STAR TREK
THE HAIRCUT THAT SAVED
By Michael Ahr
If it weren’t for a more audience-friendly haircut, Star Trek might be missing one of its most colorful characters, according to a new documentary.
The Center Seat is full of familiar behind-the-scenes Star Trek stories, but the controversy surrounding the casting of DeForest Kelley as Dr. McCoy was a real eye-opener.
Kelley was a friend of Star Trek creator Gene Roddenberry, who had cast the actor in other projects before the sci-fi show he became known for.
Kelley was previously recognized as an actor in Western films, and he usually wore a black hat thanks to some villainously arched eyebrows.
Dr. Leonard “Bones” McCoy didn’t appear in the first or second pilot for Star Trek since the studio didn’t see Kelley as a “good guy” actor.
According to The Center Seat, Rodenberry decided to give Kelley a JFK-inspired haircut to subliminally suggest to the suits that Bones could work.
The obscure fact came from a small news item in Pasadena, California’s Independent Star-News entitled “A Lucky Haircut.”
The article details the rationale behind the haircut, which cost 35 dollars – quite an expensive proposition in the 1960s.
If it weren’t for this pivotal decision, fans might never have witnessed the confrontational Spock-Bones dynamic or heard the famous, “I’m a doctor, not a…” line.