William Shatner was famous for his ego, which sometimes affected the course of the original Star Trek show, where he played Captain Kirk. It’s also well known that he resented costar Leonard Nimoy (Spock) becoming the fan-favorite. But it’s less well-known that Nimoy had an ego that was just as troublesome. An angry letter that Star Trek creator Gene Roddenberry wrote to the both of them exposes the depth of the tension between them.
Roddenberry understood that actors had egos, and he had a generally permissive attitude towards ego trips. Unusually for the time, Roddenberry ran the show with an open-door policy, allowing everyone involved to have input. But Shatner and Nimoy were abusing these privileges, insisting on more lines, more screentime, and taking dialogue away from their other co-stars.
Roddenberry went to great pains to point out that both men were equally to blame. But it seems that it was Shatner’s behavior that had the biggest negative effects. His letter to the pair of actors, which you can read in full here, is full of choice lines, but the best bit is as follows:
"I want you to realize fully where your fight for absolute screen dominance is taking you. It’s already affecting the image of Captain Kirk on the screen. We’re heading for an arrogant, loud, half-assed Queeg character who is so blatantly insecure upon that screen that he can’t afford to let anyone else have an idea, give an order, or solve a problem. You can’t hide things like that from an audience."
I had to look up the reference: Queeg is Captain Queeg, the arrogant incompetent commander in Herman Wouk’s 1952 novel The Caine Mutiny.
Gene Roddenbury’s letter was at the center of a storied Star Trek grudge
Slashfilm dates Roddenbury’s letter to 1967. It’s the inspiration for the 1968 Star Trek episode The Tholoan Web, where Captain Kirk mysteriously disappears while investigating a derelict Federation ship. In his absence, leadership on the Enterprise breaks down as Spock and Dr. McCoy bicker over how to proceed. Scotty reveals a suspiciously prescient video will left by Kirk that effectively dresses the two down and tells them to work together.
Shatner and Nimoy’s conflicts became a running joke. And though tensions may have de-escalated enough for them to last through three seasons of TV, they simmered back up when the Star Trek movies were being made in the ’80s. Leonard Nimoy directed Star Trek III: The Search For Spock and Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home. Shatner invoked a contract clause dating back to the original series that entitled him to anything that Nimoy had. The result was Shatner directing Star Trek V: The Final Frontier, a notorious flop.
I guess it takes a big ego to be a big star.
To stay up to date on everything fantasy, science fiction, and WiC, follow our all-encompassing Facebook page and sign up for our exclusive newsletter.
Get HBO, Starz, Showtime and MORE for FREE with a no-risk, 7-day free trial of Amazon Channels