Happy 96th, De—a cowboy in and out of Starfleet

Especially this week... if it was ever a secret how I felt about DeForest Kelley and his
creations, and indeed his life, it is no longer—thanks most recently to The Red Shirt Diaries.

It used to be lonely being a vocal De fan—not so much for any negatives for him, but purely for any attention at all. Yet now, with every year that goes by I see more and more appreciation for his long-understated role in the original Star Trek success chemistry...as well as his other roles, including those delicious bad guys.

If you have been a Treklander here for any length of time, you likely know I take a moment on Jan. 20 each year to celebrate De's day by sharing a photo from his life and career. And while many know of all De's TV and film Western roles before Star Trek, in that genre's heydey, few know of those he had after Trek's 1969 cancellation.

And thus comes this year's portrait: Taken during a guest appearance on ABC's short-lived series The Cowboys... In 1974—just five years after Trek's demise. It was the last sojourn in spurs of his career—but boy, De's time in outer space did not dull his feel for the wide open spaces. Don't you think?

Happy 94th, Gene: Would you have been @trekmaker?

Gene Roddenberry would have been 94 today. I could just leave you here with this simple, backyard LA Times photo I came across (at right, with the now-missing three-foot 1964 Big E).... or reiterate some thoughts I had a few years back about "GR" and me and us ...

We've had so much fill in in recent years for rank-and-file fans on the full story of the "godhood" versus all the man's human's foibles.... much less the workhorses who also brought the Star Trek vision about: Bob Justman, Dorothy Fontana, Gene Coon, Matt Jefferies, and more ... then Harve Bennett and Nick Meyer who popped up the movies so that Rick Berman and Michael Piller could come along and restart the sequel machine...and many more with them all.

But I've been thinking lately about Gene, and what he would have been like living in a 24/7 social media world. I think he would have loved the chaos and messiness, but most of all loved the empowerment of fans, the increased communication and the increasing channels of fan creativity—even as the holders of the copyright deal with it as a monster of popularity and thoughtfulness and try to let that leashed beast run as freely as possibly.

He may have been a visionary, but he did know how to access and wield some pretty powerful hands-on tools. He saw a paradigm or two come along in his own life as media monopoly power broke up for TV content and delivery, and would be delighted that even so many more options exist now for producers and their ideas.

Most of all, I believe the vibrant, sprawling geek-is-mainstream sensibility he helped ignite would just tickle him. I'm betting.

What about you? How do you see Gene Roddenberry today, after all we now know and measure since the early days?

De-Day 2015: I'm an actor, not a doctor! OR a cowboy.

If it's January 20, it must be my annual, personal tribute —as it has since this blog began—to my guy, Jackson DeForest Kelley, who would have been 95 today. Wow.

Don't need to say much more than what I've said in past years... aside from the groundswell of Kelley fandom that seems to be shaping up everywhere (perhaps, not coincidentally, since THIS first happened).

In any case, I'll just drop this year's edition here. You're welcome.

De with Susan Hayward, getting out of the haybarns and hitchin' posts for once, co-starring with her and Bette Davis in 1966's Where Love Has Gone (and thanks, once again, Sue Keenan):

Happy birthday, Grace Lee! Remember 1979?

A very special shout-out of birthday greetings today to the one and only Grace Lee Whitney, and the incredibly heroic life and career she's had many times over.

So, how about a Throwback "Tuesday" to celebrate? Here's the cover to her 45 rpm she had at Tex-Con 1979, Dallas (right).... and to my knowledge, this pic (below) and its set have never been published anywhere before—from that same con, just after she helped judge the costume contest and tried to console an entrant who lost out to the fad Rocky Horror skin-baring babes:

 Don't forget that Rand got into the officer corps and rose to commander's rank, at least, with Captain Sulu's Excelsior crew. And Grace, of course, is still chatting with fans just now coming to Star Trek at the Vegas Khaaaan and others when she can.


Do you have a fave Rand moment on the screen—or a Grace Lee memory from real life to share?

It's birthday boy Grant "Sulu" Imahara during "Lolani," the 2013 Star Trek Continues shoot for Episode 2!

Grant Imahara has a been a real hoot to know and work with amid my ongoing connection with Star Trek Continues ever since the pilot episode, and during the shoot for Episode 2 "Lolani" in 2013 his one day on set actually fell on his Oct. 23 birthday. (Note that this is just a couple days before my infamous "Cure" moment, and my voice is already suffering from Travel Crud.)

But Grant is in fine form, as you can tell by our quick vidgab (below the fold), filmed between takes and amidst the chaos. Watch for my shot of the moment when Sulu turned back into Mythbuster Grant and he tried to troubleshoot a stuck Suluscope (I always called it the "Viewmaster") ...along with a peek at the creatively-"sculpted" Enterprise birthday cake Grant was presented later that night.

As the world will see, Grant has a notable moment in Episode 3 of Star Trek Continues, coming in summer 2013. I missed seeing him during that shoot, so I guess it was a good thing I "saved" him back in Episode 1, eh?

And if all this "Continues" talk is new to you, what are you waiting for? Go here to see STC prior episodes on YouTube or Vimeo... and "like" the Facebook page as well to keep up with news of the latest stuff. And, yes, our Kirkstarter is indeed over with success.

Happy birthday, Jimmy—we do miss you

You would have been 94 today.

So many accolades are already out there, but here's my simple one today:

I was a friend, late... but a fan always.

Nobody takes the newbies under the arm like you did:

—outside Bochum, Germany, October 1995

Happy birthday, De—94 and still so young!

As is our habit over the years here at Trekland, we always mark the birthday of my favorite of them all, DeForest Kelley, and share some of our stack of De non-Trek images.

And this year, a twist: A full-page spotlight from, as you can see, a 1948 Hollywood movie star fan magazine—around the time of Variety Girl and just after his debut in Fear in the Night. (And I bet that life lifelong friend, the late great A.C. Lyles, help cobble the text together for the mag in his guise as a Paramount publicist.) Note that even here, they don't include his first name "Jackson" before his other two when listing his "real name."

As if it was possible to up my feelings any more, you all know the past year has put me into an even closer relationship with De and his legacy by twice playing McCoy for Star Trek Continues, and the study actually gave me an appreciation for the darker sides of both actor and his role that I never considered as a fan. Just know that even though I've stepped back from the role now, I'll never step back from my appreciation of his understated performance legacy, the real-world path that De and McCoy both climbed in Star Trek, and the effect they had in getting me mixed up in this crazy franchise.

So once again, raise a glass of Finagle's Folly to De, or even a mint julep, and enjoy:

Happy birthday, Armin!—and check out this comedy's Kickstarter video

Armin and I during the 2007 Writer's Guild strike "Trek Day"

Yes, happy birthday today to a great actor, scholar, novelist, genre fan, union guy, Ferengi—and the man who first opened the door for us on opening night at Quark's!

Our best greetings to Armin Shimerman — who I hear also made a wicked recurring name for himself as Principal Snyder on  Buffy and tunneldweller Pascal on Beauty and the Beast).

While we wish him well today and I have your attention, check him out with Harry "Tam Elbrun/Nathan Samuels" Groener in this YouTube for a Kickstarter campaign on a hilarious indie comedy they and a host of genre names are involved with—Armin's wife Kitty, Barry Bostwick, many more ... and co-created and produced by Gabriel Diani, the guy who portrayed Spock to straight comic perfection in the tiny yet brilliant and even licensed 2004 production of "Spock's Brain" at an OC comedy club. How many in-jokes can you count? And this is just one of a dozen shorts featuring a lot of familiar faces in the film and, uh, "dry" wit... it's Diani & Devine Meet The Apolcalypse:

Now that I have my own attention free to look at other projects, I hope you all check out all the many cute vids and make a donation—a lot of your favorite actors are helping Gabe and Etta out with their project. Gabe even does a great turn in one as young sarcastic Mark Twain on the Internets machine ...

Happy birthday, Marina—what a great (NCIS) present!

Yes, it's been a great week for Marina Sirtis—and not just for a HAPPY BIRTHDAY shout-out today:

Congrats to her on the news this week that she's signed on to play the new fictional head of Mossad, the Israeli intelligence agency, on CBS's venerable top-draw show NCIS.

Her first episodes are set to air in April, so she should be safely full of tales too tell by the time we next cross paths with fans at Sun City Sci-Fi in El Paso April 26-28.

Marina answered my brief congrats this week with a quick email: "I'm stoked!" And for her it's not about just any new role:  Playing the head of the infamous spy agency is a far cry from Deanna Troi—and that's exactly the campaign that the beautiful Marina has been on with casting dfirectors lately: excising the memory of the iconic but soft, sensitive Starfleet counselor we all love, which can be maddening to expand an acting resume.

In fact, the news brought to mind a discussion she and I had on TREKLAND video back in 2009—ironically also filmed around her birthday, in Italy—where she recalls how thrilled she was to pay a bitchy prison matron, a role won only after her campaign to let the director know she was way more than Troi. Here's the fun little pre-HD clip (especially at 3:30), for all you newbies since then:

Happy birthday De: even belatedly, a special wish

Ever since I launched TREKLAND a few years back, I always make it a point to mark at least one Trekland birthday every year, out of all the many involved: my own personal fave, our own DeForest Kelley—and do it by sharing a photo from the file I collected from friends after his death in 1999.

This year, I am a day late—but I hope not a dollar short. In fact, this year of all years it's been a bittersweet personal moment for me after all the younger years feelings for De and his iconic role among roles... then meeting him as a fan, and then meeting him as a colleague—though for all too short a time.

And now, to know him as an item of research of sorts: playing McCoy, on short notice, in the debut full episode of Star Trek Continues, as I tweeted and Facebook'd a couple days ago on the run.  It's a labor of love that must also be real work, fitted in on a month's notice amid other new cramped deadlines—though I'd like to think I've been doing the research by osmosis all along.

So it's not only a belated birthday wish—but one made on the road, to boot. Even so, I wanted to share a photo—and this one, a Trek topic from the second season, will bear special meaning, as I'll share eventually: ...and my big thanks to trekcore.com for being the online site that had it handy where I could find it on short notice!

Happy birthday, De—I hope somewhere, somehow, you know why I'm late...and accept it as a gift in spirit.

Happy birthday, Harve Bennett!

And the Trek birthdays just keep coming this week!

So today we have to stop and bid greetings to our buddy Harve Bennett at 82, whom we had the pleasure and privilege of interviewing in his home for The Con of Wrath—and many other topics from his career—after we'd made mutual promises to do so for years.  You folks at our meetup-fundraiser at cons all this year have gotten sneak-peeks at Harve's insight and sense of humor.

So, let's see, Bjo Trimble is the "lady who saved Star Trek"... and the "man who saved Star Trek" I believe can be equally parsed between Michael Piller, for settling down TNG's core writing into a spinoff-bearing hit as the '90s dawned, and his predecessor, Harve: who made The Wrath of Khan soar as producer, especially after coaxing writer-director Nick Meyer aboard, and ensure movie sequels that might then begat TV sequels. (JJ Abrams, it can be argued, is on deck and might snare the co-title, with more hindsight still to pass.)

Here's to Harve—and the memorable local Fat Tires we shared over a year ago!

Hey, it's also Michael Westmore's birthday too: Visit his home

Heaven forbid, Treklanders, that all these years of rightly celebrating March 22 as The TNG-film era makeup genius, Michael Westmore. Happy 74th!
Shat's birthday have also taken a chunk of the spotlight away from one of our other notables )and a nice guy to boot): the modern TV and

It always pops up from anyone who talks about him, but Michael has always been both a great friend and an open resource for all my projects, from the TNG days onward, and I treasure that.

In fact, he was one of the early boosters of TREKLAND the blog, and gave us a tour of his house in prep for his upcoming family Walk of Fame star ceremony back in the fall of 2008.

So, to celebrate today, let's go back to the archives and pre-HD days, since many of you just finding TREKLAND may not have been around in the early months (although it still sits right here, along with dozens of other videos). Enjoy!

Happy birthday, Bill: What NOT to get The Shat (video)

At 81, he will keep running right through those years one by one right up until the moment he simply can't run (or drop-and-roll) any more.

Yes, it feels as if everyone the world over today is singing happy birthday greetings to our newest one-man roadshow star, William Shatner.

But that's about all they can do. I mean, what do you get The Man who has everything?

For one thing, he certainly doesn't need to get A LIFE:




By the way—and without any intent to imply a copyright holding on the NBC video involved— that 1986 SNL sketch had more to do with promoting the current image of the "fanboy" ... and away from the female-driven, zine-writing/con-throwing FEMALE fan icon that first emerged in Trek fandom from the 70s. …

..and that—pssst!—never really ever went away!

So, today's true birthday gift to us all is that the old pizza-faced basement-dweller meme has morphed back into:
—... the Geek Revolution
—… the Geek Girl "movement" (though she's always been there)
—… and The Big Bang Theory being viewable on three or four channels every day, laughing all the way to the bank.

A birthday "salute" to Jimmy Doohan

James "Scotty" Doohan would have been 92 today, already nearly seven years after his passing in 2005.







In honor of his birthday I'll not only share his widow Wende's tweet earlier today, from just after midnight ...

... but also these items she shared with us during our recent shoot for THE CON OF WRATH, since Wende was very much there for that infamous Houston weekend, along with their two  boys Eric and Thomas.

These are Jimmy's framed World War II medals, beginning with the D-Day landings among the Canadians who took Juno Beach, one of five from "the world's longest day"—and where Jimmy famously lost his right middle finger. And in this setting, they surround a photo of the handsome buck in uniform! Thanks again Wende, and thanks for sharing; I thought it would make a nice remembrance today.

We'll have a Trekland "Switching to Visual" chat with Wende up soon.

Happy birthday, De!

Yep, it's that time again: One of our traditions here at TREKLAND is remembering Jackson DeForest Kelley every year on his day ... Happy 92, De!

And not just his Star Trek days. As in, here he is as another of his patented Western baddies, playing head henchman Wexler in John Sturges' The Law and Jake Wade, starring Richard Widmark and Robert Taylor in 1958.

Happy Birthday, Gene: You look much younger than 90!

Gene would have been 90 today.

I call him Gene, sure. Although, unlike so many other Trekland friends and colleagues I've met and worked with since moving to L.A. in 1994, I only met him once. On my first visit to Paramount, ever...and when, so naively, I still took the "no cameras" studio signs seriously. I can recite the memory, and his graciousness in thanking me for my concordances for the writers, like it was yesterday. But I will never have the cool "Gene and me" pic to post here. Today, this one will have to do (from a pre-TNG film start party.)

But through all of my Trek buds who were there every day, before he passed ... and their stories ... and through Majel, and now Rod ... I can call him Gene.

Not in a name-dropperly way, but in a purely familiar way: Ironic, given my earlier statement. But he has shared so much, and inspired so many, that I think I can claim it. As can you. We all "know" Gene—from both his words and his actions. And yes, some of them proved he had only too-human failings, as well.

And, yes, so much of Star Trek has been written and developed by others ... from Dorothy Fontana and Gene Coon to Matt Jefferies and Bob Justman, Bill Theiss and Wah Chang, Fred Phillips and Jerry Finnerman, Vince McEveety and Marc Daniels ... and Herb Solow's salesmanship, yep .... and oh yeah, all those actor guys and gals, too.  And all their descendants. But none of it would be here, in this way ... inspiring still-record passion from cosplaying con-goers and armchair fans alike ... without Gene.

Remember too that he was a decorated Army Air Force B-17 bomber vet, a PanAm pilot who saved his passengers after crashlanding in the Syrian desert, and an LAPD cop—field, motorcycle, and desk. Much less a guy who tried to "grow up" television—where of course I'm talkin' 'bout a controversial little show called .....

The Lieutenant.

(Gotcha! Look it up.
And only later came Pike, a Martian named Spock, and the notes from Harvey Lynn at JPL ...)

So for all that, we all say: "Happy 90th birthday, Gene! You look young as ever!"

(I could repeat McCoy's penultimate line from The Wrath of Khan, but I'll let you silently recall it and smile to yourself. Or look it up—as you should, if reading this!—and then smile to yourself.)

Happy birthday, Harve—and you can (please) tell him so!

He was the first guy of at least 3 or 4 post-TOS to get the byline "The Man Who Saved Star Trek"—i.e., producing Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan as a budget-minded megahit comeback to The Motion Picture, finding and inviting writer-director Nick Meyer to the fold, and heading the "middle four" TOS movies overall in the '80s.

Now, just two months after he talked on camera for our documentary The Con of Wrath, comes word via wife Jani that Harve Bennett has been admitted to an assisted living center in the week of his birthday, Aug. 17.

BIRTHDAY cards would be the best medicine right now, Jani says, and invites fans from all over to send Harve birthday wishes—even if a few days late. If you saw me on stage at Vegas we passed along the address, but here it is again; Jani did not mind sharing the mail address with everyone:

Harve Bennett
444 Granite Street
Ashland, OR 97520

We'll have a promo clip for The Con of Wrath up soon from the summer cons that includes Harve—so for now, get those cards and cards into the mail. As I say here often, we have 45 years of incredible history to preserve, and pass on to our own "next generation." Here's a chance to say thanks in yet another way.

Happy birthday, De!

All our Star Trek favorites past and present have birthdays worth noting, of course...but as you veteran residents of Trekland know, I indulge my privilege and always take special care to mark the one of our late, great and much-beloved Dr. McCoy Prime—Jackson DeForest Kelley. He would have been 91 today had he not died on June 11, 1999—the first loss of the original regular cast. Jimmy Doohan followed six years later.

Aside from Trek and all those Westerns, here's a still from De's very first feature, a little film noir mystery from 1947 — that's *47* — called Fear in the Night (from Paramount, natch). De plays the lead: a guy who dreams he killed a man, then wakes up with spent bullets in his pocket .... And guys and gals, he's all of 27 here!

Happy Birthday, Nichelle!

On a special day for a special lady, here's a special moment recaptured:

GUESS who is singing THAT song while holding a large model of THAT starship-A?: It's a magic live moment from the under-attended but still amazing Hollywood Xpo!

Happy birthday, De!

Karl Urban was a great find to play the recast "Subprime" Bones, among a brilliant casting job of capturing the essence of all the original crew.

But for a lot of us there's only one face and one name that will always be the Real McCoy. Or Western badasses like "Wexler" from John Sturges' The Law and Jake Wade, in 1958, here with Richard Widmark and Robert Taylor.

Happy birthday, DeForest Kelley. Hardly looks 90, does he?