role of Spock for his alcoholism and marriage breakdowns. He penned two autobio’s - ’I am Spock’ and ‘I am not Spock’. Now a published photographer, Nimoy is 78 and plays an older Spock in the new Star Trek film.

DeForest Kelly (Dr McCoy): A veteran of the US Airforce in WW2, Kelley was an actor in Westerns prior to joining the Star Trek cast. He retired after the original series and became a poet; he was also amused to know that many young trek fans became doctors after seeing him in the show. He died of cancer in 1999 and his ashes were scattered in the Pacific Ocean.

George Takei (Sulu): One of the remaining cast members to retain a tense relationship with Shatner, Takei was one of the first asian actors to appear regularly on American television. He admitted to being gay and in 2008 married his partner in a civil ceremony. He has run for Mayor of LA and lost by just over 1000 votes. In 2008 he took part in the reality show ‘I’m A Celebrity Get Me Out Of Here’ which was filmed in Australia.

Walter Koenig (Chekov): With his boyish good looks, Koenig was cast as the heavily accented Russian in the hope he would attract a younger audience at a time when The Beatles and The Monkee’s were idolised by teenagers around the world. He used his Lithuanian roots to draw on for the role. He has since appeared in Babylon 5 and worked as a director/producer. He is the only cast member not to have a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame - he is 72 and married with two children.

James Doohan (Scotty): A WW2 veteran, Doohan had a remarkable talent for accents and suggested that Scotty be played as a Scotsman because he claimed all good engineers were Scotsmen. He also devised the Klingon and Vulcan languages for the show. After leaving the show he found himself heavily typecast and found it difficult to get other roles. He appeared at Star Trek Conventions around the world and loved meeting the fans - one of whom, a 17 year old girl - he married at the age of 54. Their youngest child was born when he was 80. ‘Scotty’ died in 2005 and 7g of his ashes were sent into space - at his request.

Trivia…

* Many of the innovations in the early series actually inspired invention and have become part of everyday use today: 

- the communicator is now the mobile phone

- the PADD (personal access device) is now a tablet PC

- the phaser is now used by police as stun guns

- remember the small flat screen computer terminal used for communications in the show? today they are in common use everywhere.

- the one nifty gadget not reproduced today is of course the transporter - but give it time…

* Walter Koenig was best man at George Takei’s wedding in 2008

* Leonard Nimoy was known for taking himself and his role as Spock quite seriously. When interviewed on Australian daytime TV, ‘The Mike Walsh Show’, he took offence at Mike Walsh’s inference that Trek fans were groupies. “They are not groupies, they are serious fans!” was Nimoys offended reply…

* The Klingon and Vulcan tongues are actually spoken by the really die-hard Trek devotees.

Popularity: 49% [?]

Many people probably forgot that Farrah Fawcett was fighting a major battle against intestinal cancer. Just recently you only seemed to ever hear about Patrick Swayze and Jade Goody, cancer’s other high profile sufferers. And it is so unpredictable - there is Farrah still fighting after two years, Patrick is still hanging on after a year of pancreatic cancer and Jade - dead within a few short months from diagnosis to the end.

Farrah was recently at a clinic in Germany to try alternative therapies in her quest to beat this insidious disease, by all accounts things are not looking good for her and this news is very sad indeed.

It is surprising how many young people do not know Farrah or have ever heard of her. Those of us who do, know that Farrah was the icon of the 1970’s; bigger than Posh is now, and much more desirable than Pamela Anderson ever tried to be.

Women, and girls, everywhere tried - but never managed - to emulate that hairstyle for themselves. What was not known until tried was that it was impossible to maintain that style for even 20 minutes without a fleet of hair stylists armed with blow dryers and spray. Even I drove my Mum crazy with my own school-girl attempt to ‘be like Farrah’.

Farrah was unbelievably perfect to women everywhere and yet they all tried to copy her style - that’s how she came across in those days before botox, liposuction, facial fillers and hair extensions influenced celebrity ‘beauty’…she was the real thing and, crazy as it seemed, her fans believed they could look like her too.

I don’t think anyone pulled it off though. There is only one Farrah Fawcett.

Farrah Trivia:

* Farrah Fawcett was once ‘Farrah Fawcett Majors’ when she was married to ‘Six Million Dollar Man’ actor, Lee Majors. She dropped the ‘Majors’ after their divorce.

* She was a minor actress before getting her big break in ‘Charlies Angels’. Her fame came after her husband, Lee Majors, made it big in the ‘Six Million Dollar Man’ tv series. She caught the attention of producers after a photo shoot with her husband.

* Farrah can be seen pre-Angels in an episode of ‘Marcus Welby M.D’.

* Farrahs hair was naturally dark, mousy blonde.

* Her famous fly-away hair style had to be retouched and styled every ten minutes during filming of Charlies Angels as her naturally straight hair went limp very quickly.

* Farrah broke free of the pin-up image when she acted on Broadway in the play ‘Extremities’ - about a rape victim fighting back against her attacker. She also acted in the film adaptation and earned rave reviews.

* She became a champion for sufferers of domestic abuse after starring in the film ‘The Burning Bed’ - the true story of an abused wife who killed her husband.

Popularity: 79% [?]

I read a report the other day which gave me the feeling I would be writing yet another obit - and for one of the greatest screen legends of them all…Dame Elizabeth Taylor.

La Liz was reported to be on life support suffering from congestive heart failure following a bout of pneumonia. I thought ‘uh oh’ - surely she would rally and pull through yet again…?

Well, the great lady has done it again it seems and is back at home ‘ surrounded by family, friends and fabulous jewels ‘  - don’t you just love that statement? what a woman - what a legend. Maybe the past few years have not been so kind to her but she still has that tough, fighting spirit which has seen her through so many tragedies and illnesses.

Let’s keep our fingers crossed that she will continue to improve and stick around for a long time yet - the world needs stars like her!

Read about the update on her health here.

Elizabeth Taylor trivia and facts:

* Liz was born Elizabeth Rosamund Taylor in Hamstead, London, England

* Her parents were American. Her father Francis was an art dealer, mother Sara was a small-time actress by the name of Sara Sothern.

* She was first spotted at an art gallery at the age of eight by gossip columnist Hedda Hopper who suggested her father put her into films. He turned the idea down at the time.

* She almost auditioned for the role of Bonnie Blue, the child of Scarlett and Rhett, in Gone with the Wind.

* Her mother was the force behind putting the young Elizabeth into movies after everyone who saw the child remarked on her stunning beauty. At her first photo sitting the photographer said ” her eye’s are that of a grown woman “.

* He first film was ‘Lassie Come Home’ - co-star Roddy McDowell, also a child actor, became a close life-long friend.

* At the age of twelve she penned a children’s book ‘Nibbles and Me’ about her pet hamster.

* During the filming of ‘National Velvet’ she fell off the horse and sustained a life long back injury.

* Her first marriage, to heir Nicky Hilton, was a disaster as Hilton was a drug addict and was unable to consummate the marriage on their wedding night.

* Her wedding to Hilton coincided with the filming of ‘Father of the Bride’ - during filming of the remake ‘Father’s little Dividend’ , after he marriage, she suffered a miscarriage on set.

* She fell in love with actor Montgomery Clift, her co-star in ‘A Place in the Sun’. She tried for years to persuade the actor to marry her but Clift was rampantly gay - they remained the closest of friends until his death though.

* Clift never called her ‘Elizabeth’, he always called her ‘Bessie Mae’.

* She was credited with saving Clift’s life when he drove his car off the road after leaving a party at her house during the making of ‘Raintree County’. She ran down the road in the pitch dark and found the actor horrifically injured and choking to death on some teeth lodged in his throat. She reached down and pulled the teeth out and thus saved his life; she cradled his head in her arms until paramedics arrived.

* She married English actor Micheal Wilding - their Hollywood house was said to be a mess due to her dogs not being house trained…

* Billionaire Howard Hughes had his eye on her for years.

* Husband No 3. Mike Todd was killed in a plane crash in 1957. He was the father of her daughter, Liza. His private plane was named ‘The Lucky Liz’.

* Her romance with Debbie Reynold’s husband, Eddie Fisher, began when Fisher comforted her after Todd’s death. Fisher was a close friend of Todd.

* Richard Burton, husband No 5, is said to be the great love of her life. She wants her ashes to be scattered in Wales after her own death. They adopted a German baby named Maria.

* Before beginning filming of ‘Butterfield 8′ she collapsed and had to have a tracheotomy tube inserted so she could breathe. You can see the vertical scar on her throat in some scenes.

Popularity: 52% [?]