Welcome! As part of its ongoing mission to document the Art and Production History of Star Trek, this site will present technical articles on Star Trek prop and costume authentication - focusing on The Original Series - with detailed photos and episode screenshots to complement the information presented; as well as feature pictorials to showcase Star Trek memorabilia in private & public collections, present rare Behind The Scenes TOS imagery & discuss other topics.
Gerald Gurian is a 40+ year collector of screen used Star Trek memorabilia and a passionate fan of TOS
     
- Star Trek TOS At Auction Part I - Gurian Collection Highlights - Greg Jein TOS Hero Type II Phaser
-Authenticating a TOS Communicator -6 Myths About Star Trek Prop Design -Star Trek 3rd Season Command Tunic
- Design Features of TOS Tricorders -Star Trek Props At National Air & Space - TOS Leatherette Tricorder
- TOS Federation Sciences Dress -Desilu Studio TOS Prop Fabrication - Unreleased Allen/Gurian Prop Photos
- The Beautiful Women of TOS Part I -TOS U.S.S. Enterprise 11' Filming Model - Captain Kirk's Chair from TOS
- Spock Ears -TOS Control Panels & Displays - Mr. Spock's Science Station
- TOS Soundstage at Desilu -TOS Shatner Romulan Pants - The Beautiful Women of TOS Pt. II
- TOS Galileo Shuttlecraft -Greg Jein TOS Cage Laser Pistol - TOS 3rd Season Midgrade Type II Phaser
- Dr. McCoy's Sickbay on TOS -TOS Balok Puppet Head - Captain Kirk "Mirror, Mirror" Tunic
- Greg Jein TOS Hero Tricorder -1992 Smithsonian TOS Cast Video - TOS 1st Season Command Tunic
- TOS "Where No Man" Silver Contact Lenses -TOS Special Effects: The Transporter - The Art of Matt Jefferies
- TOS "Space Seed" Gold Mesh Jumpsuit -Gorn Costume from "Arena" - Rare TOS Behind-the-Scenes Videos
- TOS Stunt Type II Phaser -1993 Bill Theiss Estate Auction - TOS Shatner Command Dress Tunic
- TOS Elasian Royal Guard Tunic -TOS Finnegan Silver "Shore Leave" Tunic - TOS Science Officer Tunic "The Cage"
- TOS Shatner Early 1st Season Command Tunic -William Shatner TOS Tunics At Auction - TOS Shatner Late 1st Season Command Tunic

Sunday, September 5, 2010

TOS William Shatner Costume Wig from "The Paradise Syndrome"

Presented below are some auction house photos from the July 17, 2010 Heritage Auction Galleries Entertainment Memorabilia sale of Lot 49396, a William Shatner costume wig which was described as "possibly worn by Shatner" during the production of Star Trek: The Original Series. This lot realized a final sales price, including buyers premium, of $3107.00 and featured an original MGM wig stock record card noting that it was rented to F. Phillips of Paramount Studios from June 7th, 1968 through June 17th, 1968. Fred Phillips was the veteran, award winning Make-up Artist for TOS who is perhaps most well known for creating and applying the Spock vulcan ear appliances to Leonard Nimoy during the production of the series. In an earlier post on this site, a detailed Filming Chronology for The Original Series was published - which is viewable at: http://www.startrekpropauthority.com/2010/07/star-trek-original-series-production_27.html Upon consulting this chronology, it can be seen that the 3rd season episode "The Paradise Syndrome" (first airdate: Oct. 4, 1968) was filmed during mid-June, 1968 on the Desilu soundstage - the timeframe indicated by the MGM record card. Ofcourse, the storyline of "The Paradise Syndrome" involves Captain Kirk being stranded on the planet Amerind and spending months living amongst the Native American-like tribe that inhabits a small village on the world. Over the course of the episode, in order to effectively simulate the passage of weeks and months, William Shatner's normally short Starfleet haircut is seen to grow significantly denser and full sideburns are evident in the closing scenes. Thus, it is plausible and likely that this costume wig saw service on screen in TOS as part of the special makeup effects needed for the story. Some episode screenshots showing Captain Kirk's changing hairstyle are presented after the modern day images and an extract of the June/July, 1968 Original Series filming chronology.