Star Trek My Interview With Walter Koeing (Chekov)

WEBVTT
1
00:00:01.000 --> 00:00:04.440
So they call a different paramedic. They come out, and
2
00:00:04.440 --> 00:00:07.719
they rush from the hospital and he survived. Now, if
3
00:00:07.759 --> 00:00:10.880
they would have listened to the first paramedics, the guy
4
00:00:10.960 --> 00:00:11.839
would have been dead.
5
00:00:13.279 --> 00:00:16.399
Oh my, you know what that that remind I wonder
6
00:00:16.399 --> 00:00:18.000
if they went to the same school and got those
7
00:00:18.679 --> 00:00:19.879
nursing diplomas just.
8
00:00:19.839 --> 00:00:23.320
Oh yeah, remember that one. Yeah, you know, for twenty
9
00:00:23.359 --> 00:00:26.320
grand you could get a diploma you're right, and graduate
10
00:00:26.359 --> 00:00:30.399
from accredited college and become a registered nurse. And you
11
00:00:30.440 --> 00:00:32.679
didn't even have to do anything other than pay him.
12
00:00:32.719 --> 00:00:34.640
They got busted, you know that by the FBI.
13
00:00:35.840 --> 00:00:38.719
They should That's scary. You don't wonder how many people
14
00:00:38.880 --> 00:00:42.200
died that shouldn't have died over the years because of this.
15
00:00:42.399 --> 00:00:45.600
That's and right there, perfect example. I mean, come on
16
00:00:45.679 --> 00:00:48.240
the guy's chest moving, What do he thinks? Insight? Your
17
00:00:48.359 --> 00:00:50.560
gases takes more than a few minutes to start.
18
00:00:50.920 --> 00:00:54.640
Well, there's a difference when you're still having breath and breathing,
19
00:00:54.759 --> 00:00:58.759
right yeah, versus gas you know, escaping, you know, and
20
00:00:58.840 --> 00:01:00.799
if any gas is going to the escape is going
21
00:01:00.880 --> 00:01:02.479
to come out of the yanus. This ain't gonna come
22
00:01:02.479 --> 00:01:03.200
out of his mouth.
23
00:01:04.760 --> 00:01:05.519
Is that a planet?
24
00:01:06.400 --> 00:01:09.480
It could be I'm not really sure. A woman says
25
00:01:09.640 --> 00:01:12.680
she claimed to have contact in her house with a ghost,
26
00:01:13.840 --> 00:01:19.280
and when the church sent the minister over, they said, no,
27
00:01:19.560 --> 00:01:25.519
it isn't a ghost, it's a demon. Oh boy, Oh
28
00:01:25.560 --> 00:01:26.480
I'd better watch out.
29
00:01:27.480 --> 00:01:30.400
Yeah, listen, how first of all, it takes more than
30
00:01:30.480 --> 00:01:32.760
just come to say that. She had to do a
31
00:01:32.799 --> 00:01:35.799
lot more investigating. But if it is, they're in for
32
00:01:35.879 --> 00:01:37.920
a handful. Let me tell you, I know well.
33
00:01:37.959 --> 00:01:42.840
A time traveler from twenty eight fifty eight claims this year,
34
00:01:43.640 --> 00:01:47.040
this year, the secret of longer life will be found
35
00:01:47.879 --> 00:01:53.599
this year. So that's going to be a real good
36
00:01:53.599 --> 00:01:54.439
interesting one.
37
00:01:55.239 --> 00:01:57.640
Yeah, that real big good one. Every time we keep
38
00:01:57.719 --> 00:02:00.920
hearing these time travelers that can come and by and
39
00:02:00.959 --> 00:02:03.599
have these predictions, has any ever come true? Though?
40
00:02:03.640 --> 00:02:05.959
Gary, I don't know I heard your phone ring because
41
00:02:06.000 --> 00:02:07.280
that been Walter Bunny Chance.
42
00:02:08.479 --> 00:02:10.360
No, I don't think he has that number.
43
00:02:10.639 --> 00:02:14.759
Okay, Well, another person claims they have a ghost and
44
00:02:14.879 --> 00:02:20.080
their iPod. Can you believe that their iPod is ghostly?
45
00:02:21.360 --> 00:02:23.960
Listen, there's a phrase for we call ghosts and machine.
46
00:02:24.000 --> 00:02:26.840
I've got a stack of that ruined few of myphones
47
00:02:26.840 --> 00:02:28.639
over the years, and tabus trust me.
48
00:02:28.879 --> 00:02:31.039
Well, I'm not talking about a phone. I but you
49
00:02:31.080 --> 00:02:34.240
know this is a game console. Yeah, you better get
50
00:02:34.280 --> 00:02:36.759
that phone and go ahead and mute me. Yeah you know.
51
00:02:37.400 --> 00:02:42.120
Now here's another one that a ghost was captured on
52
00:02:42.199 --> 00:02:47.199
their iPhone and it would be like ghostly images appearing
53
00:02:47.439 --> 00:02:51.280
out of random off this brand new iPhone. Now I'm wondering,
54
00:02:51.759 --> 00:02:54.319
is there such things a ghosts that could get on
55
00:02:55.400 --> 00:02:58.039
your phone? I don't know, or maybe somebody got that
56
00:02:58.120 --> 00:03:01.039
number decided to prank them. I don't know, but I
57
00:03:01.080 --> 00:03:08.159
don't know. Well, a guy in North Carolina died from
58
00:03:08.159 --> 00:03:12.319
prostrate cancer, but they revived him, and when they revived him,
59
00:03:12.360 --> 00:03:17.719
it was something unique. The guy now has a Irish accent,
60
00:03:19.120 --> 00:03:20.719
so that is kind of interesting.
61
00:03:22.360 --> 00:03:24.960
That is, I was caught the tail endo. And anyway,
62
00:03:25.000 --> 00:03:30.159
that was Steve's I mean, Walter's agent. You expecting our
63
00:03:30.199 --> 00:03:31.120
call in a few minutes.
64
00:03:31.240 --> 00:03:34.800
Okay, well see it was important you answered, that, wasn't it?
65
00:03:34.800 --> 00:03:35.400
It was?
66
00:03:35.479 --> 00:03:38.120
It was his agent didn't recognition number. But yeah, anyway,
67
00:03:38.199 --> 00:03:39.960
I told him were calling him in like three minutes.
68
00:03:40.000 --> 00:03:41.080
He said, well let him know.
69
00:03:41.240 --> 00:03:46.039
Okay, well early maya maya. I'm so confused right now,
70
00:03:46.400 --> 00:03:50.080
what day is this? Anyway, the Maya civilization. The Maya
71
00:03:50.120 --> 00:03:54.680
civilization was far more advanced than we ever could realize.
72
00:03:55.039 --> 00:03:59.400
There was over eight hundred Maya settlements worldwide.
73
00:04:00.879 --> 00:04:04.360
Oh yeah, listen, especially all through South America, Central America.
74
00:04:04.400 --> 00:04:05.439
They were all over the place.
75
00:04:06.000 --> 00:04:07.719
Well, if you think you want to go to the
76
00:04:07.840 --> 00:04:11.680
light when you die, maybe John Lear's idea is go
77
00:04:11.759 --> 00:04:14.439
to the darkness, because maybe the light is a trick.
78
00:04:14.599 --> 00:04:17.120
I don't know, but the mystery of the light at
79
00:04:17.160 --> 00:04:22.759
the end of one's tunnel before death may never be solved.
80
00:04:24.600 --> 00:04:27.600
Listen, it may never be. But I think I'm going
81
00:04:27.680 --> 00:04:29.480
to go to the light though, just saying.
82
00:04:29.399 --> 00:04:31.879
Well, yeah, but what do you do when you go
83
00:04:31.959 --> 00:04:36.519
in bed at night? What do you do? You turn
84
00:04:36.600 --> 00:04:37.839
your lights off, don't you.
85
00:04:39.040 --> 00:04:42.240
Well that's well actually actually with the light on. But yeah,
86
00:04:42.279 --> 00:04:43.040
most people do.
87
00:04:43.720 --> 00:04:45.839
Well, I would think, you know a lot of people sleep,
88
00:04:45.879 --> 00:04:48.040
but they're light on, you know, off, I mean, unless
89
00:04:48.079 --> 00:04:49.720
you're like me. You know, you have to turn the
90
00:04:49.759 --> 00:04:51.720
light on when you drop your cell phone because you
91
00:04:51.800 --> 00:04:54.879
never know something could grab you or out of the bed.
92
00:04:56.519 --> 00:04:59.600
Yeah, that's when's the last time you actually picked your
93
00:04:59.600 --> 00:05:00.759
phone up off the floor.
94
00:05:00.959 --> 00:05:03.480
Yes, yesterday actually, but it didn't go under the pit.
95
00:05:05.199 --> 00:05:08.040
Let's see, it probably was daylight too. Inside. Every time
96
00:05:08.040 --> 00:05:09.519
I tell my wife, hey, you know, you got to
97
00:05:09.560 --> 00:05:10.959
turn the light on and get the phone for me,
98
00:05:11.240 --> 00:05:13.399
she gets really upset and she's starting to slug me.
99
00:05:13.480 --> 00:05:16.000
Now I'm starting to slug yet.
100
00:05:16.600 --> 00:05:17.279
My goodness.
101
00:05:17.439 --> 00:05:20.079
Well, the people who are watching this on YouTube, my
102
00:05:20.199 --> 00:05:23.480
wife went and had a hairdo done, and whatever they
103
00:05:23.600 --> 00:05:25.920
used on her hair, this is what she looks like,
104
00:05:28.439 --> 00:05:32.120
so be prepared. That's that's my wife, Linda, who's on
105
00:05:32.199 --> 00:05:36.160
the show on Sundays. Somehow whatever they used to bleach
106
00:05:36.199 --> 00:05:40.759
her hair did more than bleaching her hair. I didn't
107
00:05:40.759 --> 00:05:43.319
see the picture, but it must be awful light, I guess. Yeah,
108
00:05:43.360 --> 00:05:44.079
it's a skeleton.
109
00:05:44.920 --> 00:05:47.560
Oh that was her sitting in that chair.
110
00:05:47.639 --> 00:05:49.720
That was her sitting in Not really, now I gonna
111
00:05:49.720 --> 00:05:50.480
get in trouble with that.
112
00:05:50.839 --> 00:05:52.480
I was gonna say she lost a lot of weight.
113
00:05:52.600 --> 00:05:55.000
Wow. Oh yeah, Well that's because I don't fear her either.
114
00:05:55.279 --> 00:05:57.079
But here you got to think about this. You know,
115
00:05:57.360 --> 00:06:00.199
what do you do do you go to the light there,
116
00:06:00.240 --> 00:06:04.079
you go to the darkness? Light or darkness? I don't know.
117
00:06:04.199 --> 00:06:06.360
I would like to go, you know, and try both
118
00:06:06.399 --> 00:06:06.920
of them out.
119
00:06:08.360 --> 00:06:09.480
Well, aren't you special.
120
00:06:09.519 --> 00:06:11.199
Well, it's like if you go to the store, you know,
121
00:06:11.279 --> 00:06:15.040
and get a refund. You know, hey, you know if
122
00:06:15.040 --> 00:06:18.800
you choose the wrong tunnel, can I get a refund
123
00:06:18.800 --> 00:06:20.519
and go and try the other tunnel?
124
00:06:20.959 --> 00:06:22.199
Yeah? What are you gonna do if they say, well,
125
00:06:22.240 --> 00:06:23.279
you got your receipts or.
126
00:06:23.720 --> 00:06:25.639
I don't know. I'm gonna play a little bit of
127
00:06:25.680 --> 00:06:27.759
music and then let's get Walter around here and have
128
00:06:27.879 --> 00:06:31.279
a good old time talking about well star trek. So
129
00:06:31.680 --> 00:06:34.360
do let's do that, Just do it, let's do it.
130
00:06:41.040 --> 00:06:44.800
He said. He rated very flamboyanty. It was all over
131
00:06:44.839 --> 00:06:49.800
the place. He's waving his arms and rolling his eyes
132
00:06:49.920 --> 00:06:53.560
and do all the things that you didn't do. And
133
00:06:53.600 --> 00:06:58.519
the director really liked it. So I'm just letting you know.
134
00:06:58.720 --> 00:07:03.879
That's where that's where it's thinking is now, Well, this
135
00:07:04.040 --> 00:07:13.560
is the character was a very restrained, very inhibited a character.
136
00:07:15.800 --> 00:07:20.920
And I could not imagine how that the way this
137
00:07:21.240 --> 00:07:26.079
young man read would work and be still and still
138
00:07:26.160 --> 00:07:30.800
have integrity for the writing. So I went back in
139
00:07:30.879 --> 00:07:34.120
on that Friday, and sure enough, the ricer says to me,
140
00:07:34.639 --> 00:07:37.199
instead of reading it the way you did before this time,
141
00:07:37.279 --> 00:07:41.519
you know, run around and temper up them down and
142
00:07:42.120 --> 00:07:44.959
do all sorts of wild stuff. I don't know what
143
00:07:45.079 --> 00:07:49.439
an exact dialogue, the exact way he I can't quote
144
00:07:49.480 --> 00:07:52.040
him directly, but it was something in that order, and
145
00:07:52.079 --> 00:07:55.120
I was really offended. I said, but that's not the
146
00:07:55.160 --> 00:07:58.439
way the character is written. Now, if I didn't know,
147
00:07:58.759 --> 00:08:03.480
if I hadn't known that, this wasn't the director's idea,
148
00:08:03.600 --> 00:08:06.920
this was an actor's idea, I would have tried it,
149
00:08:07.040 --> 00:08:12.040
because you know, you try anything, as as when I
150
00:08:12.120 --> 00:08:16.160
tell you the way I auditioned for a star Trek.
151
00:08:17.720 --> 00:08:21.000
In fact, that socisely what I did, something that was
152
00:08:21.079 --> 00:08:24.560
very bizarre. But this was not called for. And the
153
00:08:24.639 --> 00:08:27.160
fact that it wasn't the rector's idea, it was the
154
00:08:27.240 --> 00:08:30.759
actor's idea, I said, you know, I can't really do that.
155
00:08:31.399 --> 00:08:37.639
I cannot justify this kind of flamboyant flamboyancy when when
156
00:08:37.799 --> 00:08:44.840
when the character is a very inhibited, closed character who
157
00:08:44.919 --> 00:08:47.440
has been taught by the state to have, you know,
158
00:08:48.120 --> 00:08:51.679
deal with life in a special way. So the director
159
00:08:51.720 --> 00:08:55.559
said to me, well, if you're not willing to do it,
160
00:08:55.559 --> 00:08:59.360
then I can't. I can't offer you the role. I said,
161
00:08:59.360 --> 00:09:01.639
I'm willing to. I'm willing to audition the way I
162
00:09:01.720 --> 00:09:04.679
did before, but I, no, I can't do that. So
163
00:09:04.960 --> 00:09:09.320
I walked out of there. I never audition and he
164
00:09:09.399 --> 00:09:12.840
gave the part to the young man now, just as
165
00:09:12.879 --> 00:09:15.759
in a side. And this is the reason why I
166
00:09:15.799 --> 00:09:21.080
didn't mention names. The young man went home for him
167
00:09:21.519 --> 00:09:25.159
with him for the weekend and they spent the weekend together.
168
00:09:26.080 --> 00:09:30.960
Make of that what you will, I won't. I won't
169
00:09:32.200 --> 00:09:36.159
go into more detail than that, but I thought about it.
170
00:09:36.240 --> 00:09:41.559
I thought about the fact that that I and I
171
00:09:41.559 --> 00:09:44.960
didn't get the part after I was so sure because
172
00:09:45.000 --> 00:09:47.600
he was. He seemed so sure that I was right
173
00:09:47.639 --> 00:09:51.519
for it. So I called Joe on Monday and I said, Joe,
174
00:09:52.080 --> 00:09:54.240
you know, can I come in and watch this young
175
00:09:54.279 --> 00:09:59.559
man work. I just think he's so amazing. I want
176
00:09:59.559 --> 00:10:04.080
to see it how he justifies that kind of behavior
177
00:10:04.720 --> 00:10:08.080
on the screen. And he says, oh, you didn't hear,
178
00:10:08.279 --> 00:10:09.519
and I said, I didn't hear.
179
00:10:09.600 --> 00:10:09.679
What?
180
00:10:10.480 --> 00:10:14.120
Well, they postponed that episode. Dean Jagger, who was one
181
00:10:14.120 --> 00:10:18.240
of the regulars on this series, became ill and they
182
00:10:18.559 --> 00:10:22.039
and he was very much involved in that episode. So
183
00:10:22.120 --> 00:10:25.320
they decided to do it another time, and they're not
184
00:10:25.399 --> 00:10:30.519
going to shoot it this week. I said, oh okay,
185
00:10:30.799 --> 00:10:33.399
so you know the page is slide. The months go by,
186
00:10:34.519 --> 00:10:38.120
Joe calls me back up and says they're ready to shoot.
187
00:10:38.159 --> 00:10:41.240
Now Dean Jagger is back. We have a new director
188
00:10:41.320 --> 00:10:45.360
and he'd like to see you. His name is Michael O'Hurley.
189
00:10:45.799 --> 00:10:49.159
If you're an older, older fan, you remember his brother,
190
00:10:49.279 --> 00:10:52.480
Dan O'Hurley. He who was an actor for many years,
191
00:10:53.000 --> 00:10:57.200
very successful actor. So I came back and Michael, and
192
00:10:57.240 --> 00:11:01.919
Michael is European. And when I tell you that, I
193
00:11:01.960 --> 00:11:09.279
read one line, one line that's not an exaggeration, and
194
00:11:09.320 --> 00:11:12.320
the director said, okay, thank you. You got the role.
195
00:11:13.960 --> 00:11:17.399
So Dean Jacker couldn't do the part when they when
196
00:11:17.639 --> 00:11:20.639
they were ready to shoot, he was now available a
197
00:11:20.679 --> 00:11:24.120
new director. I read one line and I got the role.
198
00:11:24.759 --> 00:11:29.080
So I played on the Cenovak with the Russian accent.
199
00:11:29.879 --> 00:11:33.559
I played the part of Alexi and it was it
200
00:11:33.600 --> 00:11:37.000
was successful. In fact, the other actors didn't approach me.
201
00:11:37.480 --> 00:11:39.360
I think, I said, thought I was Russian, and I
202
00:11:39.480 --> 00:11:43.360
didn't think I understood English, and that I was just
203
00:11:44.000 --> 00:11:47.000
I had memorized, you know, I had memorized it shonetically.
204
00:11:49.320 --> 00:11:55.600
So this is a capriciousness, and the and the screwiness
205
00:11:55.679 --> 00:11:59.360
of being an actor. I mean, I'm sure it happens
206
00:11:59.399 --> 00:12:03.039
another and other professions as well, but certainly this was
207
00:12:03.200 --> 00:12:06.919
an extraordinary event. So okay, the years passed. That was
208
00:12:07.000 --> 00:12:12.600
nineteen sixty three, I think, or nueteen sixty four. Star
209
00:12:12.679 --> 00:12:16.360
Trek is casting this new part for the second season.
210
00:12:16.879 --> 00:12:21.240
His name is Jones. And why is his name Jones?
211
00:12:21.919 --> 00:12:27.000
Because the character is supposed to be like Davy Jones.
212
00:12:27.360 --> 00:12:30.919
They saw the success of the Monkeys and decided that
213
00:12:30.960 --> 00:12:34.519
they wanted a character that would appeal to the little kids,
214
00:12:34.559 --> 00:12:39.159
the young girls, to the letter writing, the pencil writing
215
00:12:39.720 --> 00:12:45.879
line paper girls that were out there. So I came
216
00:12:45.919 --> 00:12:50.759
in and again the part was self evident what they
217
00:12:50.840 --> 00:12:54.919
wanted it was. The lines were very, very serious, and
218
00:12:54.960 --> 00:13:03.320
they were on the pretty much like kept in the ship.
219
00:13:03.399 --> 00:13:06.919
He's about to we explode? What are we going to do?
220
00:13:08.000 --> 00:13:11.799
And I read it. I read it with much intensity
221
00:13:12.120 --> 00:13:17.799
and drama as I felt the part called for, and
222
00:13:18.879 --> 00:13:27.039
the roar of enthusiasm was totally absent. There was dead
223
00:13:27.120 --> 00:13:29.840
challenge in the room, and I said, what did I
224
00:13:29.879 --> 00:13:35.679
do wrong? I thought, and Jeane Rodenberry, I believe it
225
00:13:35.720 --> 00:13:38.240
was gene Rodenberry. He said to me, you know that
226
00:13:38.399 --> 00:13:42.919
was okay, Walter, but can you make it funny? Now
227
00:13:42.960 --> 00:13:47.919
that's preposterous. There's nothing in the dialogue that makes it funny.
228
00:13:48.559 --> 00:13:52.519
But this was coming from the director. This was somebody's
229
00:13:52.639 --> 00:13:58.639
asking me to imitate another actor. And although I felt
230
00:13:58.720 --> 00:14:05.200
thought it was quite extraordinary and totally logical, I'm an
231
00:14:05.240 --> 00:14:08.039
actor and there was a challenge in front of me.
232
00:14:08.759 --> 00:14:12.799
And I had, you know, been to drama school and
233
00:14:12.840 --> 00:14:16.679
we had given exercises where we were asked to do
234
00:14:16.759 --> 00:14:22.720
things that were you know, that were that were exercises
235
00:14:22.759 --> 00:14:27.879
that were that did not fit a particular character. So
236
00:14:28.080 --> 00:14:30.279
you know, you read the dictionary or whatever it is
237
00:14:30.279 --> 00:14:33.559
that they asked you to do as part of as
238
00:14:33.679 --> 00:14:38.360
part of your training. So this time, when I read it,
239
00:14:38.440 --> 00:14:42.360
I said, Kip dean case what she is about to
240
00:14:42.399 --> 00:14:46.279
blow up? And they loved it. I laughed and laughed
241
00:14:46.279 --> 00:14:47.080
and they loved it.
242
00:14:47.399 --> 00:14:49.759
Now I got to jump in here, I got, Walter,
243
00:14:49.840 --> 00:14:52.840
I got to jump into They wanted you, right, they
244
00:14:52.919 --> 00:14:57.399
wanted you to look like Davy Jones right from the Monkeys, right. Okay,
245
00:14:57.879 --> 00:15:00.159
I'm surprised they didn't hand you electric guitar.
246
00:15:02.840 --> 00:15:05.399
Well, good thing they didn't because I couldn't play it.
247
00:15:05.879 --> 00:15:08.320
Well, you know what William Shatner could. You could have
248
00:15:08.320 --> 00:15:10.720
faked it, and William Shatner could actually fake singing.
249
00:15:12.440 --> 00:15:19.159
Well, how liberally are you going to describe what he
250
00:15:19.240 --> 00:15:20.000
does his singing?
251
00:15:20.399 --> 00:15:23.159
That's what I said. I said he could fake doing
252
00:15:23.200 --> 00:15:24.440
what with the singing?
253
00:15:25.440 --> 00:15:31.279
Yeah? Okay, But the whole point was they didn't want
254
00:15:31.279 --> 00:15:33.360
me to play that way the way I read it,
255
00:15:35.360 --> 00:15:37.480
you know, comically, but they wanted to see if I
256
00:15:37.480 --> 00:15:40.480
had a sense of humor. They wanted to see if I,
257
00:15:40.480 --> 00:15:45.120
if you know, I could embrace a scene where he
258
00:15:45.200 --> 00:15:49.399
was kind of on the funny sign. So that was fine,
259
00:15:50.120 --> 00:15:58.919
and I fulfill that request. And there was only one
260
00:15:58.960 --> 00:16:01.320
other actor that they brought in to read for it,
261
00:16:02.279 --> 00:16:05.720
an actor who I was competitive with it. We had
262
00:16:05.759 --> 00:16:10.000
gone up on on the same part on different shows.
263
00:16:10.159 --> 00:16:13.360
And mostly it was Joe di Augusta who brought us in.
264
00:16:13.600 --> 00:16:16.919
Joe brought me in from Misenovak, and he brought me
265
00:16:16.960 --> 00:16:19.559
in for Star Trek, and he brought this other actor
266
00:16:19.600 --> 00:16:22.559
in for Star Trek. So I was waiting in the
267
00:16:22.759 --> 00:16:24.559
and they told me to sit and wait, and so
268
00:16:24.639 --> 00:16:28.399
I waited in the idle office while he went in
269
00:16:28.480 --> 00:16:33.679
after me. Near the entered Jean's office, they read him
270
00:16:33.720 --> 00:16:36.639
and then nothing happened. I just sat there, and I
271
00:16:36.720 --> 00:16:45.200
sat there, and nobody came out. Uh, there was nothing
272
00:16:45.240 --> 00:16:48.840
going on. An hour passed more than an hour past
273
00:16:48.919 --> 00:16:50.759
when I when I say the sun began to go
274
00:16:50.840 --> 00:16:55.279
down on not exaggerating, and when I didn't know that
275
00:16:55.320 --> 00:16:58.440
there was in There was a door in Jean's office
276
00:16:58.679 --> 00:17:03.600
to the corridor, as well as a door to the
277
00:17:03.679 --> 00:17:06.680
carridor from the outer office where I was sitting. And
278
00:17:06.759 --> 00:17:10.920
after the other actor had read, they all left through
279
00:17:11.079 --> 00:17:14.960
Jean's office into the carter and they walked past the
280
00:17:15.000 --> 00:17:18.640
office where I was sitting, and nobody thought to come
281
00:17:18.680 --> 00:17:23.200
and tell me anything. So I'm just sitting there, and
282
00:17:23.960 --> 00:17:29.680
literally it was about two hours and a wardrobe guy
283
00:17:29.759 --> 00:17:34.799
comes in and asks me what my name is, and
284
00:17:34.839 --> 00:17:37.519
I tell him, and I don't even think he acknowledged that.
285
00:17:37.559 --> 00:17:41.799
He just beckoned me to follow him, and we walked
286
00:17:41.799 --> 00:17:47.519
out of him building and into the wardrobe building, and
287
00:17:47.599 --> 00:17:50.720
he dropped to his knees, listed my hand to God,
288
00:17:51.359 --> 00:17:54.920
and he put his hand on my crutch. What I
289
00:17:54.960 --> 00:18:00.039
didn't notice initially was that he had a.
290
00:17:58.559 --> 00:18:02.279
Clause dropping out. I don't wonder if it's Skype.
291
00:18:03.559 --> 00:18:06.160
Yeah, it was pretty warm, it was pretty wild. Had
292
00:18:06.200 --> 00:18:07.200
a cloth ruler.
293
00:18:08.319 --> 00:18:14.160
Okay, Walter, we just lost your signal. Is your microphone
294
00:18:14.200 --> 00:18:17.000
covered up? Or did we just lose the signal? Here?
295
00:18:18.319 --> 00:18:18.920
Can you hear me?
296
00:18:18.960 --> 00:18:20.079
Now? Now? I can hear you.
297
00:18:20.880 --> 00:18:23.480
Okay. I did have my fingers over the bottom of
298
00:18:23.480 --> 00:18:23.880
the phone.
299
00:18:24.000 --> 00:18:26.200
I do that. My producer get so mad at me
300
00:18:26.240 --> 00:18:28.359
because he'll call me up and he goes, I can't
301
00:18:28.400 --> 00:18:30.319
hear you. I look at oh g I got my
302
00:18:30.359 --> 00:18:33.640
hand over the microphone that that would have been shocking.
303
00:18:34.599 --> 00:18:37.519
So where where did you lose me? Did I? Did? I?
304
00:18:37.799 --> 00:18:41.039
When he when he dropped, Yeah, when he got down
305
00:18:41.079 --> 00:18:42.559
to his knees. Yes, we yeah.
306
00:18:42.799 --> 00:18:45.759
So he was held in his hand, which I didn't
307
00:18:45.799 --> 00:18:49.759
see initially was a cloth ruler, and he proved one
308
00:18:49.880 --> 00:18:54.519
end beginst my crotch, the other one into the to
309
00:18:54.599 --> 00:18:57.680
the to the end of my pant leg and was
310
00:18:57.799 --> 00:19:00.880
measuring and I didn't know that. I said, why what
311
00:19:00.920 --> 00:19:03.200
are you doing? Is why I have to message you
312
00:19:03.240 --> 00:19:08.160
for a costume? Don't die and my hand to the Almighty,
313
00:19:08.680 --> 00:19:12.799
as you believe in such things. That's how I found
314
00:19:12.920 --> 00:19:16.359
I was on Star Trek. The wardrobe guy on his
315
00:19:16.440 --> 00:19:19.680
knees with his hand on my crutch told me I
316
00:19:19.720 --> 00:19:21.200
had cast and Star Trek.
317
00:19:22.079 --> 00:19:25.920
What better way to find out that you got the part?
318
00:19:27.119 --> 00:19:30.000
We could have We could have, you know, taken it further.
319
00:19:30.079 --> 00:19:35.440
But I wasn't. I wasn't that inclination that I.
320
00:19:35.359 --> 00:19:38.400
Get to imagine what you're thinking, like a hand on
321
00:19:38.440 --> 00:19:38.960
your crouch.
322
00:19:39.000 --> 00:19:41.440
And then it was very weird. It was very weird.
323
00:19:42.200 --> 00:19:46.279
Yeah, and then you got the part. I tell you
324
00:19:46.279 --> 00:19:49.359
you know here you were check off. Okay. And my
325
00:19:49.519 --> 00:19:53.119
wife was a big fan of Star Trek. She is
326
00:19:53.319 --> 00:19:56.279
still to this day, and she, you know, she had
327
00:19:56.319 --> 00:19:59.480
a crush on you, my wife when she was in
328
00:19:59.519 --> 00:20:03.920
high school, see how a crush on you. She always
329
00:20:03.920 --> 00:20:06.839
said you were better looking than David Joe, Davy Joe.
330
00:20:07.640 --> 00:20:10.240
We looked much different, by the way. I didn't meet
331
00:20:10.319 --> 00:20:14.400
him till years and years and years after the show,
332
00:20:14.599 --> 00:20:17.559
after we went off, the year after we finished the films,
333
00:20:18.240 --> 00:20:21.920
and he was a very nice looking young man with
334
00:20:22.000 --> 00:20:26.559
a full head of hair as opposed to me. But
335
00:20:26.640 --> 00:20:29.480
I was taller. I was about two to three inches
336
00:20:29.519 --> 00:20:33.680
taller than he was. So that was the difference. But
337
00:20:33.720 --> 00:20:36.720
we didn't look alike. We really didn't, not in person,
338
00:20:37.200 --> 00:20:40.200
but it was the same kind of persona that we projected.
339
00:20:42.319 --> 00:20:44.000
That's all I can tell you about that.
340
00:20:44.279 --> 00:20:46.720
Well, didn't they want you to didn't you have to
341
00:20:46.720 --> 00:20:48.119
wear a wig to your hair grow?
342
00:20:49.119 --> 00:20:52.920
Well that's what Well, initially, yeah, my hair was cut short.
343
00:20:52.960 --> 00:20:55.440
I had made my own film and I had cut
344
00:20:55.480 --> 00:21:00.839
my hair short. So after well, see, yeah, I should
345
00:21:00.880 --> 00:21:05.440
have known better because after I read, and the next
346
00:21:05.440 --> 00:21:07.920
step was not that I just go sit in the
347
00:21:07.960 --> 00:21:11.319
outer office. Next step was to go to Max Factor,
348
00:21:11.400 --> 00:21:18.440
which was a big woman's makeup and cosmetics store, and
349
00:21:18.480 --> 00:21:24.000
that we one of the makeup guys and my Fred Phillips,
350
00:21:24.079 --> 00:21:27.240
and myself and we brought back a bunch of wigs
351
00:21:28.279 --> 00:21:33.480
and they had me try on all these different wigs
352
00:21:33.559 --> 00:21:39.319
blonde and brunette and redhead. And after I tried them on,
353
00:21:39.519 --> 00:21:41.759
they tried them on, which I thought was rather curious,
354
00:21:43.599 --> 00:21:45.599
and then they asked me to go sit in the
355
00:21:45.640 --> 00:21:49.839
outer office. And that was the last I saw of
356
00:21:49.880 --> 00:21:55.119
them that day. So they had chosen a wig. They
357
00:21:55.160 --> 00:21:58.400
didn't tell me that they had chosen one wig in particular,
358
00:22:00.039 --> 00:22:01.799
and they didn't tell me that I had the part,
359
00:22:01.920 --> 00:22:03.799
they just told me to sit in the outer office.
360
00:22:05.920 --> 00:22:07.920
So I guess I should have had some inkling that
361
00:22:07.960 --> 00:22:10.519
they had me in mind. But if you don't tell me,
362
00:22:10.960 --> 00:22:13.000
if you don't tell me that you can cast me,
363
00:22:13.559 --> 00:22:16.039
I'm not going to assume that I'm cast, even if
364
00:22:16.079 --> 00:22:20.039
I did Parhina right on a bunch of wigs. So
365
00:22:20.160 --> 00:22:23.680
in any case, that was the sequence of events.
366
00:22:23.799 --> 00:22:26.079
You know, there's nothing wrong wearing a wig. You know,
367
00:22:26.200 --> 00:22:30.440
one point in my broadcasting career, I made a mistake.
368
00:22:30.559 --> 00:22:33.799
I got underneath a car and was replacing the muffler
369
00:22:33.799 --> 00:22:36.559
with a torch and I set my hair on fire.
370
00:22:37.119 --> 00:22:39.880
Oh well, I had kind of long hair. Well actually
371
00:22:39.880 --> 00:22:42.160
it was a real long at that time, and you know,
372
00:22:42.279 --> 00:22:44.799
the station was at that's what they wanted. They wanted
373
00:22:44.799 --> 00:22:48.119
me to have long hair. And I'm freaking out because
374
00:22:48.200 --> 00:22:51.720
I do an airshift. The next day, I called around.
375
00:22:51.839 --> 00:22:54.880
I didn't know. I couldn't find a place for men,
376
00:22:55.599 --> 00:22:59.400
you know, to get a wig that was in my budget.
377
00:22:59.680 --> 00:23:02.039
So I called up I think a JC Penny store
378
00:23:02.319 --> 00:23:04.359
and they said, well, come on in. We can take
379
00:23:04.359 --> 00:23:06.640
a woman's wig and we can style it and make
380
00:23:06.680 --> 00:23:09.480
you look like a man's wig, and they did a
381
00:23:09.519 --> 00:23:13.119
beautiful job, Walter. They styled it and it looked just
382
00:23:13.200 --> 00:23:16.920
like my normal hair. But the problem is when I
383
00:23:17.000 --> 00:23:18.920
parked the car the next day and had to walk
384
00:23:18.960 --> 00:23:22.200
from the parking lot into the radio station, it was
385
00:23:23.519 --> 00:23:28.680
it was pouring down rain and I walk in to
386
00:23:28.759 --> 00:23:31.319
the radio station, and this was a major radio station
387
00:23:31.440 --> 00:23:34.720
in Tacoma. Everybody was laughing at me, and I couldn't
388
00:23:34.720 --> 00:23:37.039
figure out why, you know, did I forget to put
389
00:23:37.079 --> 00:23:39.440
my pants on that morning or something weird, you know?
390
00:23:40.160 --> 00:23:43.799
And finally somebody said, go look in the mirror, and
391
00:23:43.920 --> 00:23:47.200
what happened to that wig went back after it got wet,
392
00:23:47.240 --> 00:23:53.759
to the original style of a woman's hairstyle. So everybody said,
393
00:23:53.880 --> 00:23:56.759
you you know, I won't tell you what they thought
394
00:23:56.839 --> 00:23:59.480
I was, but they thought maybe I was a cross
395
00:23:59.599 --> 00:24:01.279
dresser at that point.
396
00:24:01.880 --> 00:24:07.079
That's hysterical. I mean, today and their cross just as
397
00:24:07.119 --> 00:24:11.640
are part of society and accept it, and I have
398
00:24:11.720 --> 00:24:14.119
no problem with that. But I can certainly see your
399
00:24:14.240 --> 00:24:17.640
situations and see the circumstances and how it might have
400
00:24:17.680 --> 00:24:19.079
been a bit embarrassing for you.
401
00:24:19.480 --> 00:24:22.119
Now it was the late seventies, it was embarrassing. So
402
00:24:22.519 --> 00:24:26.240
here you were, I ensure with your hair at that accent.
403
00:24:26.640 --> 00:24:28.960
What you're saying is you couldn't speak Russian, but you
404
00:24:29.000 --> 00:24:33.039
could put a beautiful job of the accent on. I
405
00:24:33.119 --> 00:24:35.279
bet you got fan mail like you wouldn't believe. I
406
00:24:35.279 --> 00:24:38.960
bet you even got more fan mail than William Shatner.
407
00:24:39.680 --> 00:24:43.160
No, I didn't get more than Bill nor Leonard, but
408
00:24:43.240 --> 00:24:45.680
I did get the third most. I did get the
409
00:24:45.680 --> 00:24:49.039
third most male, and it was mostly from little kids,
410
00:24:49.279 --> 00:24:53.440
from young young girls. Thought I was groovy. You know.
411
00:24:55.559 --> 00:25:01.640
For a while, Paramount hired a fan mail business to
412
00:25:01.759 --> 00:25:05.559
take care of our fan mail, and then they didn't.
413
00:25:05.599 --> 00:25:09.319
It was called United fan Mail or something, and then
414
00:25:09.599 --> 00:25:14.960
they disassociated from that service, and the mail was just
415
00:25:15.039 --> 00:25:19.000
piling up in the offices and they didn't know what
416
00:25:19.039 --> 00:25:22.240
to do with it. So I came by and I
417
00:25:22.480 --> 00:25:25.480
went and buy the post office and picked up these
418
00:25:25.519 --> 00:25:29.480
big bags of mail and took them home. I mean,
419
00:25:29.559 --> 00:25:32.160
they were big bags of mail, and I had never
420
00:25:32.319 --> 00:25:37.119
experienced anything like this. So I proceeded to read all
421
00:25:37.160 --> 00:25:40.720
of it. And there were hundreds of letters. And the
422
00:25:40.759 --> 00:25:43.559
first week I was on the show, and my intention,
423
00:25:45.160 --> 00:25:48.839
foolish as it now sounds, was to answer everything and
424
00:25:49.279 --> 00:25:53.279
within about fifteen minutes, I realized that was impossible. Then
425
00:25:53.400 --> 00:25:55.519
there was no way even if I spent two minutes
426
00:25:56.039 --> 00:25:59.359
on each letter, you know, I could never finish reading
427
00:25:59.359 --> 00:26:04.279
them all. But they told me that I was getting
428
00:26:04.319 --> 00:26:08.079
an enormous amount of money male, not a lot of money, No,
429
00:26:08.759 --> 00:26:14.920
a lot of male, and that the experiment with casting
430
00:26:15.319 --> 00:26:21.440
somebody to appeal to preteenings. I think they were mostly preteens,
431
00:26:22.839 --> 00:26:28.519
or maybe teens were successful. And because and you know,
432
00:26:28.640 --> 00:26:37.640
there's a the way things happen, because George was not available.
433
00:26:37.680 --> 00:26:40.960
George k was not available to shoot on Star Trek.
434
00:26:41.000 --> 00:26:43.519
He was off shooting a movie called The Green Berets
435
00:26:43.599 --> 00:26:47.119
of John Wayne. So rather than just have me in
436
00:26:47.160 --> 00:26:50.400
for one episode and then seized that work then had
437
00:26:50.440 --> 00:26:55.440
me back a month later for another few lines, they
438
00:26:55.559 --> 00:26:59.720
just handed me these scripts they had written for George,
439
00:27:00.559 --> 00:27:05.640
you know, and they reshaped them and made them more
440
00:27:05.720 --> 00:27:10.799
applicable to somebody, uh who was from who was Russian.
441
00:27:11.720 --> 00:27:18.400
So that's the way events transpired and made it possible
442
00:27:18.400 --> 00:27:21.240
for me to keep coming back week after week when
443
00:27:21.279 --> 00:27:25.440
when George wasn't around, and you know, I got a
444
00:27:25.480 --> 00:27:32.680
foothold as a consequence, and the character caught on as
445
00:27:32.759 --> 00:27:37.599
much of a character as there was. And uh, and
446
00:27:37.640 --> 00:27:40.319
that's that's that's what they wrote.
447
00:27:40.640 --> 00:27:42.519
Well, didn't you have an episode it was kind of
448
00:27:42.519 --> 00:27:46.279
dedicated to you in that western town or something if I.
449
00:27:46.160 --> 00:27:48.839
Remember right, dedicated to who?
450
00:27:49.000 --> 00:27:51.359
Well you didn't it wasn't there episode where you had
451
00:27:51.359 --> 00:27:52.319
a major part in it?
452
00:27:53.759 --> 00:27:59.799
Well, I got I'm not sure that dedicated to me
453
00:28:00.079 --> 00:28:03.519
is the coinage that I would I would use. They've
454
00:28:03.640 --> 00:28:07.640
just found began to shape the episodes so that they
455
00:28:07.640 --> 00:28:12.480
were more appropriate from my character than they had initially been.
456
00:28:12.960 --> 00:28:18.359
They've been pretty much, you know, unidentifiable and as to
457
00:28:19.039 --> 00:28:24.640
as to as to who would you know anybody? They
458
00:28:24.640 --> 00:28:28.319
were the kind of dialogue that anybody could say. But
459
00:28:28.359 --> 00:28:32.599
then when they started saying, oh it was in Russia,
460
00:28:33.799 --> 00:28:36.680
when they started putting that in and the fans liked it,
461
00:28:37.079 --> 00:28:42.440
then yeah, then then the episodes were being written and rewritten, uh,
462
00:28:42.839 --> 00:28:49.119
to be more appropriate for somebody of Eastern European descent.
463
00:28:50.200 --> 00:28:54.119
Yeah, I can remember the western you know, uh town,
464
00:28:54.359 --> 00:28:55.279
that was a good extra it.
465
00:28:55.359 --> 00:28:57.440
I like that one. I think they're the gun.
466
00:28:57.559 --> 00:29:02.119
Yeah, and again, how many episodes did you appear in?
467
00:29:03.240 --> 00:29:06.039
I'm not really sure. I thought I knew but somebody
468
00:29:06.039 --> 00:29:09.079
told me that I had inflated the number. I thought
469
00:29:09.079 --> 00:29:11.400
it was like thirty seven, but it must have been
470
00:29:11.480 --> 00:29:19.559
less than that because some fans corrected me. But you know,
471
00:29:19.640 --> 00:29:23.720
I didn't even I wasn't on the contract. In the
472
00:29:23.759 --> 00:29:26.559
first season that I was on, which was the second season,
473
00:29:27.000 --> 00:29:33.319
I was on a show to show basis, so I wasn't.
474
00:29:35.759 --> 00:29:39.880
It wasn't determined that at any point in in advance
475
00:29:40.599 --> 00:29:44.160
how many shows I would do, so I didn't. I
476
00:29:44.200 --> 00:29:48.559
didn't keep an accurate account when when, when when I
477
00:29:48.640 --> 00:29:50.720
was going to be on. As a matter of fact,
478
00:29:50.960 --> 00:29:52.720
I do a show. When we get to the last
479
00:29:52.799 --> 00:29:57.200
day and the new scripts would come down for the
480
00:29:57.240 --> 00:30:01.440
next week, and I'd sneak a peek at somebody's script
481
00:30:01.720 --> 00:30:04.279
and see, oh, Chekhov said it, And that's how I
482
00:30:04.319 --> 00:30:06.160
knew I was going to be in the next episode.
483
00:30:07.319 --> 00:30:12.960
It was purely coincidental. I think with the passage of time,
484
00:30:14.920 --> 00:30:18.400
they were a little bit more organized about letting me
485
00:30:18.519 --> 00:30:22.319
know if I was going to appear as Chekhov in
486
00:30:22.640 --> 00:30:26.440
the forthcoming episode. But I didn't know initially. It was
487
00:30:26.480 --> 00:30:30.400
all pretty much hidden this and the determination was made
488
00:30:30.720 --> 00:30:33.839
kind of on the run, you know. Yeah, he was
489
00:30:33.880 --> 00:30:39.200
getting nail. Yeah, the Genes objective was being fulfilled, which
490
00:30:39.319 --> 00:30:48.400
was to draw the adolescent and pre adolescent audience to
491
00:30:48.480 --> 00:30:56.160
the show. And as time went by, and you know,
492
00:30:56.920 --> 00:31:01.519
twenty years went by, twenty five years, go to conventions
493
00:31:01.519 --> 00:31:05.720
and women in their thirties and forties would tell me
494
00:31:05.799 --> 00:31:08.400
that they had a crush on Chekhov when they were
495
00:31:08.880 --> 00:31:09.519
little kids.
496
00:31:09.599 --> 00:31:13.640
So oh yeah, I mean you were really famous. I mean,
497
00:31:13.720 --> 00:31:18.599
you know that's faces Star Trek, the original one. They've
498
00:31:18.599 --> 00:31:22.720
been remakes with, you know, the Next Generation and you
499
00:31:22.759 --> 00:31:25.519
know what's going on now, but none of it really
500
00:31:25.599 --> 00:31:28.680
has a cult following as the original one.
501
00:31:29.039 --> 00:31:32.200
And I don't think that's true. I think they they
502
00:31:32.240 --> 00:31:36.200
all have their their their genre following, and they all
503
00:31:36.359 --> 00:31:42.680
had a very strong supportive fan base. Next Generation that
504
00:31:43.359 --> 00:31:48.680
developed an extremely successful fan base, and I think Deep
505
00:31:48.759 --> 00:31:55.960
Space nine did. I think they sort of the studio
506
00:31:56.799 --> 00:32:01.039
and most specifically the network might have lost a little
507
00:32:03.240 --> 00:32:07.279
enthusiasm when I came down to Enterprise, which when I
508
00:32:07.319 --> 00:32:10.920
think four seasons instead of the seven that they envision.
509
00:32:11.519 --> 00:32:14.799
But I got to meet most of these people from
510
00:32:14.799 --> 00:32:23.240
the different shows Voyager included along the way, making personal appearances.
511
00:32:23.599 --> 00:32:28.920
So and in fact, over the years I've met almost
512
00:32:28.920 --> 00:32:35.279
everybody I think from all five shows and gotten to
513
00:32:35.319 --> 00:32:38.559
be friends with him. I did a cruise last year
514
00:32:40.000 --> 00:32:45.279
and there were actors who were regulars on all the
515
00:32:45.319 --> 00:32:47.920
other shows, and we hung out together and we had
516
00:32:47.920 --> 00:32:51.799
a good time and hung out with them more than
517
00:32:51.880 --> 00:32:55.680
with my own cast, mostly because with the passage of time,
518
00:32:55.720 --> 00:32:59.559
as you know, we've lost several members of that cast.
519
00:33:00.400 --> 00:33:04.519
Yeah, and unfortunately older we get, the more we lose,
520
00:33:04.920 --> 00:33:07.920
you know, our time is almost up to And I
521
00:33:08.000 --> 00:33:10.359
had a couple of people that you know, emailed me
522
00:33:10.519 --> 00:33:12.960
that wanted to ask you a couple of questions. If
523
00:33:13.000 --> 00:33:15.039
you don't mind, I'm going to open up the call
524
00:33:15.119 --> 00:33:18.000
in line and let them call in and they can
525
00:33:18.039 --> 00:33:19.359
ask you maybe one question.
526
00:33:20.240 --> 00:33:22.039
Oh, it's okay, whatever.
527
00:33:21.759 --> 00:33:25.000
You got, okay. So the call in line is now open.
528
00:33:25.119 --> 00:33:26.839
So if you want to give us a call and
529
00:33:26.960 --> 00:33:30.400
ask Walter or check off a question about Star Trek
530
00:33:30.880 --> 00:33:33.640
or anything, now is the time to give it a call.
531
00:33:34.839 --> 00:33:38.720
I'll tell you what. I again, I find myself, you know,
532
00:33:38.759 --> 00:33:40.160
at one or two o'clock in the morning, when I
533
00:33:40.160 --> 00:33:44.319
can't sleep, I go on to YouTube and watch well
534
00:33:44.480 --> 00:33:48.279
the old Star Trek. I tell you. You know I didn't
535
00:33:48.319 --> 00:33:50.799
like season one. I really didn't. I think when you
536
00:33:50.920 --> 00:33:54.400
came on it was a big enhancement to the show.
537
00:33:55.039 --> 00:33:57.599
But then they were tweaking with the show at that point.
538
00:33:58.319 --> 00:34:03.880
Huh. I guess I got along okay with the cast
539
00:34:04.920 --> 00:34:09.599
that Yeah, I got along, all right. We we you know,
540
00:34:09.639 --> 00:34:10.920
we gotta I don't know if.
541
00:34:13.360 --> 00:34:20.400
Okay, I think we just lost him. Okay, let's see
542
00:34:20.400 --> 00:34:29.559
if I can get him back. H yeah, Okay, then
543
00:34:29.599 --> 00:34:31.320
he came back on and then I just hung up
544
00:34:31.320 --> 00:34:33.840
on him. Isn't that horrible? Jay Z. Let's see if
545
00:34:33.840 --> 00:34:34.559
I can get him back.
546
00:34:35.199 --> 00:34:35.920
What am I going to do?
547
00:34:37.000 --> 00:34:39.079
I don't know. I'm gonna give it a try.
548
00:34:39.559 --> 00:34:39.800
Yeah.
549
00:34:39.960 --> 00:34:43.119
No, he's probably waiting and seeing what where I went. So,
550
00:34:43.280 --> 00:34:45.840
you know, it's rather interest. Could you imagine you're getting
551
00:34:46.199 --> 00:34:51.000
fitted right for your spacesuit or your costume for Star
552
00:34:51.079 --> 00:34:53.960
Trek and you didn't even know you had the part,
553
00:34:54.039 --> 00:34:58.440
and the guy's on his knees measuring you right exactly.
554
00:34:58.719 --> 00:35:01.599
Plus he just experience some.
555
00:35:03.119 --> 00:35:08.679
Oh are you there?
556
00:35:08.760 --> 00:35:11.559
Yeah, I am here, and we just lost you. I
557
00:35:11.599 --> 00:35:16.239
think we got a caller in here. Okay, No, we don't.
558
00:35:16.320 --> 00:35:18.840
Let's see what's going on here. Well, you know, I
559
00:35:18.880 --> 00:35:21.039
had a couple of people that messaged me saying they
560
00:35:21.159 --> 00:35:24.199
wanted to call in. Now is the time to do it.
561
00:35:24.320 --> 00:35:26.119
If you want to give a call. I'm not going
562
00:35:26.119 --> 00:35:30.679
to give a number here. But let's see. Yeah, that's
563
00:35:30.760 --> 00:35:34.519
not there either. Let's see if this is it. No,
564
00:35:36.440 --> 00:35:41.000
I'm having problems here with my Skype. Okay, the skype
565
00:35:41.079 --> 00:35:45.880
is going really weird. One thing too. You got anything
566
00:35:45.960 --> 00:35:49.239
plan in the future, Any any gigs or anything like that.
567
00:35:49.639 --> 00:35:50.480
Any new books.
568
00:35:53.960 --> 00:35:57.559
I've been working on a book, on a novel, nothing
569
00:35:57.599 --> 00:36:04.000
to do with science fiction. I'm not sure. I'm every
570
00:36:04.000 --> 00:36:07.320
when I finish it. I have one hundred and twenty
571
00:36:07.320 --> 00:36:11.960
five pages. I think about the book and the structure
572
00:36:12.000 --> 00:36:20.079
of it. It's a pretty it's a pretty elaborate structure story.
573
00:36:21.679 --> 00:36:24.559
I really don't know. I mean, I know where it's going,
574
00:36:24.599 --> 00:36:29.440
I know how it's going to end. But I blow
575
00:36:29.480 --> 00:36:33.400
hot and cold on it, and I feel like I
576
00:36:33.440 --> 00:36:35.760
need to. You know, I'm eighty six years old now,
577
00:36:35.800 --> 00:36:38.239
and I think I need to fill my days with
578
00:36:38.360 --> 00:36:43.760
something substantial and something worthwhile. And when I work on
579
00:36:43.800 --> 00:36:48.159
the book, I feel that I am accomplishing something good, bad,
580
00:36:48.199 --> 00:36:56.360
or indifferent. I'm accomplishing something, but psychologically I'm not always
581
00:36:56.400 --> 00:37:01.400
prepared to write. And here's that. I hope I can.
582
00:37:01.639 --> 00:37:05.599
I hope I have the motivation and to drive at
583
00:37:05.639 --> 00:37:10.280
this late date to finish it, because, as I say,
584
00:37:10.360 --> 00:37:15.280
I know where the story is going. Other than that.
585
00:37:16.679 --> 00:37:20.760
Other than that, you know, like everybody else from all
586
00:37:20.880 --> 00:37:26.840
the series, I have imitations to make personal appearances, and
587
00:37:27.079 --> 00:37:31.800
there's submitting a number for this year that come through,
588
00:37:32.599 --> 00:37:37.320
and I intend to pursue that. I don't want to
589
00:37:37.320 --> 00:37:43.000
get maudlin or depressed anybody. I recently lost my wife
590
00:37:44.039 --> 00:37:47.639
that I heard about that, yeah, and I have no
591
00:37:47.719 --> 00:37:54.400
reason to hang out in my house alone. So although
592
00:37:54.440 --> 00:37:58.599
my intention initially was not to go back out on
593
00:37:58.639 --> 00:38:04.840
the road, I think I'm going to accept most of
594
00:38:04.840 --> 00:38:11.039
these invitations and go out and see people. I think
595
00:38:11.079 --> 00:38:14.079
it's it's healthy for me to be around folks.
596
00:38:14.239 --> 00:38:16.400
It is now we got a color their color? What
597
00:38:16.599 --> 00:38:18.239
question do you have for Walter.
598
00:38:19.639 --> 00:38:19.800
II?
599
00:38:20.280 --> 00:38:21.119
This is Barbue.
600
00:38:21.880 --> 00:38:23.079
Yeah, what question do you have?
601
00:38:25.159 --> 00:38:28.039
I was wondering what do you like to do when
602
00:38:28.039 --> 00:38:34.840
you're not working? Well? What do I like to do?
603
00:38:36.320 --> 00:38:42.199
I read a lot. As a matter of fact, sleeping
604
00:38:42.280 --> 00:38:51.079
is sometimes difficult particularly nowadays. So the hours before I
605
00:38:51.119 --> 00:38:54.679
go to bed, usually around eleven in the evening, till
606
00:38:54.760 --> 00:38:59.480
around two o'clock in the morning, I read and I
607
00:38:59.519 --> 00:39:03.079
have looked. I have a good friend who works in
608
00:39:03.159 --> 00:39:06.480
conjunction with the library, and he buys a lot of books,
609
00:39:07.000 --> 00:39:08.960
you know, for a dollar and a quarter and gives
610
00:39:09.000 --> 00:39:11.880
in the library. But he also picks up books for me.
611
00:39:11.920 --> 00:39:17.360
And I've been reading a lot of books, mostly nonfiction,
612
00:39:18.400 --> 00:39:23.760
about history, about the Second World War, the First World War,
613
00:39:26.679 --> 00:39:31.960
about the infiltration of Nazis in the Los Angeles in
614
00:39:32.039 --> 00:39:35.480
the thirties. I just finished the book about the Empire
615
00:39:35.519 --> 00:39:38.199
State Building. I never knew that it was privately owned,
616
00:39:39.440 --> 00:39:46.400
and the Ego is involved in trying to control that building. Yeah,
617
00:39:48.280 --> 00:39:50.480
and I'm able to focus. I'm able to focus on
618
00:39:50.559 --> 00:39:53.400
when I'm reading and just read until my eyes get
619
00:39:53.519 --> 00:39:57.400
my eyelids get heavy, and then I just sleep. So that's.
620
00:40:01.159 --> 00:40:05.679
Okay. Well, yeah, we just we just got another caller. Uh, okay,
621
00:40:05.840 --> 00:40:07.559
do you have a quick question because we're almost out
622
00:40:07.559 --> 00:40:09.360
of time. We got like three minutes left with Walter.
623
00:40:10.800 --> 00:40:11.559
What is your question?
624
00:40:13.440 --> 00:40:15.920
My question is out of all of the series or
625
00:40:15.960 --> 00:40:20.599
movies that you were in, which were your favorites and.
626
00:40:20.559 --> 00:40:25.800
Why, Well, my favorite episode, as I began to mention
627
00:40:25.880 --> 00:40:31.119
before respector of the Gun, you know about us in
628
00:40:31.199 --> 00:40:33.760
the wild the West, and the whole thing is an illusion.
629
00:40:34.280 --> 00:40:36.920
First of all, I'm fascinated by the fact that it
630
00:40:37.000 --> 00:40:44.400
was actually produced. Because it was we were running low
631
00:40:44.480 --> 00:40:48.719
on finances to support the series and they were able
632
00:40:48.760 --> 00:40:54.000
to make this episode for less money. So we didn't
633
00:40:54.000 --> 00:41:00.840
need full buildings. We just needed facades, and so the
634
00:41:01.840 --> 00:41:07.000
sets were not elaborate, they were just the fund of buildings.
635
00:41:07.599 --> 00:41:11.400
And I thought the story was very interesting. Chekhov got
636
00:41:11.400 --> 00:41:13.480
to do quite a bit. He went down to the planet,
637
00:41:13.800 --> 00:41:16.880
he had a girlfriend. He gets shot and killed, which,
638
00:41:16.960 --> 00:41:19.880
by the way, was illogical because he gets shot and
639
00:41:19.960 --> 00:41:23.519
killed before we discovered that if you don't, if you
640
00:41:23.599 --> 00:41:26.280
realize that the whole thing is an illusion and not real,
641
00:41:26.920 --> 00:41:30.880
it won't affect you. Well, Chekhov gets shot and killed
642
00:41:31.079 --> 00:41:34.239
before we've discovered that, so he shouldn't have been able
643
00:41:34.280 --> 00:41:37.800
to come back. And I mentioned that to the story
644
00:41:37.920 --> 00:41:40.639
editor and he says, yeah, we realized that, but we
645
00:41:40.760 --> 00:41:43.840
just said toget about it, and they just went on
646
00:41:44.400 --> 00:41:48.639
as if that wasn't a problem. And as far as
647
00:41:48.679 --> 00:41:52.639
the movies were concerned. Star Trek from two I thought
648
00:41:52.719 --> 00:41:59.719
was classic storytelling, absolute classic stories telling with a The
649
00:42:00.760 --> 00:42:04.199
most interesting thing was that the antagonist, although he was
650
00:42:04.599 --> 00:42:09.679
described as being in some ways having prowess that was superhuman,
651
00:42:10.440 --> 00:42:17.079
was very much not a monster, not an alien from
652
00:42:17.119 --> 00:42:24.360
another planet, but somebody who was very painfully hurt by
653
00:42:25.199 --> 00:42:27.960
what he felt was the Enterprise crew and Captain Kirk.
654
00:42:28.360 --> 00:42:32.119
And he lost his wife as a consequence. So although
655
00:42:32.639 --> 00:42:37.119
he's this villainous character, he's somebody you can still relate,
656
00:42:37.199 --> 00:42:40.760
you can still relate to, and that's important. I mean,
657
00:42:40.880 --> 00:42:46.000
you have to take his feelings into consideration, even though
658
00:42:46.039 --> 00:42:49.639
you're you're hoping that he will be defeated. And Star
659
00:42:49.760 --> 00:42:53.559
Trek for the Voyage Home. I loved doing Star Trek
660
00:42:53.599 --> 00:42:56.440
for there were actually scenes in the Star Trek four
661
00:42:56.920 --> 00:43:01.079
that centered and revolved around check Off. You know, a
662
00:43:01.159 --> 00:43:04.480
couple of scenes where he was the primary mover in
663
00:43:04.519 --> 00:43:09.800
the scene, and that had happened very infrequently. So I
664
00:43:10.280 --> 00:43:14.440
love that movie as well. So those are my two favorites.
665
00:43:15.400 --> 00:43:18.320
Well, hey, uh, Walter, I almost called you check Off.
666
00:43:18.400 --> 00:43:21.159
Our time is up. I want to thank you so much,
667
00:43:21.239 --> 00:43:23.480
and again I want to say sorry for your loss,
668
00:43:24.159 --> 00:43:27.679
you know, and you know words there's no words going
669
00:43:27.719 --> 00:43:30.440
to express it, but you know, keep on going. You know,
670
00:43:30.480 --> 00:43:33.639
maybe you should get a horse and a motorcycle like
671
00:43:33.639 --> 00:43:39.239
like well, like William Shatner. Yeah, maybe not, Yeah, I
672
00:43:39.599 --> 00:43:43.480
don't know. It's rather he's rather interesting, isn't he.
673
00:43:43.960 --> 00:43:48.000
Yes, he is, and he you know, he gave to
674
00:43:48.079 --> 00:43:54.480
this show an enormous amount of merit and value and
675
00:43:54.519 --> 00:43:58.039
made it possible for it to be renewed again and again.
676
00:43:58.599 --> 00:44:03.000
I never believed, you know of people in this day
677
00:44:03.000 --> 00:44:07.079
and age when where if you move your lips move
678
00:44:07.119 --> 00:44:10.320
at all, you know, it's too much emotion. I never
679
00:44:10.360 --> 00:44:13.719
believed that he was over acting. I hate that term.
680
00:44:14.000 --> 00:44:17.159
I think he was totally invested in what he was
681
00:44:17.159 --> 00:44:21.280
doing and totally committed to the role. And I can't
682
00:44:21.320 --> 00:44:25.920
say that for a lot of leading actors today that
683
00:44:26.280 --> 00:44:29.400
they pretty much you know, the stiff upper the kind
684
00:44:29.440 --> 00:44:34.800
of performance. So, although I have issues with mister Shattner personally,
685
00:44:36.039 --> 00:44:40.519
I do think his contribution to Star Trek is incalculable
686
00:44:40.960 --> 00:44:44.800
and he should be always commended and supported for that.
687
00:44:45.480 --> 00:44:49.079
Well, William Shatner, I met him, you know, he was
688
00:44:49.119 --> 00:44:52.599
into motorcycles. I was into motorcycles. And I met him
689
00:44:52.599 --> 00:44:54.639
one time on the way to Las Vegas. He was
690
00:44:54.679 --> 00:44:57.760
on a trike with his wife at the time, and
691
00:44:58.320 --> 00:45:01.079
he was in a cafe. I went in there and
692
00:45:01.280 --> 00:45:03.400
I made the mistake and I said hi to him,
693
00:45:04.159 --> 00:45:08.480
and boy, he just laid into me. And then you know,
694
00:45:08.599 --> 00:45:13.239
he noticed I, you know, I was wearing a biker's
695
00:45:13.320 --> 00:45:15.840
vest and he goes, you ride a bike, and I go, yeah,
696
00:45:15.880 --> 00:45:18.519
I ride a Hunt Harley, and all of a sudden,
697
00:45:18.519 --> 00:45:21.159
he just totally changed. It was really warm. But I
698
00:45:21.280 --> 00:45:23.000
tell you, it kind of shocked me the way he
699
00:45:23.079 --> 00:45:26.639
treated me when he didn't realize I, you know, wasn't
700
00:45:26.639 --> 00:45:28.800
into something that he was into.
701
00:45:29.320 --> 00:45:33.840
Well, you know that That's why I'm talking about his talent.
702
00:45:33.920 --> 00:45:38.400
I'm not talking about his personality. Yeah, I mean, the
703
00:45:38.480 --> 00:45:46.760
man had very considerable talent and made Start Trek along
704
00:45:46.760 --> 00:45:50.599
with Leonard, made Star Trek as successful as it was.
705
00:45:51.239 --> 00:45:54.519
Of course, the other actors you know, contributed as well.
706
00:45:55.000 --> 00:45:58.920
But I will never I will never question his talent.
707
00:45:59.000 --> 00:46:04.719
I thought very important for this six six the show's success,
708
00:46:04.800 --> 00:46:05.639
that he was there.
709
00:46:05.880 --> 00:46:09.519
Yeah, he does have a lot of talent. Well, Walter, again,
710
00:46:09.599 --> 00:46:11.079
I want to thank you from the bottom of my
711
00:46:11.119 --> 00:46:13.760
heart to come on the show, you know, and maybe
712
00:46:13.800 --> 00:46:15.480
down the future I can talk to you and coming
713
00:46:15.519 --> 00:46:16.199
back on again.
714
00:46:17.159 --> 00:46:19.440
Yeah, maybe we'll have something else to talk about.
715
00:46:19.840 --> 00:46:23.159
Well, we can talk about a fifty seven ethel how's that?
716
00:46:24.239 --> 00:46:27.960
There? You go? You know, Actually I just saw a
717
00:46:28.000 --> 00:46:32.280
few minutes of a production I did of Anthony and
718
00:46:32.280 --> 00:46:36.559
Cleopatra with Timothy Dalton, Lynn red Gold and Tony Geary
719
00:46:36.599 --> 00:46:40.119
from General Hospital. And I think this was late seventies,
720
00:46:40.239 --> 00:46:44.519
early eighties, and I played Pompey, and as I say,
721
00:46:44.559 --> 00:46:50.119
this is Shakespeare, and I thought, well, I did pretty
722
00:46:50.159 --> 00:46:53.280
well on that role. I didn't see the show, but
723
00:46:53.599 --> 00:46:57.440
I saw a part of it on TV. So there
724
00:46:57.519 --> 00:46:59.960
there are other things that I've done that, you know,
725
00:47:00.039 --> 00:47:00.840
we could talk about.
726
00:47:01.119 --> 00:47:03.599
Well, that's what we need to do. We need to
727
00:47:03.599 --> 00:47:06.760
do that. And you know, you know, anytime you want
728
00:47:06.800 --> 00:47:09.159
to come on, get a hold of you know, your guy,
729
00:47:09.199 --> 00:47:11.119
He'll get a hold of my guy. You're welcome on
730
00:47:11.119 --> 00:47:12.519
the show anytime, my friend.
731
00:47:13.239 --> 00:47:15.679
Well, thank you so much. It's been a pleasure talking
732
00:47:15.719 --> 00:47:16.320
to you again.
733
00:47:16.679 --> 00:47:19.880
Okay, you take care, Walter, Bye bye bye.