"Leonard Nimoy Answers 40 Questions" 1967 Article

From a 1967 movie magazine comes this article with 40 intimate things you always wanted to know about Leonard Nimoy!

(Click on the images to view full-size. Once open, you may have to click again to enlarge.)

Bonus #1: A rare publicity photo of Shatner and guest star Celeste Yarnell from "The Apple." I have no clue what odd kind of alien plant he's using to impress her with his knowledge of...

"Why waste time with Chekov over there? Let's show the natives how it's really done."

Bonus #2: Rare publicity photo of Joan Collins as Edith Keeler.

"Oh, Mr. Kirk... would you help me with the dreadfully heavy doily?"

Bill Shatner: A Restless Man

From a movie/TV magazine in around 1967 comes this article about Shatner that still seems to be relevant to the way he lives his life!

(Click on images to enlarge. Once open, you may have to click again to view full-size.)

Bonus #1: A 1967 article about the emotion-filled Leonard Nimoy. Note the half-shaved eyebrows that he had to endure for the whole series!

Bonus #3: Below, a rare publicity picture of Nimoy and Jill Ireland.

Bonus #4: Rare image of Jeff Hunter with a laser pistol prop! Note the industrial-strength tinfoil that was used for the cave walls and the rock formations on Talos IV. Very effective at creating rock-like surfaces! But I think a coat of matte-textured spray paint would have been more effective at making the reflective tinfoil surface look less metallic.

That Lucky Kid... Now, Lucky US!

Most of the time, this blog is publishing items in my collection. But sometimes, when something extraordinary from Trek's past shows up, I will feature it, like the time the original Phaser Rifle turned up. Today, I saw a post shared by Trek contributor Doug Drexler that came from one Edward Barocela that revealed a wonderful story of a visit to the Star Trek soundstages and a photo not seen since.

Here is the photo:

And the story behind the photo:

Edward Barocela‎ posted to the group STAR TREK - The Original and ONLY Timeline:

"Nearly 49 years ago, my father Edward Sr., a motion picture engineer, was hired by Film Effects of Hollywood to work on upgrading the optical printers. One Saturday, my brother and I were out with Dad as he ran some errands. He stopped off at work and left us in the lobby of the building as he went inside to do something. Presently, a man walked by and noticed us by ourselves, bored and fidgeting. He said, "Hey, kids, do want to see a real spaceship?" Naturally we said yes, and he gave us directions to a set of double doors. We went through the doors and found ourselves on a small soundstage. And there she was: the Starship Enterprise. They let us work the control console to turn the big model's lights on and off, and to run the engine dome rotors at different speeds. They also let us handle the shuttlecraft and Romulan ship models. Needless to say, this experience made huge impression on me. I was 10 years old. Years later, my mother sent me this photo. I didn't even remember that anyone had taken pictures at the time."

Too cool!

Ebony 1967 Nichelle Nichols Feature

Here it is, folks... we're showed you the cover before, but never the inside content. This time we are feasting our hungry eyes on the rare 1967 issue of Ebony magazine (a digest-sized publication) that features Nichelle Nichols on the cover and inside article. The photos were taken especially for the magazine, so are not the typical publicity shots we've seen for years. These images are a great behind-the-scenes look at Nichelle's contribution to the series, and feature her in some wonderfully lovely pictures interacting charmingly with the cast and crew. I know that everyone around her must have loved her! First up, the cover. I know I've featured it before, but this time I'm bringing the largest version of the cover online that I am aware of...

And the inside feature itself, packed with unusual images of our favorite communications officer.

I love the candid in-costume images of Nichelle in the article, and especially below, as she gracefully brightens the set with her shape and smile. Look at the one of her standing between the wardrobe mistress and stylist, who helped create her onscreen image. Isn't she gorgeous? And the one on the bike... be still, my beating heart! It's not good for you to get so worked up.

Note the above ad for the "lighter, brighter skin" product. Then, as now, it seems that the societal pressure to conform to a certain image drives people to make changes to their appearance; changes that God never intended, and are certainly not desirable. Be who you are, everybody, and be proud of it! At the very least, be content.

Bonus: Below, a rare moody b&w photo, not from the magazine, but a publicity still from before the series.

1967 article "Space Age Crew Enjoys Old Fashioned Barbeque"

For a small but appreciative group of fans in the 70's, those who were lucky enough to have a specialty shop in their city, the fanzine "Enterprise Incidents" was pure Trek gold.

Editor/founder James Van Hise (best known to fans as the author of numerous "unauthorized" Trek books) often included reprints of vintage articles from past publications, for which I was grateful. From issue #6, published in 1978, comes this reprint of a 1967 article originally from the magazine "TV Star Parade," as some of the cast chows down on a cookout between takes.

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There's nothing like a cookout in the summer with good friends!

Another of the fun aspects of the fanzine was the artwork within. Although I don't even know the first name of the artist, "R. Wilber" often contributed nice pen-and-ink drawings to the magazine. Below are three examples for you to enjoy. If you are in the know about the artist, please leave the info in the comments area and I'll update the article. Hey, maybe we'll hear from Mr. Wilber himself, if he is still alive and well, as we hope he is.

Below: From issue #2, we see that not all aliens greeted Starfleet officers with open tentacles/claws/feelers/arms.

Below, from #3, an illustration for the episode highlighted that issue, "The Menagerie." I watched this two-parter again on my Blu-ray set just a few nights ago.

Below: And another from #6, this time depicting "Balance of Terror."

I'll post more of Mr. Wilber's art as I find it in other issues, as well as that by different artists. One of my regrets of the time period is that I never contacted James to submit some of my own artwork. I like to think it would have been accepted (don't all artists?), and I would have been proud to see it in a forthcoming issue! Here are a couple I would have sent in: "Mirror Uhura," and "Fight On Rigel 7." Do you think I would have made it?

Leonard Nimoy's Life In Pictures

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Same story as the last post: this article was scanned from a reprint in #4 of Enterprise Incidents, and was originally from a 1967 movie-tv fan magazine.

Bonus: Below, we see Bill tucking in his slave shirt... or is he adjusting his package for the cameras? You decide!

If he had to die in gladitorial combat on TV, at least he would make a good impression.

William Shatner's Life Story In Pictures

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This two-page spread covers Bill's life story in pictures up until 1967 or so, at least. Not sure of the date and source of this article, since I scanned in the reprint of it from issue #4 of "Enterprise Incidents" magazine, itself published in 1977. But, I would venture to say the original was from a "Movie Life" magazine, circa late 1967.

Bonus: a great shot of Bill in the 60's trenchcoat from "Assignment: Earth," which was a great look for him. From his expression you get the idea that he thinks so too.

"Don't I look stunning? Get it? The phaser...? Stunning..?"

Bonus: from the same issue of "Enterprise Incidents," comes two mind-blowing drawings by our man Ralph Fowler. The detail and imagination, not to mention scope, of these two pieces of artwork is incredible! First, Ralph shows us something we never saw in the episode, as "The Doomsday Machine" carves up the planet (and 430-odd people) while Matt Decker watches helplessly from his wrecked ship. He was just never the same after that.

Next, a scene from Ralph's imagination, as Kirk and Spock find themselves under attack by a couple of antagonistic defendroids on an alien planet. The robots and architecture design of the buildings is indicative of his great talent. I hope he comments or contacts me someday so I can ask him about his work!

"Squeeeeeee!"

1967 Popular Science article

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Originally published in the December 1967 issue of Popular Science.

Star Trek's technology, grounded as it was in scientific theory and mixed with imaginative and logical design, ignited a burning interest in the viewers to know more. Unusual for a show of the time period and even long after; how many articles did you see on the science of "Lost In Space"? I was captivated by the ships and gadgets also; the first picture I ever drew of the show was the Enterprise, and I continued to do so for years as I became more familiar with it. It really was one of the stars of the show as far as I was concerned.

I loved that kind of thing so much, that one day in 1974 I wore my newly-acquired AMT Star Trek Exploration Set to school... the phaser and communicator on my belt (attached with velcro, just like the show) and a hand-made insignia pinned to my shirt. Yes, I was a geek before people knew what to call them, but it did attract the interest of a couple of like-minded students who became my Trekker pals. (Nowadays, it would result in being suspended for bringing a "weapon" to school and possibly triggering an evacuation and SWAT Team incident). But, to a small group of other teens I was cool since I was always bringing fun mags like Famous Monsters and The Monster Times to school with me, which they all gathered around and read in study hall. My drawings were always passed around with exclamations of their coolness.

Bonus: Below, a painting of our lovely lady by Andy Probert, from the set that you could buy in the early 70's from Lincoln Enterprises. You can see some others as they are in frames on my wall, in the picture here. Andy, of course, went on to design the movie version of the ship based on drawings by Matt Jefferies, the ships' original creator.

And below, from a far less accomplished artist (namely, me), a drawing of the ship from memory, made one day in 1974 (when I was 15) as I sat in the library at school during lunch break. The Klingon ship I did have a reference for, as I looked at the illustration in "The Making of Star Trek" a day or two later, adding it to the drawing.

I was a relative late-comer to the show, but like many people, came to know and love it during the re-run popularity it began to have in the early 70's. One early exposure was the Gold Key comic book, and the first issue I ever bought, #20... the cover of which I scanned in for you below. It further whetted my appetite for the real thing, as did the James Blish books, causing me to start sneaking in any episodes I could catch on TV when I could, and saving any magazine or newspaper articles I found... which is what this blog is all about sharing now.

Man, this takes me back... to when I bought it in September of 1973, to be exact. Nothing quite as exciting as a zero-G fight using vacuum cleaners!

The crew reacts as the young Kirk gets the snot beat
out of him again in the new movie about their exploits.

Nimoy: Star Of The Year

(Captain Obvious says: "Click on images to view full-size, crewman!")

Hope you enjoy these various clippings... not sure of the publication sources (except that they were TV/movie magazines) but all were during the original series run. Below, Star Trek meets Space:1999.

I have to admit the real excitement online right now is that the new Star Trek movie has had a surprise premiere! Go to TrekMovie.com for some early reviews and lots of excitement! Also check out the writeups at AintItCool.com. Folks, it appears that Star Trek Lives!

First Run Candid Pics

Posting is at a Denebian Slime Devil's pace during the busy month of December, but here are a few scans of some candid photos snapped during the show's first run. They are from the TV/Movie fan mags out at the time, but in clipping them I neglected to keep the magazine name anywhere. It just wasn't important to me then.

Castle of Frankenstein #11: Star Trek cover story

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I know, I've been posting material about the production of the first Star Trek movie for awhile, but that doesn't mean I've abandoned the original series material, no sir. I'll keep posting it as long as I have something to post in that area, and add in the movie stuff also.

"Castle of Frankenstein" was a monster magazine that respected it's readers and didn't talk down to them, or load every single article with horrible puns and one-sentence paragraphs like Famous Monsters. The writeups were intelligent, and the magazine dense with material that made reading it like mining a vein of horror gold. (I also dug out a nugget to feature over on my movie ad blog "Held Over!") It was monsters for more mature fans that even showed the occasional bit of partial nudity that might be in a movie. Of course, the kids like me ate that up too.

So this issue from 1967 that covered both my love for monsters and Star Trek was a double-whammy that knocked me for a loop! I was late coming to the show, and found this in a second-hand bookstore in the early 70's, but it was new to me and exciting as all get out. Enjoy this scan of my issue, and try to imagine, if you can, what it was like to read an article about the show when it was still in production. The excitement I felt at seeing anything related to the show back then was unmatched by anything else in my life at the time. It was truly special, and hard to explain to someone that has never felt it.

Since the mag is about monsters, the photos pretty much focus on that aspect of the show. But the article revealed at lot about the show that I didn't know at the time, and I eagerly devoured it!