Clint Eastwood with Leonard Nimoy and William Shatner (with back to camera).
I bet that you never thought that Clint Eastwood had any connection at all to Star Trek, now did you. Well, I didn't know of any, and I know a lot about both.
This meeting is said to have occurred on the set of "Star Trek: The Motion Picture" (1979) when Clint was a well-established superstar. So, there is a connection, and you're looking at it.
Clint starred in "Escape From Alcatraz" in 1979.
As to the children, in 1979 Clint Eastwood had three children (that are known about): Kimber (born in 1964), Kyle (born in 1968), and Alison (born in 1972). The girl looks young enough to be Alison, and Kimber wasn't known about at the time, so that is probably Clint with his two children Kyle and Alison.
I don't know what the occasion was, but there was a day on the Paramount Desilu lot in the '60s when the stars of all the different shows of the time got together to meet and greet some fans. Star Trek, Lost In Space, Batman ... they were all there. I am guessing it was some time in 1967, perhaps the fall of that year. But, it just as easily could have been late 1966 or early 1968.
Anyway, the point of this post is just that one photo and the one below. I've posted other shots from that day, such as Adam West with Leonard Nimoy, Jonathan Harris and Leonard Nimoy. So, to that collection, we add here Jonathan Harris with William Shatner.
Angela Cartwright joins the festivities. Notice how she and Jonathan are holding hands, it must have been a good set. Also, notice Jonathan's perfect handkerchief in his breast pocket, the man had class.
It wasn't particularly difficult to get them all there. They filmed on adjacent soundstages. However, the juxtapositions are still intense for fans of the show.
If anyone knows what the date and event were, drop me a comment. It was a magical day for fans of '60s television, the true golden age. Since Yvonne Craig was there, and she was on Batman during the '67-'68 season, I am going to take a wild stab and say it was September 1967, to promote the new season.
By the way, I pity the young boy (I think) in the lower right of the top photo, who just missed immortality by being out of frame.
So you miss the Seventies? Or you missed the Seventies? Come with us for a brief return to the most fabulous decade of the late 20th Century!
Somehow, "Love Grows (Where My Rosemary Goes)" has acquired a life of its own. It was a great song in 1970, did well on the charts, but then, a lot of songs were great back then and did well on the charts. However, "Love Grows (Where My Rosemary Goes)" endures. I can't explain it. Sure, it's catchy, but there were a lot of catchy tunes. But people continue to love it! Anyway, on to a classic music video from before the time of music videos.
I love this music video of "Love Grows (Where My Rosemary Goes)" by Edison Lighthouse, which was made way back in early 1970. Edison Lighthouse was a one-hit-wonder band, but "Love Grows (Where My Rosemary Goes)" is an undeniable classic and one of the greatest songs of the '70s despite also being one of the first.
You may remember that "Love Grows (Where My Rosemary Goes) was featured in the Jack Black comedy "Shallow Hal" (2001). Great film, I loved it, it gets five stars, go see it some time. But we're dealing with the song here, not the film.
The song is great, but the videos are even better. The guy they portray as being the lead singer (Andy Locke) in the "performance" video actually wasn't, it was another guy (Tony Burrows) who they didn't think was photogenic enough. In fact, it doesn't look like anyone in the video is actually playing.
Have to admit, the guy they feature looks like he should be the lead singer (Locke had a very slight resemblance to David Cassidy). In fact, there was no "group," it was just a bunch of talented session musicians who were guns for hire and decided to put something out themselves. That's how they did it in the old days. And it worked, as this song proves.
Who is she? Nobody knows. But there is endless speculation.
Oh, the other video with the dancing girl is by far the most popular music video from any song released in 1970 and much more popular than the performance video. Well, I'm not absolutely sure of that, but I defy anyone to find me a pure music video deriving from that year that has more views (15 million at last count). Who is the girl? Nobody is sure. There is lots of speculation. The dancing scene comes from a brief clip in an Army Training Film. Yes, a US Army training film. Yes, you read that right. Army. Training Film. I've seen the training film and, no, there are no other dancing girls in it and the only reason you should try to dig it up is if you really want to join the Army. And no, the dancing girl is not listed in the credits.
Now, some people think they know who the dancing girl is. I've seen various names thrown out, such as Kam Nelson, Kameron Nelson Seagren, and various other permutations on the same theme. Others claim that it is just some random WAC soldier named "Marilyn" or some chick they picked up in a bar once back in 'Nam. Nobody, but nobody, is sure.
Finally identified after 51 years! The world is saved! (April Tatro, "Assignment: Earth"). But the girl from the "Love Grows (Where My Rosemary Goes)" video two years later sadly remains unidentified.
But people are interested. I'm sure someone somewhere is hot on the case. Some guy is hunched over his pc right now trying to hack into the US Army database to see if there's a call sheet in some forgotten file from 1970 listing the actresses for that training film. (Oh, you think I'm kidding, some guy finally in 2019 finally dug up a dusty old call sheet from "Star Trek" and cracked the case on who played the cat character in the 1968 episode "Assignment: Earth," I kid you not.) This is the kind of thing that occupies fellows when they're not in the office trying to figure out the right flyby orbit past Mars or cracking the DNA of some Denisovan bones. You think they spend the same amount of time trying to decipher the Voynich Manuscript? Think again!
"Shallow Hal" features "Love Grows" (Where My Rosemary Goes)."
But back to the performance video. They really were shameless back in the day.
Then there are the repeated butt shots, and just to drive the point home they switch to close-up on the final pass.
Word is that this was filmed in the English town of Bristol, but don't hold me to that. The group - the musicians - were English, and some are still active in the business. It was for a tv program, perhaps the 1970 John Byner pop music show "Something Else." But don't hold me to that, either. An awful lot of top songs in those days never had any videos at all, so this one is kind of special.
In those days, they only did music videos (called "promotional films" before MTV) when a band was asked to perform on someone's tv show. Well, unless you were the Beatles, who did them sometimes anyway.
And if that weren't enough, there's the guy with the briefcase about halfway through who gets caught going home for the day, immortalized forever in a music video and he may never even have known it.
Featured only a few years ago in "Shallow Hal," this is one tune that does deserve to be remembered. If you were alive when this was on the charts, you didn't need to be reminded.
Oh heck, here's another version.
And another.
And another take from everyone's fave '70s duo.
So '70s, man. Groovy.
Hey, you in the lower right with the briefcase - you're immortal now!
You're probably saying to yourself, "So what? It's just a photo." Ah, yes it is. But I can find a way to extract something out of it!
Here, we have our favorite green-blooded Vulcan from "Star Trek" as he meets Batman. Yes, that's the original Batman standing there with Leonard Nimoy. For good measure, that is also the original Batgirl, Yvonne Craig, standing with them.
Just as in our photo of Nimoy standing casually with Jonathan Harris, there is something equally fascinating about this photo, which undoubtedly was shot on some studio back lot:
notice that Leonard has his Spock hairdo!
I just find that endlessly fascinating. Nimoy must have spent days or even weeks at a time looking exactly like Spock, on camera and off.
One other oddity about this shot:
Nimoy is wearing the same clothing as when he met Dr. Smith.
The same day and event? Perhaps, though the setting looks a lot different. Maybe there was a "fan appreciation day" or something like that, where they assembled the stars of leading television series of the day. "Star Trek" was made by Desilu for Paramount Television, "Batman" was a 20th Century Fox Television program, and "Lost in Space" also was a 20th Century Fox Television production, so perhaps Nimoy simply was paying the Fox sets a one-day visit.
If you're really good, you realize without my mentioning it that Spock has another connection to Yvonne Craig. Yes, she appeared in one of the classic "Star Trek" episodes, "Whom Gods Destroy." She was Marta, the sexy little mental patient who pointed a phaser at Spock and asked Captain Garth if she could blast off one of his ears. So, she is a member of a very exclusive club, an actress who appeared in both "Batman" and "Star Trek" (and she also dated Elvis and was in his movies, but that's another story). No wonder she's standing between them.
Spock in that episode had this to say about Yvonne's character, who had first seduced Captain Kirk, then tried to kill him:
“She seems to have worked out an infallible method for ensuring permanent male fidelity. Interesting.”
"Star Trek" had a thing for sexy green girls.
One final thought: this was just a photo of a few Hollywood B-actors enjoying their fifteen minutes while appearing in '60s tv shows, right? Well, if you looked them up, you would find that all three of them have credits relatively recently, though all now have passed away (Nimoy in 2015, West in 2017, Craig in 2015).
Leonard Nimoy, active 1954-2014 Adam West, active 1951-2018 Yvonne Craig, active 1957-2011
They have worked in tv and film for well over 50 years, each one of them (Yvonne took a long break to work in real estate, but she's back). Yes, a simple snapshot - of three of the most successful working actors in the business early in their careers.
Anyone who follows any celebrities on twitter - and I only follow a very few - quickly realizes that the One and True Supreme Twitter Celebrity is none other than Captain Kirk himself, William Shatner. The William Shatner Bobble-head.
There's something about Shatner and Twitter that goes together like ham and eggs, or eggs and Canadian bacon, or maple leaves and Toronto. Shatner has taken Twitter and made it into his own personal fiefdom or, dare I say it, Star Trek Enterprise bridge.
This is just one interlude among many for the Shat-man, wherein he decides that his bobblehead is worthy of promotion among his legion of devotees on Twitter. No, I am not promoting Mr. Shatner or his bobblehead, I just think this is hysterical that he is so comfortable with Twitter that he casually takes a picture of himself in his office, wearing what appears to be a rough tee-shirt, holding his bobblehead with what can only be described as an impish grin.
For the record, I think the bobblehead in the car has something to do with his famous Priceline classic commercial with Kaley Cuoco of "The Big Bang Theory."
Anyway, Shatner is beyond being a good follow on Twitter, he is like the God of Twitter for anyone who is even remotely a fan.
I just wanted to share this. My blog, believe it or not, isn't all about me. I just share what I find amusing and interesting, and hope others do, too.
This is part of my "worlds in collision" series. It also features Spock meeting Batman and Batgirl, which you should look at, too, because you'll see there an interesting connection to this shot.
This is just a fairly random snapshot of a couple of guys, Leonard Nimoy meeting Jonathan Harris, and a couple of kids. Nothing special. However, anyone who knows me at all understands that I am one of the world's biggest "Lost in Space" fans. Well, okay, Bill Mumy no doubt knows more about the show than me - but I'm trying.
Strangely enough, this is the only photograph that I can find of Jonathan Harris and Leonard Nimoy together. This despite the fact that they played breakout character parts at the same studio at the same time in the 1960s. They must have run into each other at the Commissary and so forth, but I haven't been able to dig up any other photographs.
Another picture of Leonard Nimoy from the same event with an unidentified woman.
And I like the original "Star Trek," too. So this picture is like catnip.
Anyway, this is a classic behind-the-scenes photo. Jonathan Harris was famous among his young fans for being generous with his time with them, giving them lollipops and guided tours of the set. It appears they are standing at some kind of tourist entrance. If that isn't cool, then I don't know what cool is.
Jonathan Harris.
The fact that this is the actors on their own time - not in their current roles - is what makes this such a classic shot. It speaks volumes.
Another picture that was taken at the same meeting, but unfortunately Jonathan has been (mostly) cut out of this one.
I will just point out a few fascinating (to me) aspects about the shot, then I will leave it go:
Jonathan Harris has a classic Dr. Smith expression on his face and, ever the major ham is playing to the camera as only he could despite the fact that everyone else has been distracted by something else. That's focus!
Leonard Nimoy is gazing off into the distance for some reason, he - and his character - never being known as a ham of any variety.
Leonard Nimoy HAS ON HIS SPOCK HAIRDO while on his own time!
Leonard Nimoy DOES NOT have his ears on, which is a shame.
The little boy is wearing a medallion - can you say "1968"?
Leonard Nimoy is too cool for school, with that turtleneck shirt.
Jonathan Harris, on the other hand, is dressed impeccably, necktie, cufflinks and all.
The one boy has a weird expression on his face as he looks in the same direction as everyone else, perhaps mama is telling him to smile or something.
The heavy coats suggest winter, probably winter 1967/68 (Harris has that "final season" look about him.
I'm guessing that the button on the boy's lapel indicates he paid for the tour.
The front boy's haircut was very "with it" for the time, long was still for hippies.
Jonathan Harris is drinking tea, which is totally cool - I'm a major tea drinker.
The boys almost certainly are brothers - note the similar coats and shirts.
Leonard Nimoy has his wedding ring on - he was at roughly the halfway point in his marriage to Sandi Nimoy.
Both Leonard Nimoy and Jonathan Harris were of Russian Jewish descent, and if you look closely, you can kind of see a general resemblance.
Leonard Nimoy did have two children at that time, but one was a girl, so these aren't his kids.
Leonard Nimoy stated in his autobiography that he was an alcoholic at this point in time.
Jonathan Harris also was married, though you can't see his ring. Married for 30 years at this time, in fact. Stayed married for another 35 years, one of the most successful marriages in Hollywood history. That is ironic, considering some of the malicious lies told about him over the years.
Jonathan Harris answered every fan letter personally, 500 a month right up until the time of his death, from young fans like this. 500! Personally! Every month! For 35 years! OMG!
Jonathan Harris appears to be holding a Burberry raincoat.
Seriously, can you imagine any actor these days dressing up to the nines like Jonathan Harris did on a regular basis? That was still standard for the day among businessmen, it wasn't just some pretentious Hollywood thing. He didn't have to, but men didn't usually think that way in those days. That's just how things were, people didn't start getting sloppy in public until the mid-70s.
This may have been taken at the same event. Note the stamp-pad and stamper, perhaps Leonard was doing some kind of autograph session.
If anything, Leonard Nimoy's outfit is a bit on the wild side by the standards of the day, with the blazer and no necktie.
All right, I'm done. For now. "Spare me the poisonous barbs."
Miley Cyrus meets Star Trek. Look, there are times to act all cool (which for me is never), and then there are times to absolutely revel in your inner Nerd. This is one of those latter times for me. If you're not a Star Trek fan, just mosey on over to another page, please, this has to be done, and it has to be done here and now. Yes, whoever made this deserves an award.
In 1975, Bobby "Boris" Pickett recorded a novelty spoof on the original "Star Trek" called "Star Drek" with Peter Ferrara. Pickett, who was famous for the truly monster hit "Monster Mash" in 1962. Pickett performed some of the various voices, which was played on Dr. Demento's radio show for many years.
I realize this is pretty weird stuff, but it's amusing on all sorts of levels if you are a "Star Trek" fan. And I love the nice touches of the period NBC logos before and after! The campy over-use or misuse or whatever you want to call it off the melodramatic background score also is a winner.
Like a, um, bonus, below is the "original" version from 1992, before the digital era. It isn't as polished, but it is kind of clever in its own right, featuring actual clips from the original show. Must have taken a lot of effort to stitch this together from videotape!
Life Lessons from Star Trek: What to Do When in Trouble
Why didn't I think of that?
Jean-Luc Picard, our hero. "Okay, Number Wan, REVERSE THE POLARITY. Now, don't reverse it too much. You know, just a little. No, a bit more than that. I think we need a bit more of that polarity sweetness, Number Wan. Look, do I have to actually point my finger and say 'Make it so.' All right, Make it So. NO, NO, that's TOO MUCH, aaaarrrrghhhhh, we're all gonna die!!!!!!"
I know I am speaking to a select crew here, but you know who you are. Not everybody celebrates Christmas, or New Year's, or Passover, or anything like that.
For those unfamiliar with Gorn Day, it is the annual celebration of the single best villain in science fiction history.
Yes, that includes you-know-who and how-can-a-Gorn-possibly-top-that-one.
It even includes you-can't-possibly-be-serious-he's-much-better-as-a-villain. None of those guys stand a chance against the Gorn.
The Gorn made his first epic appearance in "The Arena," the classic "Star Trek" episode in which Captain Kirk blew the lumbering, sardonic reptilian alien straight back to his mother ship.
As seen in "The Arena" (kindly disregard all inferior later depictions except that in "Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure"), a Gorn is strong, brutal, merciful and quick.
"Kirk, hisssss, here's your Gorn Day present, hissss, hehehehe."
He also is slow as molasses and about as agile as a rock. Thankfully, he posed with a said rock just for us.
"I love you, too. May I suggest some Scope? Ow!"
Each Gorn day is to be celebrated with gifts, one-legged races, bear-hugging, boulder-throwing, mortar fire, and general frivolity.
Wearing of a toga is strictly optional unless you are a Metron. In that case, it is mandatory.
"Kirk... hisssss.... Where'd you go.... hissss.... Oh."
When participating, kindly pick up your very own Gorn Costume from your local Star Fleet shop.
"I hate days like this."
Many consider "Arena" the best Star Trek episode ever made.
Why not? It displays Jim Kirk at his finest.
Kirk uses martial arts tricks that definitely haven't been invented yet.
In fact, it will be amazing if they're invented by the 23rd Century, too.
But whatever methods that he uses, Captain Kirk always finds a way.
Even if at times Kirk is vulnerable, he never gives up.
And if his boulders don't even make the Gorn slow down, well, there's always a bigger boulder.
So yes, "Arena" by far is the best Star Trek episode ever made, in any series, in any Galaxy.
