10 Terrible Decisions That Led To Star Trek Losing Key Players
5. By Deeming The Cage Too Cerebral, NBC Lost Jeffrey Hunter And Star Trek Lost Christopher Pike
The Cage was the first pilot for Star Trek. Hunter was cast as Christopher Pike, beaten down by the pressures of responsibility, just about ready to hand in his commission and go home to Mojave.
The Cage is Star Trek at its purest. However, in a move that was both surprising and almost unprecedented, NBC rejected it, but ordered a fresh pilot to be filmed.
With this decision, they lost Hunter.
He was a movie star. His contract was to play Pike for six months, but that said nothing about having to refilm a pilot. He declined to return.
However, this story has an even sadder twist.
Hunter believed that his time would be too full in filming to commit to a show. This was not to be the case, and his roles between 1965 and 1969 began to get smaller and dry up.
An accident on the set of the film Cry Chicago left him with a serious concussion in 1968. The following year, he suffered a brain hemorrhage which caused him to trip, fall and hit his head. This, combined with his alcoholism, contributed to his death at age 42, just one week before the final episode of The Original Series aired.