The Untold Story of the Shatner-Nimoy ‘Star Trek’ Rivalry That Nearly Ended the Enterprise
Behind-the-scenes tension between Shatner and Nimoy almost derailed 'Star Trek' for good
From the first moment that William Shatner and Leonard Nimoy were filmed together on the original Star Trek, there was an instant spark and rapport between their characters of Captain James T. Kirk and Mr. Spock. But behind the scenes, that warmth wasn’t always there; a rivalry between the two actors growing as the series went on, resulting in a great many problems.
Historically, Shatner hasn’t gotten off easy by many of his Star Trek co-stars, particularly James Doohan (Scotty), Nichelle Nichols (Uhura) and George Takei (Sulu), who accused “the Shat” of minimizing their parts and keeping the focus always on him in what they perceived to be an ensemble show. One could argue, however, that as important as their contributions were, the show began as a star vehicle for Shatner, which rapidly saw Nimoy become a rising co-star with DeForest Kelley (as Dr. McCoy) not far behind him.
“If the original concept of the show was still in effect,” suggests Shatner, “and the series was still going today, the situation would be exactly the same. There are people whose names and parts are above the title and people who aren’t. That’s the nature of the business and that’s the way these stories were told.”
That being said, the series’ late creator, Gene Roddenberry, noted, “Bill was very upset when Leonard came on particularly strong at the beginning of the series, because he said, ‘Am I not the captain? How come the writers don’t appreciate that?’ It was a very natural reaction. I said to Shatner, ‘If we had an Eskimo as a second character, you could be sure the Eskimo would get the most delightful lines because of what he is.’ I advised him not to worry about Spock because all that reflected on Shatner. Particularly if Shatner continued to treat Spock properly in the show. I suggested they should show each other a lot of friendship in the show and it would eventually right itself.”
The advice was sound and as the years went on—and Star Trek segued from weekly series to six feature films beginning a decade after the show ended—the Kirk/Spock friendship would drive much of what took place. But in 1967—midway through the first season—that was probably difficult to imagine.
How the Shatner and Nimoy rivalry began
Writer David Gerrold, who penned the classic episode “The Trouble with Tribbles,” tells Woman’s World, “The problems with Shatner and Nimoy really began during the first season when Saturday Review did this article about Trek, which stated that Spock was much more interesting than Kirk and that Spock should be captain. Well, nobody was near Shatner for days. He was furious. You’ve got to look at it from his point of view. He had been hired to be the star of the show. It was ‘starring’ William Shatner, with DeForest Kelley and Leonard Nimoy. All of a sudden all the writers are writing this great stuff for Spock, and Spock, who’s supposed to be a subordinate character, suddenly starts becoming the equal of Kirk.”
Another of the show’s writers, Norman Spinrad, discovered first hand what was going on when he adapted an unpublished novella he’d written into an episode titled “The Doomsday Machine.” He was told along the way that actor Robert Ryan was to play an Ahab-type character going up against a space-based Moby Dick in the form of the title’s mechanical planet destroyer.
In the end, Ryan was out and William Windom was in, with the guest character of Decker being softened in the process. “There was a feeling,” says Spinrad, “that a guest star with presence would overshadow Captain Kirk, and therefore his character had to be toned down and his lines reduced. Also, some of Spock’s lines had to be given to Kirk.”
Frequent Star Trek director Joseph Pevney adds, “Leonard and Bill are both good actors. They enjoy working with each other. If the script is equally as good to both characters, there’s no problem. It’s when one becomes a straight man for the other that you have rivalry. That they resent and probably for good reason.”
“Shatner counted lines,” emphasizes Spinrad. “I was on the set during the making of ‘Doomsday Machine’ and they couldn’t get a scene to work. The reason for this was that there was a dialogue sequence set up as Kirk, Spock, Kirk, but the intervening Spock line had been taken out in the line count, so there was no reaction line for the next one to work.”
Walter Koenig, who plays Chekov, states that he heard Nimoy arguing on the phone and knew there were problems with the front office on occasions, and he witnessed Shatner “blowing up” on the set. “I knew there was jockeying between these two gentlemen as to their rules,” Koenig says, “but I really knew nothing concrete about what was going on. It was a happy set with Shatner being the leader and cracking jokes, with a lot of laughs. Not a lot of tension in terms of our involvement. Whatever tension was between those guys and the executives.”
But for Pevney, that rivalry was very real. “When we started the show,” he said, “teamwork was the key word. Nobody was more important than anybody else. From the time of my first show and my last, there was a hell of a difference. If you run both of them, there’s a difference in performance quality, changes which give you a sense of the overbearing captain and Spock. And a kind of challenging between the two of them on screen, which is okay in life and rehearsal, but shouldn’t be there on screen. Then Leonard would say, ‘I’m second in command, when can I do a story where I’m commanding the ship?’ Well, those stories came to be, but then Bill would say, ‘Wait a second, I’m the captain!’ There you’ve got problems, originating from, I would say, actor to producer, because when they were through with their shows, Leonard, primarily, and Bill would be up in Gene’s fanny, making suggestions as to how the show should go, some good and some horrible. All of them, I think, very selfishly instigated.”
Associate producer Robert A. Justman expressed his concern over these developments and, in a memo dated March 21, 1968, wrote to Roddenberry, “I am struck by the fact that Captain Kirk seems to be getting even more of the lion’s share of the action and content of our stories. I know Captain Kirk is the star of our show … [but] as presently written, the parts of Mr. Spock and Dr. McCoy are nothing more than a little flavoring added to the stew to make it more palatable. My feeling is that if Kirk is the meat, then Spock and McCoy are the potatoes and gravy and should be considered vital ingredients.”
Spinrad points out, “Bill Shatner’s problem is that he just wasn’t given as interesting a character to play as Nimoy was. He was the lead character—supposedly the most important—but he couldn’t be most interesting. It was not a reflection on him as an actor, because I remember him as a very good actor before that, but he didn’t have the part even though the contract said he did. That led to all the line-stealing and all that crazy lunatic stuff in any number of scripts where the captain went crazy because somebody was trying to take away his ship. In a funny kind of way, this gave the character of Kirk more depth. It gave Kirk a little edge somewhere that was really Shatner, which is a good way to use it.”
“Although I think Leonard was brilliant at what he did, he was never the star of the show,” notes Herb Solow, executive in charge of production. “However, if push came to shove and we had to recast both characters, it would have been easier to recast Bill’s part than Leonard’s, so you tell me: who’s the star of the show?”
From rivals to best friends: how it ended
Problems with the cast—particularly Shatner and Nimoy—finally came to a head insofar as Gene Roddenberry was concerned on August 17, 1967, when he issued an ultimatum written to the two of them, with DeForest Kelley thrown in just for good measure.
“For well over a year now,” wrote Roddenberry, “every meeting you have requested with me, every discussion you’ve initiated, almost every word on stage or street, has almost totally and unilaterally concerned you, your feelings, your problems, your hopes and ambitions, what you won’t do, what you want changed, your image, your publicity… Gentlemen, I’ve had it!
“…No, William, I’m not really writing this to Leonard and just including you as a matter of psychology. I’m talking to you directly and with an angry honesty you haven’t heard before. And Leonard, you’d be very wrong if you think I’m really teeing off at Shatner and only pretending to include you. The same letter to both; you’ve pretty well divided up the market on selfishness and egocentricity… Now, to specifics. William, yes, when discussing the Spock character you say all the right things—’Wonderful character for the show; highly valuable; a large factor in our success; Nimoy handles it with skill.’ Nice sentiments, very ‘pro.’ Except that your actions make it painfully obvious to everyone that you don’t believe it for a minute. Your constant frantic concern, not only over Spock’s lines, but lately McCoy’s, Scott’s and most recently even Chekov’s small part, is almost embarrassingly apparent and is a key factor in the sabotage and breakdown of whatever stage morale is left…
“And now, Leonard. I must say that if I were Shatner, I’d be nervous and edgy about you by now, too. For a man who makes no secret of his own sensitivity, you show a strange lack of understanding of it in your fellow actors. And an appalling lack of gratitude for the good fortune which has swept you almost overnight into a prominence… My God, man, this isn’t the first time in this industry that a second banana has suddenly caught the public fancy, and any actor who can at all call himself experienced knows the quite legitimate surprise and torment it can cause the lead actor. It has never happened otherwise!
“Now, I’ve told Shatner that Spock won’t become Star Trek‘s lead. I’ve also made clear to Shatner that although Kirk is the lead of the show, he will be my concept of the lead, not his. I’ve also made it clear that you are and will remain a strong, effective and integral second lead. Perhaps he believes despite that that you have secret agreements or strange devilish plans that will make you the star despite all I do. Forget the wisdom of such doubts, forget even common decency. It would still seem to me that a man of intelligence and sensitivity would have by now found ways to make it abundantly clear that this simply isn’t so.”
That letter—the full contents of which can be found in the pages of The Fifty-Year Mission: The Oral History of Star Trek—seemed to do the trick as reports of rivalry as pronounced as it had been, began to fade away. Star Trek itself came to a close in 1969 with the cast going their separate ways … temporarily, with, ironically enough, both William Shatner and Leonard Nimoy proclaiming over the years to be each other’s best friend.
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