August 3 to August 11, 1967

Promotional photo, with an aged DeForest Kelley and William Shatner (Courtesy of Gerald Gurian)

This week they were filming the Star Trek episode “The Deadly Years,” and trying to imagine what William Shatner and Deforest Kelley, and others in the cast, would look like in the eighties. This was a very challenging episode to produce -- presenting challenges never before faced in a TV production on a six-day filming schedule.

      In a memo sent to Producer Gene Coon, written days before “The Deadly Years” began filming, Associate Producer Robert Justman said:

Incidentally, I feel that we are going to have to set up a definite number of makeup changes for each one of our characters in this show. And we cannot have too many of them, because we will never have enough time to shoot the show if we are continually fooling around with the aging process. Therefore, with respect to Captain Kirk, I suggest about four different changes. The first change would be Kirk in normal 34-year-old state. His second change would be the same makeup, but he would move more slowly and indicate a certain lack of quick reflex action. His gait would be slower and he might limp just a trifle. He would be slightly stooped or hunched over as he moved. There would be definite indication of weariness and other physical attributes which Bill Shatner could so well provide. His third change would be a definite makeup change in which he would appear to be approximately 55 to 60 years old. There would be lines and wrinkles on his face. His hair would be graying. There would be a very definite slowing down of his movements and his limp would be much more pronounced. Aches and pains would be apparent in the way he moved. Naturally, his speech would slow down appreciably at times and his voice would have a weakness which would become very apparent to the audience. Also, the pitch of his voice would have a tendency to vary. Weariness would be very evident. His fourth makeup change would be the change which shows the most difference. Here we would have a need for facial appliances. There would be heavy wrinkles and creases. There would be dark shadows under his eyes and his hair would be white at the temple only. He would be jowly and his gait would have slowed to a shuffle. He would be very erratic in his speech, in that at times he would be speaking rather quickly and then suddenly hesitate and slow down appreciably. The pitch of his voice would alter frequently and his projection would not be very strong at all. His eyes would be watery. His uniform would fit badly in the respect that it would seem over-large on him. This is very important and would help Bill enormously in his characterization. By the time he reaches this last change, his tunic should be over-large and the sleeves should be too long. Also, he would hold onto objects in order to maintain his balance at times. All in all, I think Bill could have a ball with this concept and I am certain that our regulars could also.

     These makeup changes, and changes to the characterizations of the others inflicted, would have to be done on McCoy, Scott, Ensign Galloway, and, to a lesser degree, Mr. Spock, all at the same time, with all aging at different speeds, and then a production schedule built like a house of cards would have to interweave all these changes without taxing the makeup department too much, or slowing down the filming. It seemed to be an impossible undertaking for a six-day production. 

     DeForest Kelley said, “I only worked half days on that show because I was in makeup the other half. I’d sit in the chair for a while, then I’d take a break, go to the john, come back and they’d work some more. It was a tremendous makeup effort. There were three makeup men working on me all the time, on my hands and on my face. Leonard was lucky on that show. He was blessed by the fact that Vulcans don’t age as fast as humans.”

Courtesy Gerald Gurian

Courtesy Gerald Gurian

     Shatner complained, “I spent three hours in the makeup chair one afternoon, just getting made up, and finally, I was ready about five-thirty or six o’clock. I came out on the set after having spent three hours with this painful -- and boring -- process of application, and they said, ‘Okay, you’re ready? Well, we have to quit. We have to cut at six-twelve.’ And I said, ‘You can’t. I just spent three hours getting made up.’ And they brought the producer down -- Gene Coon -- and he tried to go longer, but it was the policy of the studio to quit at six-twelve. So with great reluctance, they quit for the day -- and I ripped off three hours of work without ever once having stepped before the cameras.”

     Traditionally, female cast members always have an earlier call time than the men, so Sarah Marshall was surprised on her first day to find the series’ regulars -- all men -- had beaten her to the makeup chairs. “Pre-dawn!” she exclaimed. “I mean... they had to be there at 4 [a.m.] for the whole episode because they were aging. I rolled in at 7:30 and they’d been sitting there sweltering in those rubber masks for hours. That was the best part. Normally the women have to be there an hour-and-a-half earlier and then people like Bill Shatner sail in and gets his makeup on in fifteen minutes. To have the tables turned was absolutely wonderful!”
     Shatner may have taken delight in the acting challenges presented in this episode, but he took no comfort in the grueling makeup schedule, as evident by the picture below.

Courtesy Gerald Gurian

Read all about the writing (with memos exchanged between Gene Roddenberry, his staff and NBC), and the making (with broadcast schedules, production notes, and first hand recollections from those who were there), and the first broadcast (including the Nielson ratings) of this episode, and all the others from Star Trek’s second season, in the
Saturn Award winning book,
These Are the Voyage – Star Trek: TOS [The Original Series]: Season Two

Get it here for less than anywhere else,
and autographed by author Marc Cushman!

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