July 17 – 24, 1967
49 years ago this week, Shatner, Nimoy and Kelley (pictured here before the accident) were rushed to doctor’s office after explosion on Star Trek set! They were filming the second season episode “The Apple” on Desilu Stage 10 (July 17 – 24, 1967), when Boom! Special Effects man, Jim Rug had planted too big of a charge in the prop rock that was set to explode.
After shooting the scene where Spock, standing next to Kirk and McCoy, tosses away a rainbow-colored rock, the production abruptly stopped. DeForest Kelley recalled, “There was a big explosion that blew up in front of us, and the special effects man had placed TNT into it. That’s what it sounded like. It was a terrible explosion, and the three of us absolutely went deaf with it.”
The moment was captured on film. Watch when the rock Spock discards explodes. Shatner puts his hand to his ear as the concussion hits and the three stars nearly fall over. Ever the professionals, they remained in character for the couple seconds needed to complete the shot, despite the shock and the stabbing pain in their ears.
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“The explosions were immense,” said Celeste Yarnall. “They didn’t give us cotton for our ears. I don’t remember anyone yelling ‘Fire in the hole!’ I just remember stuff going off around us. And, being on a soundstage, there was a lot of reverberation. It was horrific. It really was. I remember a lot of yelling about ‘This is way too much!’”
Kelley said, “We went to a Hollywood doctor’s office and it was a pretty big shock when the three of us [in costume] walked in!”
Less funny was the aftereffects. Two decades later, Kelley admitted, “I have a constant reminder of that show; a constant ringing in my ear.
Yarnall acknowledged that Kelley was not alone, saying, “That’s when Bill Shatner had his ears damaged, and they’ve rung ever since. He got tinnitus from that.”
Kelley said, “We went to a Hollywood doctor’s office and it was a pretty big shock when the three of us [in costume] walked in!”
Less funny was the aftereffects. Two decades later, Kelley admitted, “I have a constant reminder of that show; a constant ringing in my ear.
Yarnall acknowledged that Kelley was not alone, saying, “That’s when Bill Shatner had his ears damaged, and they’ve rung ever since. He got tinnitus from that.”
Read more about the writing and making of “The Apple,” and all of the second season episodes of Star Trek: TOS [The Original Series], in Marc Cushman’s Saturn Award winning book, These Are the Voyages, TOS: Season Two, available here.