eddie paskey star trek

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Eddie Paskey

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Paskey had previously appeared in Gene Roddenberry 's unsold 1965 pilot, Police Story , which also featured DeForest Kelley , Grace Lee Whitney , Malachi Throne , and Steve Ihnat , and made background appearances on The Lucy Show , starring Lucille Ball ; both produced at Desilu . According to Paskey, it was assistant director Gregg Peters (rather than Solow), who got him his job on Star Trek , after working together on The Lucy Show . [1]

He appeared in 57 episodes but only received onscreen credit for " The Alternative Factor " and " This Side of Paradise ". His speaking opportunities on the series were limited to the two on-screen credited episodes plus " The Naked Time " and " The Conscience of the King ". In addition to his role as Lieutenant Leslie, he portrayed Connors in " Mudd's Women ".

Paskey served as William Shatner 's stand-in and occasional body double (most notably in " The Devil in the Dark "). [2] He was also a hand double for James Doohan , who was missing a finger, in " Wolf in the Fold ". In " The City on the Edge of Forever ", he was the truck driver who struck and killed Edith Keeler . [3] For the episode " Patterns of Force ", he appeared as a Zeon resistance member and chauffeur who drove Kirk and Spock. [4] He retired during the third season due to a back injury, and severe headaches that were aggravated by the stage lighting on the set. The last episode he worked on was " Is There in Truth No Beauty? ". [5]

Aside from his work in Star Trek , his other television credits include appearances on Ben Casey (1965) (with Marsha Hunt and Harry Landers ), The Dick Van Dyke Show (1966), The Lucy Show , and Mission: Impossible (1966, with George Takei , Barry Russo , Victor Tayback , William Smithers , Michael Barrier , Jack Donner , Blaisdel Makee , Chuck Courtney , Bob Johnson , and Don Marshall ).

After retiring from acting, Paskey and his wife, Judy, established "The Air Shop", a car-detailing business, in Santa Ana, California in 1981. He and Judy continued to operate the business until they sold it in 2002. [6]

He was interviewed for an article in Starlog in July 1988 . He tried to return to acting after his pain had disappeared but he had lost many of his Hollywood contacts. Although he thought about auditioning for Star Trek: The Motion Picture initially, he later reconsidered. He also admitted that he was a fan of the Star Trek films but not the spin-off series, Star Trek: The Next Generation .

Paskey appeared in the pilot episode of the fan-produced internet series Star Trek: New Voyages , "Come What May", in January 2004 . This time, he portrayed Admiral Leslie, the father of Lieutenant Leslie.

Paskey passed away three days before his 82nd birthday on 17 August 2021. [7]

• 1.1 Appearances as Leslie
• 2 Further reading
• 3 External links

Star Trek appearances [ ]

Appearances as Leslie [ ]

• " Where No Man Has Gone Before "
• " The Corbomite Maneuver "
• " Mudd's Women "
• " The Enemy Within "
• " The Man Trap "
• " The Naked Time "
• " Charlie X "
• " Balance of Terror "
• " What Are Little Girls Made Of? "
• " Dagger of the Mind "
• " The Conscience of the King "
• " The Galileo Seven "
• " The Menagerie, Part I "
• " The Menagerie, Part II "
• " Shore Leave "
• " The Squire of Gothos "
• " The Alternative Factor "
• " Tomorrow is Yesterday "
• " The Return of the Archons "
• " Space Seed "
• " This Side of Paradise "
• " The Devil in the Dark "
• " Errand of Mercy "
• " The City on the Edge of Forever "
• " Operation -- Annihilate! "
• " Catspaw "
• " Metamorphosis "
• " Friday's Child "
• " Who Mourns for Adonais? "
• " Amok Time "
• " The Doomsday Machine "
• " Wolf in the Fold "
• " The Changeling "
• " The Apple "
• " Mirror, Mirror "
• " The Deadly Years "
• " The Trouble with Tribbles "
• " Bread and Circuses "
• " Journey to Babel "
• " A Private Little War "
• " The Gamesters of Triskelion "
• " Obsession "
• " The Immunity Syndrome "
• " A Piece of the Action "
• " By Any Other Name "
• " Return to Tomorrow "
• " Patterns of Force "
• " The Ultimate Computer "
• " The Omega Glory "
• " Assignment: Earth "
• " Spectre of the Gun "
• " Elaan of Troyius "
• " The Enterprise Incident "
• " And the Children Shall Lead "
• " Spock's Brain "
• " Is There in Truth No Beauty? "
• DS9 : " Trials and Tribble-ations " (archive footage)

Further reading [ ]

• Kathleen M. Gooch, Lieutenant Who? , Starlog , issue 132, p. 93

External links [ ]

• Eddie Paskey at the Internet Movie Database
• Eddie Paskey at Wikipedia
• 50 Years Ago Today: Eddie Paskey Finally Gets Screen Credit at StarTrek.com
• EddiePaskey.com (X) – former official site
• Lt. Leslie Archive (X) – once documented every appearance by Lt. Leslie

Star Trek's Lt. Leslie - Eddie Paskey - Dies at 81

Eddie Paskey, best known for his portrayal of Lt. Leslie in Star Trek: The Original Series, dies at the age of 81.

Eddie Paskey, best known for his portrayal of Lt. Leslie in  Star Trek: The Original Series , passed away on Aug. 17 at the age of 81, just days before his 82nd birthday.

Born in 1939, Paskey made his television debut in 1965 by appearing on  Ben Casey . He'd then go on to appear in such shows as  Gomer Pyle: USMC ,  The Dick Van Dyke Show and  Mission: Impossible before being cast in  Star Trek .

Paskey played several unnamed crewmen aboard the U.S.S.  Enterprise in early episodes of  TOS before finally being given the name Mr. Leslie in Episode 14, "Balance of Terror." By Episode 17, "The Squire of Gothos," he was sporting lieutenant's insignia. Paskey is credited in 60 of the 79 episodes of  TOS in total, which is more than such mainstays as George Takei's Lt. Sulu (52) and Walter Koenig's Chekov (36).

His final  Star Trek appearance was in 2004's  New Voyages episode "Come What May," where he played Lt. Leslie's father Admiral Leslie in the fan-made web series. However, this final role was a one-off for Paskey, who formally retired from acting after leaving  TOS in Season 3 as a result of injuries that were made worse by the conditions on the set.

Source: Dayton Ward , via  Daily Star Trek News

Star Trek: The Original Series' Eddie Paskey was more than just a background character

Eddie Paskey , who passed away in 2021, was only credited one time as a particular character on Star Trek: The Original Series even though he appeared in 57 episodes over the course of three seasons (more than Walter Koenig and George Takei) and often portrayed Lt. Leslie. His background story has been addressed in follow-up Star Trek comics, according to Slashfilm , but he wasn't given a story onscreen. His purpose was a background character and William Shatner's double and stand-in, but his time onscreen gave him more.

Paskey had appeared in several episodes of The Original Series' season one before Captain Kirk finally addressed him by name, calling him "Mr. Leslie." And that name wasn't just something one of the writers pulled out of a hat. It was an homage to one of Shatner's daughters, Leslie. And it was through the course of the episodes, even though he wasn't a main star, that he became a friend of Shatner's as he mentioned in a 2016 Startrek.com interview.

"I was very fortunate because any time they could use us to fill the frame, they did. It was fun. I enjoyed what I was doing every day and was very lucky because I became a friend of William Shatner — I was his double and stand-in, and that was a fun deal. The character was called Lieutenant Leslie, but of course Bill called me Mister Leslie. I was named after his eldest daughter." Eddie Paskey

Unfortunately, back pain and cluster headaches that were made worse by the set lighting forced Paskey to leave Star Trek before the series ended. He did, however, consider auditioning for Star Trek: The Motion Picture but changed his mind. It would have been great, though, to have seen Lt. Leslie, perhaps a commander by then, show up in some of the later Star Trek movies. Fans still appreciated his commitment to the series, and he was always welcomed at Star Trek conventions.

This article was originally published on redshirtsalwaysdie.com as Star Trek: The Original Series' Eddie Paskey was more than just a background character .

Eddie Paskey

• Born August 20 , 1939 · Felton, Delaware, USA
• Died August 17 , 2021 · USA (undisclosed)
• Birth name George Edward Paskey
• Eddie Paskey was born on August 20, 1939 in Felton, Delaware, USA. He was an actor, known for Star Trek (1966) , Star Trek Phase II (2004) and Ben Casey (1961) . He was married to Judy Paskey. He died on August 17, 2021 in the USA.
• Spouse Judy Paskey (? - August 17, 2021) (his death, 4 children)
• Was a stand-in for William Shatner in the original "Star Trek".
• Appeared in almost every episode of the original "Star Trek" as Mr. Leslie or a background character.
• His character, "Lieutenant Leslie", has the distinction of being the first Star Trek extra character to "come back from the dead". In the episode "Obsession", his character was killed by a gaseous cloud creature on the surface of a planet. Later in the episode, however, Lieutenant Leslie is seen again taking orders from his familiar station on the bridge. The actual explanation for this, however, is that a scene in the script that had all three members of the landing party "killed" by the creature coming back alive in the medical room. This scene, however, was not filmed for reasons unknown, but they still kept Lieutenant Leslie on the bridge and in future episodes.
• Owns and operates an automobile air conditioning and accessories shop in Santa Ana, California
• Considered auditioning for Star Trek: The Motion Picture (1979) but later reconsidered.
• When I was acting it was a fun time. It was interesting and every day was a challenge, but it's not a very secure job when you have a wife and children.
• "I was very careful to be somewhere else when the script called for someone to die. Because I was on the set all the time I knew what was in the script. I didn't want something to happen to my character because that would have put me out of the show." (on playing Lieutenant Leslie on "Star Trek")
• It doesn't bother me one bit that I'm not famous. Sometimes people look at me and say 'You look familiar,' but I don't tell them I was on 'Star Trek' .

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The Star Trek Star You Didn't Know

Eddie Paskey appeared in more than half of the episodes of the original Star Trek television series — but you may not know his name, or even recognize his face. Paskey was William Shatner's stand-in, and had bit parts over the years, including playing Lt. Leslie.

NPR's David Greene speaks with Eddie Paskey in anticipation of the new Star Trek movie, which will be released next week.

Star Trek’s Lt. Leslie, Eddie Paskey, dead at 81

By rachel carrington | aug 24, 2021.

Eddie Paskey, Lt. Leslie, passed away on August 17th

Appearing in fifty-eight of Star Trek: The Original Series’ seventy-nine episodes, Eddie Paskey was the Jack-of-all trades type of character. Though he portrayed Lt. Leslie, he also appeared as a dreaded red shirt, occupied various bridge positions, and was shown in different uniforms all throughout the ship. He even stood in for William Shatner, and his hands were used in close-up shots of Scotty’s due to James Doohan’s missing finger.

On August 17th, Eddie Paskey passed away, just three days before his 82nd birthday. New York Times Bestselling Author Dayton Ward, who has written a plethora of Star Trek novels, shared the information on his blog on August 21st.

Eddie Paskey had a unique way of keeping Lt. Leslie alive

Paskey was able to remain one of the longest-running characters on The Original Series, even appearing more times than Lt. Sulu or Ensign Chekov. And one of the ways he made sure he didn’t get killed off permanently was by making himself scarce when it was time for someone to die on an episode.

In 1988, Paskey told Starlog Magazine that the set lighting on the series made his cluster headaches from an old injury worse. Those combined with a bad back had him leaving the show in the third season. Once he had the pain under control, he attempted to return to acting but wasn’t able to connect with any of his former Hollywood contacts so he retired from acting. That didn’t stop him from remaining a fan of The Original Series and even appearing at a convention now and again.

Star Trek fans have taken to social media to send their condolences to Eddie Paskey’s family, and we add ours as well.

Next. Discover the enduring legacy of DeForest Kelley. dark

SCIFI for your WIFI

Edward Paskey, Star Trek’s Lieutenant Leslie, Dead at 81

Edward Paskey was born on August 20, 1939, in Felton, Delaware. His family moved to California when he was child. He became an actor in 1966. He died August 17, 2021 mere days before his 82nd birthday. Eddie Paskey appeared on Star Trek: The Original Series in 57 of its 79 episodes, usually as an unnamed and uncredited crewman, but sometimes as Lieutenant Leslie.

Versatile, Paskey wore Command yellow, Engineering red, and Science blue depending on the needs of the episode. Paskey only had four speaking roles on Star Trek, once as Lieutenant Ryan and three times as Lieutenant Leslie. He also worked as a stand-in for William Shatner. Occasionally, he worked as a hand double for James Doohan, who lost a finger in World War II. Paskey only achieved screen credit twice, in “The Alternate Factor” and “This Side of Paradise.” He appeared as a brig guard, as a helmsman, as a bridge engineer, as a medical assistant, whatever was needed.

Because Paskey was usually on the set as an extra playing a generic crewman, he said:

“I was very careful to be somewhere else when the script called for someone to die. Because I was on the set all the time I knew what was in the script. I didn’t want something to happen to my character because that would have put me out of the show.” Ironically, his character died in “Obsession” and then was revived off screen. He was the first Star Trek character to die and come back to life.

Paskey suffered from cluster headaches, which the set lights triggered. He retired from acting partway through the third season. After a Vulcan nerve pinch had him fall against a railing in one episode, Paskey re-aggravated an old back injury. He retired from acting because of his back and the cluster headaches.

Paskey appeared in Star Trek New Voyages: Phase Two in 2004 as Admiral Leslie, Lt. Leslie’s father. His first television appearance was in the medical drama, Ben Casey in 1965. Paskey’s final appearance was as himself in the documentary To Be Takei in 2014.

Edward Paskey is survived by his wife, Judy and their four children. To them, we quote the Vulcan condolence, “ We grieve with thee. ”

Susan Macdonald is the author of the children’s book “R is for Renaissance Faire”, as well as 26 short stories, mostly fantasy in “Alternative Truths”, “Swords and Sorceress #30 ”, Swords &Sorceries Vols. 1, 2, & 5, “Cat Tails” “Under Western Stars”, and “Knee-High Drummond and the Durango Kid”. Her articles have appeared on SCIFI.radio’s web site, in The Inquisitr, and in The Millington Star. She enjoys Renaissance Faires (see book above), science fiction conventions,  Highland Games, and Native American pow-wows.

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Susan Macdonald

Susan Macdonald is the author of the children's book "R is for Renaissance Faire", as well as 26 short stories, mostly fantasy in "Alternative Truths", "Swords and Sorceress #30", Swords &Sorceries Vols. 1, 2, & 5, "Cat Tails" "Under Western Stars", and "Knee-High Drummond and the Durango Kid". Her articles have appeared on SCIFI.radio's web site, in The Inquisitr, and in The Millington Star. She enjoys Renaissance Faires (see book above), science fiction conventions,  Highland Games, and Native American pow-wows.

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Star Trek : Inside “The Trouble with Tribbles,” 50 Years Later

By Thomas Vinciguerra

When America tuned in to Star Trek on December 29, 1967, it got its first glimpse of tribbles. These small, plush alien beings, which swamped the U.S.S. Enterprise and its brave crew, were merely sewn-up pouches of synthetic fur stuffed with foam rubber. But in the fictional Trek universe, tribbles were cute, purring, alive and—because they bred so rapidly—hilarious.

Fifty years after its small-screen debut, “The Trouble with Tribbles” may be the most famous episode of any iteration of Star Trek . It was an unintentional comedy that has delighted generations of fans. Surprisingly, it irritated some of those who helped put it on screen—including Star Trek creator Gene Roddenberry. Mr. Spock himself, Leonard Nimoy, once dismissed it as “frivolous.”

“The Trouble with Tribbles” was the first professional sale for David Gerrold , a 23-year-old California college student. An unknown budding writer in September 1966 when he saw Star Trek ’s first episode, he almost immediately began thinking of story premises. One of them drew on his teenage experiences of raising frogs, mice, rats, and fish. “I loved animals,” recalled Gerrold, now an award-winning author of many science-fiction novels and stories, in a recent interview. “But all of those critters died on me.”

So in February 1967, he drew up a proposal for an episode he called “The Fuzzies.”

“My original conception was, ‘Aliens are always scary. What if they’re cute but we don’t realize they’re dangerous? What if you had white mice or gerbils that got onto the Enterprise and got out of control?’ ”

Gerrold envisioned a real ecological disaster. “My attitude was that it would be whimsical but that we would have a serious threat,” he said. Nowhere in his work was there to be found now-classic slapstick moments, like William Shatner’s Captain Kirk getting buried in a mountain of tribbles. Gerrold also imagined the buffoonish and chortling Cyrano Jones, the interstellar trader who introduces the beasties to the Enterprise , as a Boris Karloff type. (“You can just see him stroking it and saying, ‘Can I interest you in a harmless little tribble? . . .’ ”)

Gerrold was trying to stay true to what he called the “gravitas” of Star Trek ’s first season. One person who would probably have rather seen that gravitas stay intact was Gene Roddenberry. For all his celebrated humanism and we’re-all-alike-under-the-skin tolerance, he wanted Star Trek to be a straightforward, square-jawed action-adventure. “Gene Roddenberry had no sense of humor,” Gerrold said, “and working with him was a joyless exercise.”

Roddenberry was balanced, and sometimes thwarted, by producer Gene L. Coon, who joined Star Trek on August 8, 1966—exactly one month before the show premiered, and at a time when Roddenberry was already burning out from innumerable rewrites and production headaches. Described by associate producer Robert H. Justman as “a romantic with an obvious sense of humor,” Coon brought a welcome wink and nod to the production.

By Chris Murphy

By Greer Sinclair

“He knew you had to balance gravitas with lightheartedness—that you can’t save the galaxy every week,” said Gerrold. “Roddenberry never understood that.”

With Coon’s encouragement, Gerrold fleshed out “The Fuzzies” into a full story outline called “A Fuzzy Thing Happened to Me.” (He eventually dubbed his title creatures “tribbles” to avoid legal conflicts with H. Beam Piper’s science-fiction novel Little Fuzzy .) Star Trek story consultant Dorothy Fontana compared the outline favorably to a recent episode with distinctly bright overtones. “This story is one we should purchase,” she wrote. “[It has] the elements of fun grounded in serious problems for our principals that made ‘Shore Leave’ so well received.”

“Roddenberry did allow us to take off in lighter directions sometimes,” Fontana told Vanity Fair recently. “He just didn’t want to do an outright comedy.”

It was on the set of the otherwise grim episode “The Apple” that Gerrold realized the potential for more laughs. At one point, he saw Leonard Nimoy casually toss aside an unstable mineral sample that explodes upon hitting the ground. Gerrold picked up on Shatner’s reply: “Would you mind being careful where you throw your rocks, Mr. Spock?”

Gerrold never lost sight of his episode’s underlying drama. From the first, he had his tribbles devouring a highly important experimental grain. And he hit upon using the villainous Klingons (introduced in “Errand of Mercy,” a first-season episode written by Coon) as a central menace.

But with Coon’s encouragement, the jokes ballooned. “I never intended the episode to get that funny until we got into the development,” Gerrold said. “I realized there was the possibility of a lot more humor.”

Many jests were scripted, e.g., Kirk suggesting to Dr. McCoy (DeForest Kelley) that he “open up a maternity ward” as the tribbles began to multiply. But many bits were improvised. When Kirk sees the Russian navigator, Mr. Chekov ( Walter Koenig ), absentmindedly stroking a tribble at his console, he peevishly snatches it away. In that same scene, the communications officer, Lieutenant Uhura ( Nichelle Nichols ), appears with a tribble peeking out of her uniform’s décolletage. At episode’s end, Kirk makes peace with the problematic pests by billing and cooing at them . . . and they respond in kind.

None of this is in Gerrold’s final-draft shooting script. Other shticks, only casually mentioned in print, were played up. In the third act, Gerrold writes that Kirk must “scoop three or four tribbles” from his command chair before he can sit down. On film, the good captain accidentally sits on one of them (it emits an indignant squeak). Gerrold also wrote that even after the tribbles in the storage compartment inundate Kirk, “more and more keep tumbling out.” In the end, the unseen property master Irving Feinberg deliberately and playfully bopped Shatner with a stray tribble or two every few seconds following the initial tumult.

Some of this nonsense, Gerrold said, was because “Tribbles” was shot immediately before a two-week Labor Day break. “I think it was just a case of ‘Let’s just party out on this one.’ ” He also credits the director, Joseph Pevney: “Dorothy Fontana said, ‘Let’s hope Joe directs, because he knows comedy.' ” (Ironically, Star Trek ’s other main director at the time was Marc Daniels, who had steered many episodes of I Love Lucy .)

Eddie Paskey , who was William Shatner’s stand-in, said that it was the star’s antic spirit that carried the day. “Bill was the one. He got into it. He realized, ‘You know what? This is fun and we’re having fun.’ ”

“Tribbles” was developed and shot during the summer of 1967, when Roddenberry was out of town on vacation (or writing a pilot for an aborted Robin Hood series, depending on whom you speak to). As Gerrold put it, “You could say that when Roddenberry was away, the cast could play.”

But when the so-called “Great Bird of the Galaxy” returned to the Desilu soundstages, he was appalled. “Roddenberry entered Stage 10,” said Marc Cushman , author of These Are the Voyages , a three-volume set about the making of the series, “and saw them filming the scene in which Kirk is buried in tribbles. Shatner was having a ball, and people were laughing to the point of tears. But Roddenberry wasn't laughing.” Shortly afterward, Coon—credited as the godfather of this turn toward comedy—left the show. (Coon became a producer of It Takes a Thief and, under the pseudonym Lee Cronin, wrote several third-season Star Trek episodes. He died of cancer in 1973 at the age of 49.)

Robert Justman, the associate producer, took Roddenberry’s side on “Tribbles.” “Although the concept was amusing, the story was just too cute,” he wrote in 1996. “Kirk, Spock, and the others were real people, and real people just did not behave that way; [I felt] our finely drawn characters should never parody themselves.”

And so Justman tried to shunt the show off into what he thought was a dead zone. “Tribbles” ran at 8:30 P.M. on the Friday between Christmas and New Year’s Eve, 1967.

“Justman told me how he was responsible for selecting the order in which the episodes would air on NBC,” said Cushman. “Since he wasn't fond of 'Tribbles' when it was first made, he scheduled it to air when most of the networks were showing repeats.”

On the other hand, “Tribbles” may have been the Star Trek equivalent of “a Christmas show,” as director of photography Gerald Finnerman suggested in a 2002 interview. If that was the idea, Dorothy Fontana believes it worked. “I don’t think it was dead zone time at all,” she said. “A lot of viewers were home on vacation and watching television.”

Gerrold never had any doubts. He hosted around 30 friends to watch the episode on his first color television set; one guest was his college buddy Robert Englund , later Freddy Krueger in the Nightmare on Elm Street series. “He said, ‘I had no idea you were such a good writer,’ ” Gerrold recalled. “And I said, ‘No one will remember this in 20 years.’ ”

He was wrong, of course. “The ratings were good, the fan letters poured in, and [Justman] and Roddenberry had to reconsider their stance on whether Star Trek should make all-out comedies,” Cushman said. “As a result, 'Tribbles' was given a network repeat.”

Five decades later, Gerrold has only a few complaints—mostly about the “whiny” tribble theme composed by Jerry Fielding, and the dappled white-and-brown fur from which most of the 500 tribbles were built. “It was godawful,” Gerrold said. “It was ugly as hell.”

“But,” he added, “it photographed well.”

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Star Trek's Lieutenant Leslie Has A Sweet Connection To William Shatner

When a franchise has established itself as a pop culture favorite for as long as "Star Trek" has — currently, going on 60 years — imaginative storytellers truly have no limits when it comes to honoring such history. In 2009, J.J. Abrams went out of his way to make his prequel film "Star Trek" exist in its own alternate universe entirely , ensuring that his new franchise addition could co-exist within the timeline while never once meddling with any of what happened to Spock, Captain Kirk, and all the other heroes of the starship Enterprise. Justin Lin's "Star Trek Beyond" directly incorporated the death of Leonard Nimoy into the plot (along with an end-credits tribute to the late Anton Yelchin), paying homage to an icon in the most respectful way possible. But one of the most heartwarming examples of this tradition comes from a recurring character in "The Original Series" that most viewers likely never even picked up on.

Lieutenant Leslie first appeared in the retooled pilot episode "Where No Man Has Gone Before," played by actor Eddie Paskey in what was little more than a background role. In fact, Paskey was never actually credited as such, primarily because he served as William Shatner's double and stand-in for several scenes. But as any budget-conscious series was inclined to do, Paskey appeared in dozens of episodes throughout the three seasons — even though he'd technically died on-screen multiple times and constantly cycled through various Enterprise departments. He even got a chance to give Kirk a verbal dressing down in "This Side of Paradise," refusing to follow orders despite the captain's withering gaze (in fairness, Leslie was infected by mind-altering spores at the time).

But Shatner and Paskey shared an even closer connection — one that spoke volumes of their on-set bond.

What's in a name?

For a guy who actually appeared in more episodes of "The Original Series" than main stars George Takei or Walter Koenig ever did, it's no wonder that Eddie Paskey's role as Lieutenant Leslie has taken on a life of its own among hardcore Trekkies. Although only ever credited as an anonymous "crewman" in a handful of episodes, he received a "Star Wars" expanded universe-like treatment where his backstory and other details were expanded upon in various comic books and novels. The character was never actually named throughout his first several appearances — that is, until Shatner directly addressed Paskey several times in the season 1 episode "The Conscience of the King" as "Mister Leslie."

So where did that name come from? In a 2016 interview with Sci-Fi Bulletin , Paskey addressed the origins behind his character's name and his experiences filming with Shatner that ultimately resulted in the two becoming friends. As it turns out, the name Leslie had familial meaning to Shatner. According to Paskey:

"I was very fortunate because any time they could use us to fill the frame, they did. It was fun. I enjoyed what I was doing every day and was very lucky because I became a friend of William Shatner — I was his double and stand-in, and that was a fun deal. The character was called Lieutenant Leslie, but of course Bill called me Mister Leslie. I was named after his eldest daughter."

Leslie Shatner made two uncredited appearances as a child in a pair of "The Original Series" episodes, while her namesake would go on to appear a whopping 57 times. Paskey sadly passed away in 2021, but he'll always remain an integral part of "Trek" lore.

Six Degrees of Star Trek

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Star Trek: The Original Series (1966-1969)

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There Are No Small Parts, Only Long Memories

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By Thomas Vinciguerra

• Oct. 8, 2006

BRUCE HYDE, a professor of communications studies at St. Cloud State University in Minnesota, seems like a perfectly respectable fellow. He holds a Ph.D. from the University of Southern California. A specialist in interpersonal and small-group communication, he is a former chairman of St. Cloud’s department of theater, film studies and dance.

But there was a time when Professor Hyde, 65, wore a yellow velour tunic, wielded a phaser pistol and single-handedly manipulated the annihilating forces of matter and antimatter.

That was four decades ago, when he played Lt. Kevin Riley in the original “Star Trek” series. “A colleague told me he was clicking through his TV the other day and came across one of my episodes,” Professor Hyde said. “The show just keeps going on.”

When the U.S.S. Enterprise first blasted off in 1966, only its principal characters — William Shatner’s Capt. James T. Kirk, Leonard Nimoy’s Mr. Spock and DeForest Kelley’s Dr. Bones McCoy among them — might have expected devoted fans. But as Trekkies observe the show’s 40th anniversary this year, they are celebrating not just the stars but also the background actors who manned the starship’s controls, beamed down to alien planets and, if they played red-shirted security guards, often got torn apart by a monster or dematerialized by a Klingon.

One of them is Sean Kenney, who played the French Canadian Lieutenant DePaul in the episodes “Arena” and “A Taste of Armageddon,” and Capt. Christopher Pike in “The Menagerie.” In the first role he simply operated the helm; in the second he sat immobile and silent in an automated wheelchair. Yet at the official 40th-anniversary “Star Trek” convention in Las Vegas in August he did a brisk business in autographs, photos and reminiscences.

Now a commercial photographer in Century City, Calif., Mr. Kenney said, “I’ll be at some function, and someone will say, ‘Didn’t you do “Star Trek”?’ ”

No officer gets overlooked. Sean Morgan, 65, deals in financial services and life insurance and lives in Kalispell, Mont. In the role of Lieutenant O’Neil in “The Return of the Archons” and “The Tholian Web,” he spoke exactly 63 words. He has been an object of fans’ fascination ever since — especially at Star Trek conventions.

“I get out of my car, go in, and all these Trekkies know my name and the character I played,” Mr. Morgan said, recalling his first such gathering. “That was a little freaky.”

Rusty Meek, a former “Star Trek” first assistant director, said all that multiple casting was deliberate, an attempt to convey the impression of a community in space. “Generally we had the same extras back so we had some continuity,” he said.

John Kuehner, 45, a fan in Lakewood, Ohio, said he appreciated the effort. “It gave the show depth,” he said, “especially when you’ve seen it dozens of times. You say to yourself, ‘Hey, I remember him.’ ”

So aside from playing O’Neil, Sean Morgan was a crewman named Harper in “Balance of Terror” and also in “The Ultimate Computer,” in which he was zapped while wearing a red shirt. “I saw Joe D’Agosta” — the casting director — “later that day and said, ‘Thanks a hell of a lot,’ ” he said.

Even a single appearance could confer immortality. In “The Apple,” Celeste Yarnall — a veteran of movies like “Live a Little, Love a Little,” with Elvis Presley — was the only one of five red-uniformed Enterprise security guards to survive on planet Gamma Trianguli VI. Today, when not practicing holistic health care for animals, she attends conventions and enthusiastically recalls her role. “I was one of the first female crew members to beam down, carry a weapon and be one of the guys,” she said. “I wasn’t just a secretary. I was a full-fledged member of the team.”

William Blackburn parlayed a job standing in for DeForest Kelley during lighting adjustments into approximately 60 on-camera appearances, usually on the bridge. Though he was identified by name only once, legions of Trekkies know him as Mr. Hadley.

“When you were called by a name, you automatically became a cast member and got extra money, even if you had no lines,” said Charles Washburn, a former second assistant director.

Thus William Shatner called his stand-in, Eddie Paskey, Mr. Leslie, after his own daughter. Generally playing a security guard, Mr. Paskey can be seen in all but a handful of the show’s 79 episodes. “I was lucky,” Mr. Paskey said. “Gregg Peters, the first assistant director, put me at Scotty’s station at the bridge. From there I would get little bits and pieces of screen time.”

Mr. Paskey, now 66 and retired, is perhaps the most beloved of the show’s minor characters. Star Trek Communicator magazine once declared him “King of the Redshirts.” One of his devotees has built an eight-inch action figure of him. A Web site called “The Comprehensive Lt. Leslie Star Trek Archives” (hometown.aol.com/led4acs/LeslieArchives.html) offers screen grabs of his episodes. A shot from “The Enemy Within,” for instance, depicts him frozen and unconscious. The caption reads, “I like Paskey’s minimalist approach to playing this scene.”

Mr. Paskey said, laughing, “I guess the more exposure I get, the better off I am.”

Not all Enterprise alumni feel similarly. John Winston played Transporter Chief Kyle in more than a dozen episodes. He was tortured by an evil parallel-universe Mr. Spock in “Mirror, Mirror.” He rescued Captain Kirk from the clutches of the Doomsday Machine in the episode of the same name. He even served chicken soup to a 20th-century Air Force guard in “Tomorrow Is Yesterday.” But despite all that, and a cameo in the film “Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan,” the show means little to him.

“I liked the cast and crew,” said Mr. Winston, 78, a London-born actor. “But there was nothing to build on with that character. What could you have done with three or four lines? I got paid for it, and I forgot about it.”

He’s not the only one. Bill Blackburn is a year younger than Mr. Winston. Besides playing Hadley, he did some voice work (“I said, ‘Warp Factor 5, Captain’ ”) and was stuffed into a White Rabbit costume in the episode “Shore Leave.” After “Star Trek,” he became a costume archivist at Warner Brothers. A former professional ice skater, he spends four days a week at a rink in Burbank. He has cut ties with most of his old co-workers. “Yesterday was yesterday,” he explained. “I live today and tomorrow.”

Barbara Baldavin, who played Angela Martine, a phaser specialist and communications officer in three episodes, concurs. “I get fan mail all the time, and I don’t know why,” she said. “I’m pushing 70 now, and I’m in pretty good shape. But these guys have got to know that I’m not the same person I was 40 years ago. I’m not this hot little chick they’re thinking of. That’s why I don’t go to conventions. I don’t want to disillusion them.”

Mr. Winston and Mr. Paskey, at least, have no such qualms. They both recently appeared in “Star Trek: New Voyages,” a fan-produced, Web-based series that depicts the continuing exploits of the Enterprise. Mr. Paskey portrayed Admiral Leslie, his signature character’s own white-haired father — complete with red shirt.

Such dedication, Sean Morgan suggests, speaks volumes. “I’ve always believed that we made the show,” he said, chuckling. “Without me, Shatner would have been nothing.”

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Published May 18, 2012

FedCon XXI, Day 2 Recap

The second day of FedCon XXI in Düsseldorf, Germany, began rather early, with the first lectures and panels starting at 9 a.m. But the convention area had been vivid for hours, as at 8 a.m. the counter for next year's FedCon was started. And, for a lot of people it is sort of a ritual to get up really early on that second day of the convention and get in line to secure the best-possible seats for the following year.

After the gates of FedCon XXI itself opened, there were numerous options at hand: On the one side, of course, the lectures and panels, but on the other side, another important part… the photo sessions. For an additional fee, visitors were able to have their photo taken with their favorite actors. The photos were taken by a professional photographer and printed out later the same day, enabling visitors to hold them in their hands really soon and to use them for autographs. On Friday, not only Eddie Paskey, Jonathan Frakes and Walter Koenig held their photo sessions, but there was a very special one with the two “flagship Klingons,” Robert O'Reilly and J.G. Hertzler . Fans could pose with them in their familiar costumes and full Klingon makeup.

Meanwhile, a large number of panels also took place on Friday. One that was highly anticipated featured Eddie Paskey, who played in almost every episode of Star Trek: The Original Series in a supporting role. Since he is well known for having played “redshirt” characters, it was really funny to see that Paskey actually wore a red shirt when he came on stage. On the stage itself were two chairs, one for Paskey and the other for the Master of Ceremonies, Garrett Wang , who remained there during Eddie's panel, talking to him and the audience, asking his own questions and sharing memories related to the work of Eddie and Star Trek: The Original Series in general. Of course, during the panel, the topic of William Shatner came up. Eddie Paskey remembered several heartwarming moments, telling the audience different stories, which of course amplified their curiosity for the first appearance of Shatner, which is scheduled for the late afternoon of Saturday, 19th May.

For the Star Trek fans in particular, Friday offered many interesting panels. O'Reilly and Hertzler held their second one in the afternoon, as the first had already been on Thursday. But they were not alone on the stage for long, as a whole choir of fans dressed up as Klingons joined them to sing a Klingon song. The two of them are used to being on the stage together, which could be observed in the way they interacted, feeding each other lines and playing with the audience. Years ago, they had told the German fans that they wouldn't be doing conventions in Germany anymore, but yet here they were. They seem to have missed the audience as much as the audience missed them. Their panel was less about what they had to tell, but how they told it: Singing an opera, rapping about it, inventing stories... They knew how to handle the crowd.

After different, non- Star Trek panels during the afternoon, which included Matthew Bennett from Battlestar Galactica , Erick Avari from Stargate SG-1 (and Trek , too, actually) and Casper Van Dien from Starship Troopers, it was time for Walter Koenig to have his talk with the fans. As he was the first actor to ever attend a FedCon , he still is always a welcome guest here. He confessed that this time he actually asked organizer Dirk Bartholomä to have him at the convention again, because of his own love for FedCon and the German fans. As it turned out, Koenig is still very young at heart, making jokes and even impersonating various TOS colleagues, including James Doohan , Nichelle Nichols and George Takei . When asked about the new Star Trek movie and especially Anton Yelchin , who played Chekov, he stated how much he liked it and that he was really impressed by Yelchin, whom he found “terrific.”

Koenig told everyone that he is still working, and not only acting, but also directing. He made a short film which was shown after his panel and really moved the audience; it was a rather sad, yet arty film. Koenig's panel didn't put an end to the evening for the Trekkies, however, as the following star guest on stage was Jonathan Frakes . He had been to two FedCons before, but, as the last one had been five years ago, the fans were eager to see him again. And he didn't disappoint, especially when one of his first actions on stage was the well-known ritual of singing a few lines of “Volare,” getting the audience to join in. The stage itself seemed to be too small for Frakes, as he kept moving around in the big hall, personally greeting the people asking questions. He shared some funny moments from the TNG set, making fun of his colleagues, especially Sir Patrick Stewart , and he also invented a number of stories. He, for example, wanted to make the audience believe that Michael Dorn once snuck up on Stewart, smashing an egg on his head.

Everyone, including Frakes himself, found the story very funny nevertheless. He also explained that the beard he got to wear in the later seasons of TNG was the result of a writers' strike. He grew it during the strike and didn't want to shave when the strike ended. He came back to the set that way, Gene Roddenberry saw him and Roddenberry decided that the beard looked so “beautiful and nautical” that it had to stay for the rest of the series. After those funny moments shared with Frakes, the day gradually came to a close. Of course, another Conparty was to be expected, providing the chance to share the experience of the day with others, as well as to discuss the two remaining days, as there is still a lot to come.

Click HERE to read our recap of day one’s events at FedCon XXI and visit StarTrek.com again tomorrow to read a recap of day three.

---------------In German:FedCon XXI – Tag zwei: Freitag, 18. Mai 2012Der zweite Tage der FedCon XXI in Düsseldorf begann schon früh.  Bereits um 9 Uhr gab es die ersten Vorträge und Panels zu sehen. Aber das Congelände war schon davor sehr gut gefüllt, da man sich bereits ab 8 Uhr für die nächstjährige FedCon anmelden konnte. Viele Besucher der FedCon lassen es sich ja für Jahr nicht nehmen, sich in die Schlange einzureihen, um einen der begehrten Sitzplätze in den vorderen Reihen zu ergattern.Nachdem sich die Tore der FedCon XXI schießlich öffneten, hatten die Besucher einige Möglichkeiten zur Auswahl. Nicht nur Vorträge und Panels, sondern auch die so genannten Fotosessions mit den Stars fanden statt. Für einen Aufpreis konnte man sich mit seinen Lieblingsstars fotografieren lassen, sich somit eine tolle Erinnerung schaffen und auch die Möglichkeit, eine eigene, persönliche Autogrammvorlage zu bekommen. Neben Richard Dean Anderson, Eddie Paskey, Jonathan Frakes und Walter Koenig, gab es ein besonderes Highlight: Man konnte nicht nur mit Robert O'Reilly und J.G. Hertzler zusammen ein Foto machen, die beiden Vorzeige-Klingonen steckten in ihren alten Kostümen und waren geschminkt, was die Session mit ihnen zu einem noch größeren Erlebnis machte.

Abgesehen von den Photosessions fanden am Freitag auch eine Vielzahl von Panels statt. Eines, das von den Star Trek Fans mit Spannung erwartet wurde, war das von Eddie Paskey, der in beinahe jeder Folge von Star Trek: The Original Series mitspielte. Da er unter anderem ein “Redshirt” war, war es umso lustiger, dass er auf der Bühne auch wirklich ein “red shirt” trug. Garrett Wang begleitete ihn und das Publikum durch die Frage und Antwort Stunde, stellte selbst Fragen und teilte seine eignen Erinnerungen, vor allem im Bezug auf TOS. Eddie selbst hat nur gute Erinnerungen an diese Zeit, vor allem an William Shatner, den er als guten Freund bezeichnete. Das trug natürlich dazu bei, die Neugier des Publikums auf Shatner, dessen erster Aufritt für Samstagnachmittag angekündigt ist, noch zu steigern.

Der Freitag bot vor allem den Star Trek Fans eine Vielzahl von interessanter Panels. So teilten sich am Nachmittag Robert O'Reilly und J.G. Hertzler die Bühne und holten sogar einen Klingonenchor auf die Bühne. Bei den beiden merkte man, dass sie es gewohnt sind, miteinander auf der Bühne zu stehen: Sie spielten einander die Bälle zu, bezogen das Publikum mit ein und hatten sichtlich Spaß. Vor einigen Jahren hatten sie zwar angekündigt, keine deutschen Conventions mehr zu machen, doch offensichtlich vermissten sie das Publikum so sehr, wie es sie vermisste.

Nach einem Nachmittag voller Panels von Nicht-Star Trek Schauspielern wie Matthew Bennet aus Battlestar Galactica, Erick Avari aus Stargate SG-1 und Casper Van Dien aus Starship Troopers, war es Zeit für Walter Koenig auf die Bühne zu kommen. Er war der erste Schauspieler, der jemals auf einer FedCon zu Gast war und ist immer noch ein gern gesehener Gast. Er selbst kommt so gerne wieder, dass er in diesem Jahr den Veranstalter Dirk Bartholomä bat, ihn wieder zu holen. Koenig erzählte Witze vom Set, erinnerte sich an lustige Geschichten und machte sich sogar einen Spaß daraus, seine Kollegen der Serie nachzuahmen, vor allem Jimmy Doohan, Nichelle Nichols und George Takai. Auf den neuen Star Trek Film angesprochen betonte er, wie sehr er die Neuverfilmung mochte und vor allem Anton Yelchins Darstellung von Chekov. Im Anschluss an seiner Panel zeigte er einen Kurzfilm, den er vor kurzem realisiert hatte, ein sehr künstlerischer und ein wenig trauriger Film, der das Publikum dennoch begeisterte.

Auch nach dem Panel von Walter Koenig war für die Trekkies nicht Schluss: Jonathan Frakes stürmte die Bühne, schmetterte sein wohlbekanntes “Volare” in den Raum und begann mit einer unterhaltsamen und witzigen Stunde voller Witze und Geschichten vom Set. Aber er erzählte nur nur Wahres, sondern erfand auch Geschichte, wie zum Beispiel eine, in der Michael Dorn auf dem Kopf von Patrick Stewart ein Ei zerschlug. Wahr ist allerdings die Geschichte von Rikers Bart: Nach einem Drehbuchautoren-Streik kam er unrasiert an das Set zurück. Gene Roddenberry sah den Bart, fand ihn gut und so blieb er.  Nach diesen witzigen Momenten mit Jonathan Frakes fand der Abend nach und nach ein Ende – aber natürlich nicht ohne eine weitere Conparty und somit der Gelegenheit, sich über die vergangenen Tage auszutauschen und über die noch folgenden zu diskutieren.

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