"The Alternative Factor" — What The Hell Happened? (Part 2)

Still from "The Alternative Factor" (1967)

Part One of this piece, first published in December of 2016, can be read here. Please note that all passages from the revised edition of These Are The Voyages - TOS: Season One (2013), by Marc Cushman with Susan Osborn, have been italicized. All other sources are cited in the endnotes of this post.

Part Two begins in the second week of November, 1966. John Drew Barrymore had just been cast in the role of Lazarus. With a production start date rapidly approaching, a staff rewrite attempted to turn Don Ingalls' work into a script that was ready to go before the cameras.

John Drew Barrymore, now signed to play Lazarus, had more going for him than his legendary family name -- he had achieved stardom in his own right. This Barrymore had shared the lead on the big screen with Steve McQueen in 1958's Never Love a Stranger, and with Julie London in 1959's Night of the Quarter Moon. He then traveled to Italy to top the bill in numerous films there, such as 1960’s I’ll See You in Hell and, as Ulysses, opposite Steve Reeves' Hercules, in 1961's The Trojan Wars. Between films in the early and mid-Sixties, Barrymore was always given choice television guest star roles, in series such as Gunsmoke, Rawhide, The Wild, Wild West, and now, tentatively, Star Trek.

No credit for Steve McQueen (1958)

These Are The Voyages significantly exaggerates the star power John Barrymore, Jr. brought to Star Trek when he was cast in "The Alternative Factor." To begin with, John Drew Barrymore and Steve McQueen did not share the lead in Never Love a Stranger (1958). Made early in McQueen’s career, the film arrived before Wanted: Dead or Alive (1958-61) and The Magnificent Seven (1960) turned the actor into a star. Not only was McQueen fourth-billed, but his name did not even appear on the film’s theatrical poster in the United States. (When the film was eventually released in Italy, McQueen was billed above the title, an indication of just how high his star had risen in a short time). None of these details should come as a surprise to Mr. Cushman, who for several years has claimed to be preparing a biography of Steve McQueen.

Cushman and Osborn also overlook the fact that Never Love a Stranger and Night of the Quarter Moon were harshly dismissed by major film critics. Writing about Never Love a Stranger for The New York Times, Richard W. Nason said, "The consistency of good style that lent dignity to Harold Robbins' novel...is sadly missing from the film version."¹ Mae Tinee complained in The Chicago Daily Tribune that, "[the] film has as much sparkle as a wet match...Many of the characters, including the star, also behave as if they were very, very stupid."²  Variety's review was also harsh, describing the movie as, "so ineptly and unprofessionally done, especially in its handling of such volatile subjects as race and religion, that it has nothing else to recommend it except a vague topicality."³

No credit for Steve McQueen here, either (1958)

The notices for Night of the Quarter Moon (1959) weren't much better. Variety declared that the picture was "fairly well premised but burdened with a trite story."⁴ Howard Thompson of The New York Times called it a "misguided film."⁵ Mae Tinee of The Chicago Tribune dismissed it as "one of the most inept films I’ve ever encountered."⁶ The film was a box office failure that reportedly lost MGM $146,000.⁷

In regards to Barrymore's subsequent career in Italy, Cushman and Osborn make a number of errors in their brief summary of this period. John Drew Barrymore did not have top-billing in 1961's The Trojan Wars (released outside of Italy as The Trojan Horse); he was second-billed to Steve Reeves, who played Aeneas, not Hercules. Barrymore was billed second in I'll See You In Hell (1960), too — Hungarian actress Eva Bartok had first billing. In fact, of the thirteen films Barrymore made while he was in Italy, he received top-billing in only three: A Game of Crime (1964), Arms of the Avenger (1963), and Natika (1963).

Barrymore second-billed for The Cossacks (1960)

These Are The Voyages presents Barrymore's roles in Italy as the next step in the career of an actor who had already achieved stardom. Other accounts are far less generous. In Myrna Oliver's obituary for the actor in The Los Angeles Times, for example, she presented a much dimmer view of Barrymore's Italian career:

Hoping to improve his image, in 1958 he changed his name to John Drew Barrymore, substituting one family name, Drew, for the other of Blythe. 

He employed the new billing in the films "High School Confidential!" and "Never Love a Stranger," but the new name did not seem to help. So he went to Italy for six years and played leading roles in a dozen low-budget, equally low-quality films.⁸

By 1964, even Barrymore himself did not reflect positively on his Italian film career:

Five years ago he left for Rome's dolce vita. His billing became John Drew Barrymore, possibly an escape from his father's overwhelming shadow. John, now home town, 32, is back in his perhaps to stay. What has he been doing in Italy? 

"Sixteen or seventeen pictures," he reported. Any of them good? He shook his head sorrowfully. "They started out that way," he said. "But unfortunately the Italian directors don't know how to cut. Well, Fellini knows what he is doing; he envisions the film while he is shooting it. Perhaps one other. But the rest don't know how to put a picture together."⁹

Earlier in their chapter about "The Alternative Factor," Cushman and Osborn state that, "Roddenberry knew who the right actor was. He suggested John Drew Barrymore for the role...Where John Drew went, free publicity followed." While it’s certainly true that Barrymore often found his name in the press, the kind of coverage the actor often received was probably not what Roddenberry wanted to be associated with Star Trek. Consider the following stories about Barrymore that were printed in both national newspapers and the Hollywood trade papers:

• In 1953, "Barrymore pleaded guilty to failure to appear on three old traffic citations-having no driver's license, changing lanes in traffic unsafely and having no registration for his automobile."¹⁰ The young actor was only 20 years old at the time of the incident.
• In 1954, Actors' Equity considered charges against Barrymore for "conduct unbecoming an Actors' Equity member," citing him for "insubordination and the use of obscene language."¹¹ As a result of never appearing before the union to answer these charges, Barrymore was ultimately "suspended from Actors' Equity for a year" in 1957.¹²
• In 1958, Barrymore spent three weekends in jail, "after pleading guilty to charges of disturbing the peace and being drunk in a public place."¹³ Police found the actor loudly arguing with his then-wife, Cara Williams, after several local residents "complained of hearing a woman screaming."¹⁴ When officers arrived on the scene and attempted to restrain Barrymore, the actor "struggled violently and abused the Beverly Hills air with unseemly language," according to police reports.¹⁵
• Later that same year, Cara Williams filed for a decree of separation, custody of their 4-year-old son, and alimony. Her suit alleged that Barrymore, now 26, had inflicted "grievous mental cruelty" upon her.¹⁶
• In 1959, Barrymore "was released on $1500 bail...after being booked on suspicion of felony hit-and-run and drunk driving."¹⁷ The actor, according to police reports, had “smashed his new white sports car into the rear of [another vehicle]."¹⁸
• In 1960, Barrymore received a year-long suspension from Actor's Equity for the second time in five years, and was "slapped...with a $5,000 fine for his walkout...on a co-starring stint in the touring production of 'Look Homeward, Angel.'"¹⁹ Barrymore had blamed illness for breaking his contract with the production, but Actors' Equity was unconvinced, since Barrymore began working on a motion picture in Europe only shortly thereafter.
• Later that same year, Barrymore spent eight days in an Italian jail after being found, "guilty by Rome court of resisting and insulting the police" (he had been sentenced to eight months in prison, but this sentence was suspended).²⁰
• According to The Los Angeles Times, "In 1962, after being involved in a series of street brawls in Rome, [Barrymore] told [the] Associated Press: 'I'm not a nice, clean-cut American kid at all. I'm just a human being. Those things just happen.'"²¹
• That same year, Weekly Variety reported that Barrymore had been picked up by police "on drunk charges."²²
• Finally, on October 15, 1966 — only a few weeks before agreeing to appear in "The Alternative Factor" — Barrymore and twelve other people were arrested during a narcotics raid. Barrymore was released on $3,300 bail.²³

Janet MacLachlan in a still from "The Alternative Factor" (1967)

Getting back to Star Trek...

For the part of Lt. Charlene Masters, Joe D’Agosta and Gerd Oswald liked the idea of hiring an up-and-coming black actress -- Janet MacLachlan. 

There's nothing in the files at UCLA indicating who selected MacLachlan for the part; Cushman and Osborn's statement here appears to be purely speculative. Moreover, a memo from Gene Roddenberry to Joe D'Agosta (the show’s casting director) dated November 3, 1966 — just prior to when casting was done for "The Alternative Factor" — suggests that Oswald probably was not the one who chose MacLachlan:

Particularly I want more of your suggestions and help on supporting roles. I do not believe in leaving these selections up to directors and this has been happening quite a bit lately, and we almost invariably get hurt by the director's choice. If I had my way about it, I would have almost a positive rule that we never use a supporting actor suggested by a director.²⁴

Regardless of who picked MacLachlan to appear as Lt. Charlene Masters, the 33 year-old actress was hired to play the part, for which she received $750.²⁵ To read more about the significance of MacLachlan being cast in the part, which was not specified by ethnicity in the script, this blog post by Robert J. Sawyer is worth reading.

...in 1966, MacLachlan was mostly known for her work on the stage. She had yet to achieve any standout recognition on television, so there was no real name value in hiring her, only color value.

For roughly two years (from 1964-66), MacLachlan was a contract player for Universal TV, appearing on such programs as The Alfred Hitchcock Hour, Chrysler Theatre, Run For Your Life, and The Fugitive.²⁶ From 1961-1964, she had appeared on and off-Broadway alongside "such acclaimed and established actors as James Earl Jones, Louis Gossett, Jr., Maya Angelou and Roscoe Lee Browne."²⁷ Although she was not a "name" when she was cast in "The Alternative Factor," it strikes me as rather insulting to dismiss her as having "only color value" in the way that Cushman and Osborn do here.

But the attitudes within the Star Trek buildings and stages were not representative of all of America in 1966, and the domino effect which took most of the good out of "The Alternative Factor," began first with Coon’s decision to trim back some of the romance, now intensified with the casting of Janet MacLachlan to play opposite John Drew Barrymore. It was still one year before the release of the controversial Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner?, in which black Sidney Poitier and white Katherine Houghton fight for their right to be married - and win. As NBC became aware of the casting, the network programmers expressed misgivings. Even with the success of I Spy and its equal-status casting of Robert Culp and Bill Cosby, and the love story in “The Alternative Factor” now pushed into the background, many were nonetheless wondering how the affiliates in the South might react to this interracial pairing. With only a few days left before the start of production, Gene Coon began receiving off-the-record phone calls suggesting that either Janet MacLachlan be replaced with a white actress or that the script be changed to remove the remaining scenes depicting sexual or romantic interest between Lazarus #1 and Charlene Masters. The simplest solution would have been to pay MacLachlan a “kill fee” with the promise of future work. Coon, however, zigged when he should have zagged. 

The paragraph above is not supported by the evidence I have found to date. Consider the following:

• No archival documentation is cited or referenced in These Are The Voyages in which any "network programmers" express misgivings — or opinions of any kind — about the casting of Janet MacLachlan in "The Alternative Factor." In my own research, I have been unable to find any primary sources that support this claim.
• Moreover, it is unclear who Cushman or Osborn mean to identify when they refer to "network programmers." This title is used sparingly in These Are The Voyages, and never in reference to a specific person. For the sake of argument, I have assumed it could be anyone at NBC with input regarding Star Trek's place on the network’s schedule.
• Between Don Ingalls' November 7, 1966 second draft and the staff re-write completed between November 14-18, 1966, no intermediate draft was written. These Are The Voyages claims that Gene Coon completed a revised final draft teleplay on November 14, 1966, but the files at UCLA do not support this. Some page revisions were completed on that date, but many contained only minor changes, and there is no record of a revised final draft on November 14, 1966.
• Additionally, the page revisions at UCLA confirm that neither Gene Coon nor anyone else on staff produced a version of the script in which the love story between Masters and Lazarus was "pushed into the background." Every version written by Ingalls had the Masters/Lazarus romance; all of the pages rewritten by the staff removed it entirely (see part one of this piece for memos from Gene Roddenberry and Stan Robertson on this issue).
• I have been unable to locate any evidence documenting phone calls from NBC to Gene Coon (or anyone else on the Star Trek staff) urging the replacement of Janet MacLachlan with a white actress or the elimination of the Lazarus-Masters love story following MacLachlan being cast. Cushman and Osborn do not cite a single source in support of this claim.
• Indeed, it is unclear what "off-the-record phone calls" is supposed to mean in this context. While a journalist may receive phone calls from sources that are on or off the record, in the context of a television production, phone calls are by their very nature off-the-record.
• Finally, despite publicly blaming NBC for a multitude of sins for years after Star Trek was cancelled, Gene Roddenberry did not once describe what Cushman and Osborn allege about NBC in the quoted passage.

Still from "The Alternative Factor" (1967)

With Coon’s November 14th Revised Final Draft, the last traces of the love story were removed. Lazarus #1 had lost all his charismatic traits and, because of this, was now intolerably annoying.

Again, no revised final draft for "The Alternative Factor" was completed on November 14, 1966; only 48 individual page revisions were completed on that date. Some of these were newly typed, but many were taken from Don Ingalls' November 7, 1966 draft, with scenes crossed out and dialogue revisions (both major and minor) made by hand. Gene Coon may have completed these pages, or it may have been someone else on the Star Trek staff — the archival record does not indicate the author of the revisions.

Cushman and Osborn argue that Lazarus went from being charismatic in the Don Ingalls version of the script, to "intolerably annoying" in the staff rewrite. In truth, the staff rewrite retained much of Lazarus' dialogue from Ingalls' second draft teleplay. Although the revised version eliminated a few pages that constituted a half-baked romance between Lazarus and Lt. Masters that was present in Ingalls’ second draft, the substance of Lazarus' character was largely the same in both versions.

The character of Charlene Masters, no longer a chemist but instead a member of engineering, became pointless. She was left with so little to do that one has to wonder why she is even in the story, representing the engineering section in place of Scotty. 

Masters was never described as a "chemist" in any version of the script. Instead, she was identified as a "chemoscientist," an odd description, but one that appears in every draft of the script. In Ingalls' first draft teleplay, she had worked in the ship's "energizing lab," but Bob Justman recommended changing her workplace to engineering, a change Ingalls made in his second draft.²⁸ In addition, Gene Roddenberry disliked presenting another female scientist on the show, suggesting in his comments about Ingalls' revised story outline that he’d prefer to do something different with the character:

We have had lady scientists on this show galore. Let's have her in some other job. Cartographer...communications...how about a lady navigator or engineer?²⁹

Thus, Masters' workplace became engineering. Ingalls made this change in his November 7, 1966 second draft — it did not happen in the staff rewrite, as suggested by Cushman and Osborn.³⁰

As for why Lt. Charlene Masters was is in the final script rather than Scotty, it's possible James Doohan was simply unavailable. During the first season of Star Trek, Doohan was not a regular, and his deal was on "a non-exclusive basis subject to his availability."³¹ At the time, he was still booking gigs on other programs, including a recurring role on Peyton Place.³² It's also possible that by the time the Masters-Lazarus romance was being written out of the show, MacLachlan had already been booked for the role. To be fair, I can only speculate on the matter; the archival record does not have any clear-cut answers.

With filming due to start in two days, the new script was sent to the director and the regular cast members. John Drew Barrymore was not scheduled to work that first day of filming. For the moment, he was unaware of the drastic story changes. 

According to a memo written by Joe D'Agosta during the filming of this episode, the account above is not true. In that memo, D'Agosta states that, "Mr. Barrymore received script changes on November 14."³³ What D'Agosta recorded at the time seems only logical. Why would the production withhold script revisions from a principal guest star scheduled to begin filming in just a few days?

I must also dispute the claim presented in These Are The Voyages that the staff rewrite of "The Alternative Factor" contained "drastic story changes." The Star Trek staff doesn't appear to have viewed the changes as considerable. Don Ingalls received a solo "written by" credit for the episode, and there's no record of the producers challenging that credit through arbitration with the Writers Guild of America (the same cannot be said for "A Private Little War," Don Ingalls' other Star Trek effort — that episode did go through WGA arbitration, which split credit between Ingalls and Roddenberry, leaving Ingalls to use a pseudonym on the finished product).

Stay tuned for the next part of this piece, which will take a closer look at the seven turbulent days spent filming "The Alternative Factor" in late November of 1966.

(Concluded in Part 3)

Certain images courtesy of Trek Core.

Endnotes:

1 Richard W. Nason, "Local Theatres Offer Story of Rackets," The New York Times, November 22, 1958

2 Mae Tinee, "Tho the Novel Sizzles, Film Just Sputters Out,"  Chicago Daily Tribune, October 24, 1958, p.B7

3 Daily Variety, June 27, 1958, p. 3

4 Weekly Variety, February 11, 1959, p.6

5 Howard Thompson, "Racial Love Story," The New York Times, March 5, 1959

6  Mae Tinee, "Inept Movie Tells Sexy, Sordid Tale," Chicago Daily Tribune, June 15, 1959, p.39

7 The Eddie Mannix Film Ledger, Margaret Herrick Library, Center for Motion Picture Study

8 Myrna Oliver, "John Drew Barrymore, 72; Troubled Heir to the Throne of the Royal Family of Acting," Los Angeles Times, December 1, 2004

9 Bob Thomas, "New Barrymore—With Profile," The Lincoln Star, November 1, 1964, Page 59 (this profile was syndicated in dozens of newspapers; Bob Thomas, who died in 2014, had a long career covering Hollywood for The Associated Press)

10 "Young Barrymore Pays Traffic Fine," Los Angeles Times, May 14, 1953, p.A1

11 "Equity Mulls Charges Against Barrymore, Jr.," Daily Variety, August 11, 1954, p.2

12 "Barrymore Given Suspension by Equity," Weekly Variety, May 29, 1957, p.68

13 "Barrymore Jr. Turns Shy on Jail Week End," Los Angeles Times, January 5, 1958, p.2

14 "Barrymore Jailed In Row With His Spouse," Los Angeles Times, January 1, 1958, p.6

15 "Barrymore Jailed In Row With His Spouse," Los Angeles Times, January 1, 1958, p.6

16 "Barrymores Again Strike Marital Storm," Los Angeles Times, September 27, 1958, p.B1

17 "John Barrymore Jr. Held in Hit-Run Case," Los Angeles Times, March 8, 1959, p.32

18 "John Barrymore Jr. Held in Hit-Run Case," Los Angeles Times, March 8, 1959, p.32

19 "Equity Suspends, Fines Barrymore," Weekly Variety, July 13, 1960, p.57

20 "Barrymore Convicted," The New York Times, October 16, 1960, p.83

21 Myrna Oliver, "John Drew Barrymore, 72; Troubled Heir to the Throne of the Royal Family of Acting," Los Angeles Times, December 1, 2004

22 Weekly Variety, January 10, 1962, p.54

23 "Dope Raiders Seize Actor Barrymore," Chicago Tribune, October 17, 1966, p.3

24 Memo from Gene Roddenberry to Joe D'Agosta, November 3, 1966, Gene Roddenberry Star Trek Television Series Collection, Box 35, Folder 5

25 Cast Sheet for "The Alternative Factor," November 15, 1966, Gene Roddenberry Star Trek Television Series Collection, Box 10, Folder 3

26 Daily Variety, December 14, 1965, p.6

27 Steve Ryfle, "Janet MacLachlan dies at 77; prominent African-American actress in film, TV since 1960s," Bright Lights Film Journal, October 18, 2010

28 Memo from Bob Justman to Gene Coon, October 19, 1966, Gene Roddenberry Star Trek Television Series Collection, Box 10, Folder 4

29 Memo from Gene Roddenberry, undated (approximately September 14, 1966), Gene Roddenberry Star Trek Television Series Collection, Box 10, Folder 2

30 "The Alternative Factor," Second Draft Teleplay by Don Ingalls, November 7, 1966, From a Private Collection, Also Found in the Donald G. Ingalls Collection of Scripts, Box 4, Folder 16

31 Memo from Joe D'Agosta to Gene Roddenberry, May 19, 1966, Gene Roddenberry Star Trek Television Series Collection, Box 35, Folder 6

32 Stephen Bowie, "Who Are Those Guys #3," The Classic TV History Blog: Dispatches From the Vast Wasteland, May 13, 2011

33 Memo from Joe D'Agosta to Herb Solow, November 18, 1966, Gene Roddenberry Star Trek Television Series Collection, Box 10, Folder 4

Sources:

The Gene Roddenberry Star Trek Television Series Collection (1964-1969)

The Donald G. (Don) Ingalls Collection of Scripts (1957-1992)

These Are The Voyages: TOS, Season One (Marc Cushman with Susan Osborn, 2013)

Leonard Nimoy vs. Desilu Studios

Publicity photo of Leonard Nimoy from "Where No Man Has Gone Before" (1965)

Dedicated fans will know that Leonard Nimoy was involved in a contract dispute with Desilu before the beginning of Star Trek's second season, but they may not be familiar with all the details. At the time, the issue was not widely publicized. A brief item in the May 31, 1967 issue of Daily Variety, which stated that Nimoy had resolved his "salary demands with Desilu, [and] re-signed for next term," appears to be the only time any part of the dispute was made public during Star Trek's first run.¹

As far as I have been able to determine, the contentious negotiation — which was more complicated than a simple salary dispute — was not described in any detail until David Alexander's Star Trek Creator (1994), which relied on a mix of archival sources and at least one new interview to reconstruct the back-and-forth between Leonard Nimoy and the studio. Subsequently, these events have been recounted in Herbert F. Solow and Robert H. Justman's Inside Star Trek (1996), Mark Clark's Star Trek FAQ (2012), and Marc Cushman and Susan Osborn's These Are The Voyages — TOS: Season Two (2014), as well as in a number of online sources.

According to David Alexander, Leonard Nimoy's dissatisfaction with his contract began early on during the production of the first season, several months before Star Trek debuted on NBC:

Approximately five episodes into filming the first season's shows, before the program was even on the air, Leonard's agent, Alex Brewis, called for a meeting. Present at the meeting was Gene [Roddenberry], Brewis, and Morris Chapnick, who had been Gene's production assistant on The Lieutenant and the first two Star Trek pilots. Morris now worked as Herb Solow's assistant and remembers the meeting clearly.

From the scripts they were filming, it was clear that Spock's importance to the storyline was nearly equal to that of the captain. Spock was not just a minor supporting character, and consequently Nimoy wanted more money. Chapnick's memory of the meeting is that Gene was inclined to agree, but Morris—then working for Herb Solow, the executive in charge of production—thought differently. At that time, Desilu had the Star Trek and Mission: Impossible casts, thirteen actors, under contract, and Chapnick reasoned that if the studio gave a raise, however meritorious, to one actor, they would face the probability of the other twelve demanding the same.

Morris rejected Nimoy's agent's demand, which created a mild schism between Morris and Gene. Gene at first thought that Chapnick was disloyal to what he, Gene, thought was fair, but later realized Morris was just doing his job. Brewis was told to bring the subject up again at the appropriate time, after series renewal, but before the start of the second season's filming. Brewis did just that.

--David Alexander, Star Trek Creator: The Authorized Biography of Gene Roddenberry (1994), p.274

This particular account — which is not reproduced by any other source — seems rather improbable. Morris Chapnick was only an assistant, and was not in a position to overrule Gene Roddenberry or reject an actor's salary demands. That a formal meeting to discuss contract terms would be held without the presence of Ed Perlstein or someone else from business affairs strikes me as equally unbelievable.

Moreover, by the time Leonard Nimoy signed his contract to play Spock in "Where No Man Has Gone Before," it was clear that the Vulcan science officer was no longer intended to be a "minor supporting character" on the series, and this was reflected by the actor's contract terms, which were significantly improved compared to the contract he had signed to do the first pilot. Next to Shatner, no one in the cast was paid more money than Leonard Nimoy (at the beginning of season one, he earned $400 more per episode than DeForest Kelley and James Doohan, $500 more per episode than Grace Lee Whitney, and $650 more per episode than George Takei). Only Shatner and Nimoy were guaranteed to be in every episode (their co-stars had deals for 7 out of 13 episodes, or worse, at the start of the series).² And only Shatner and Nimoy were guaranteed to be in the opening credits every week, in first and second position, respectively.³

Still from "The Devil in the Dark" (first aired March 9, 1967)

Alexander goes on to describe the studio's initial offer to Nimoy for Star Trek's second season, and the aggressive counter-offer that was then made by Nimoy's agent, Alex Brewis:

On March 17, 1967, Alex Brewis requested and received a meeting with Ed Perlstein at Desilu Business Affairs. Before the meeting, Perlstein had informed Nimoy's agent that it was Desilu's intention to bring Nimoy's fee up an additional $250 a week over and above the $500 a week advance in salary that was in his contract. Plus, Perlstein informed Brewis, the studio would provide Leonard with an additional $100 per program to handle secretarial costs for his fan mail. At that point, Leonard was making $1,250 per program for the 1966/1967 season for up to seven days work per show. His contract called for a $500 increase for the 1967/1968 broadcast seasons to $1,750 per program, and then $250 escalations per year thereafter for up to seven days work. The original contract had Nimoy earning $1,750 per show for the second season. The studio's offer would jack that up to $2,000, plus the secretarial allowance.

Nimoy's agent had a counter proposal: Leonard would get $4,500 per show for six days work, not seven; Leonard would get all of his original salary for reruns spread over five program repeats (the same level as Shatner); and there was more. Leonard wanted to direct a minimum of one out of each thirteen programs—the first at minimum and the rest at the top pay scale of the show; if any of the shows were released theatrically, Nimoy wanted to be paid five times his applicable program compensation or $25,000, whichever was greater. On personal appearances he wanted first-class transportation and accommodations for both him and his wife. He wanted a permanent dressing room large enough to serve as both his room and his office; he wanted a telephone installed at studio expense (he would pay for long distance calls); he would accept the $100 per show secretarial allowance and expected the studio to continue to supply him with stationary and photos with which to answer his fan mail; if he was to be away from Los Angeles overnight in connection with the production of the program, personal appearances, or any other program requirements, he wanted his per diem to be the same as the highest per diem paid to any actor on the show. And there were a few other minor requests.

--David Alexander, Star Trek Creator: The Authorized Biography of Gene Roddenberry (1994), p.275-276 

Herbert F. Solow — Star Trek's executive in charge of production, as well as the vice president in charge of programming for Desilu — describes a somewhat different scenario in Inside Star Trek. To Solow's best recollection, there were no meetings with Alex Brewis about Nimoy's compensation during Star Trek's first season. Rather, the issue came to a head during the filming hiatus between seasons one and two, when it came time to pick up Nimoy's contract option for the show's second season. And, the way Solow tells it, Brewis' demands were much more outrageous than the ones reported by David Alexander:

Leonard's agent, Alex Brewis, was a likable, energetic man, highly experienced in overcoming the daily obstacles of getting acting jobs for his clients, but not accustomed to confronting studios with demands to renegotiate a series star's contract. As Leonard recalls, Alex held a series of meetings with him, his most important client, and discussed the proper approach to convince the studio to bring his client up to "star level." Their main discussion focused on Leonard's salary. Signed contract be damned; the decision was to demand $3,000 per episode and settle for $2,500, thus doubling his contractual salary, but still giving him only fifty percent of what Shatner was originally being paid.

The studio would have been amenable to the $2,500 request. But that wasn't to be. As Alex approached my office, he overheard a phone conversation I was having with Marty Landau's agent. The deal with Landau, one of the Mission: Impossible stars, was no deal. The studio had no options on his services per his choice and ours, so every year I renegotiated a new deal directly with Landau and then, afterwards, phoned his agent to run through the figures. Brewis thought he heard me confirming a combined per-episode salary for Landau and his wife, Mission star Barbara Bain, of $11,000. He had heard incorrectly. (In a million years, I wouldn't pay that much!). He became incensed. "If they're worth $11,000, then my client, Leonard Nimoy, is worth at least $9,000."

So Alex Brewis made his demands—and a threat: "$9,000 per episode, star billing, star perks, a larger percentage of merchandising money and greater script input, or else Mr. Nimoy would not report for shooting." (Years later, Leonard laughed, remembering that when he heard how Brewis had "improved" his demands from $2,500 to $9,000, he "almost had a heart attack.")

--Herbert F. Solow, Inside Star Trek: The Real Story (1996), p.317

Key details about Nimoy's demands that were introduced by Herb Solow in Inside Star Trek — including the demands for a raise to $9,000 an episode, greater script input, and a larger percentage of merchandising revenue —  have been repeated in most of the accounts of the dispute that have followed. These include, for example, the following:

When Spock emerged as the series' breakout character, Roddenberry and Desilu executives feared that Nimoy would demand more money—as indeed he did following Season One. Reluctant to establish precedents that might work against them in future negotiations, Desilu took a hard line in a series of petty disputes with the actor. For instance, Nimoy requested pens and pencils to reply to his copious fan mail. Even though Desilu provided Nimoy a $100 allowance toward the salary of a secretary, supplied Star Trek letterhead and publicity photos, and paid postage costs, the studio refused to give Nimoy any pens or pencils. Nimoy was also rebuffed when he attempted to install a telephone in his office (even at his own expense). At that point, the show's entire cast and crew were sharing a single soundstage telephone. And Nimoy had to resort to theatrics—asking his secretary to feign heatstroke—to get a window air conditioner installed in his office, even with temperatures climbing toward 100 degrees. Although Roddenberry wasn't directly involved in all these conflicts, Nimoy nevertheless blamed the Great Bird for refusing to intervene on his behalf.

The situation reached crisis proportions in the interim between Seasons One and Two. A gaping disparity in compensation existed between the show's two leads during its first season: Shatner received a salary of $5,000 per week as well as 20 percent profit participation. He was also guaranteed a $500 per week raise every season the series was renewed. Nimoy was paid $1,250 per week with no profit participation. (Most of Star Trek's other cast members were paid around $600 per show and were not guaranteed work in every episode.) As expected, Nimoy wanted to renegotiate before production began on Season Two. However, Roddenberry balked when Nimoy's agent, Alex Brewis, demanded $9,000 per week, star billing, profit participation, and a percentage of the show's merchandising, among other items.

--Mark Clark, Star Trek FAQ (2012), p.130-131

The arguments between producer and actor are never limited to merely money. Nimoy also felt he, not only Roddenberry or Coon, should have a say when it came to his character.

Roddenberry was livid over Nimoy’s “demand” regarding the creative property of Mr. Spock. Desilu was more concerned with an increase to the budget. 

Nimoy was making $1,125 per episode [$7,900 in 2013], a respectable paycheck by 1967 standards but nowhere near a number considered to be “star level.” He wanted his agent to renegotiate for $3,000 per episode, all the while happy to settle for $2,500 -- just over twice what he was currently making. Brewis, more certain of Nimoy’s value to the series, demanded $9,000. It was a staggering jump.

--Marc Cushman with Susan Osborn, These Are The Voyages — TOS: Season Two (eBook Edition, March 2014)

What, then, really happened? Did Brewis demand $9,000 an episode, as reported by Herb Solow and others, or did he demand only half that, as reported by David Alexander? Did Nimoy want a telephone installed at the studio's expense, as reported by Alexander, or did he offer to pay for the installation himself, as reported by Mark Clark? Did Nimoy demand profit participation, as reported by Clark? Did Nimoy demand greater script input, as reported by Solow, Clark, Cushman, and Osborn?

Archival sources indicate that David Alexander's account is the most accurate, and that many of the demands that have been attributed to Nimoy and Brewis were either never made or have been greatly exaggerated. On March 20, 1967, Ed Perlstein fired off a memo to Herb Solow detailing a meeting he had held with Alex Brewis the previous Friday, March 17, 1967. He began by describing the current terms of Nimoy's deal, as well as the studio's offer above and beyond what was stipulated by Nimoy's contract for a second season of Star Trek:

On Friday, March 17th, I met with Alex Brewis and Leonard Nimoy’s business manager at Alex’s request to discuss the Leonard Nimoy situation for the 1967/1968 broadcast season. Prior to this meeting I had informed Alex of Desilu’s intention to bring Leonard’s fee up an additional $250 plus providing Leonard with an additional $100 per program to handle secretarial costs for his own fan mail. As you know, Leonard made $1,250 per program for the 1966/1967 season for up to seven days work and days averaged out. His normal increase for 1967/1968 is a $500 increase to $1,750 per program ($250 escalations per year thereafter) for up to seven days work and averaging out. I proposed the further increase to a total of $2,000 for up to seven days work with NO averaging out with the other terms of the contract to remain the same except that the third year price would be $2,250 per program, the fourth year would be $2,750 per program and the fifth year would be $3,250 per program.⁴

Cushman and Osborn report $1,125 as Nimoy's per episode salary in 1967, but this number is neither representative of Nimoy's salary during the 1966-67 season ($1,250 per episode) nor what Nimoy's contract indicated he would be paid during the 1967-68 season ($1,750 per episode). Despite an offer to increase Nimoy's per episode salary to $2,000 per episode during Star Trek's second season (plus an additional $100 per episode allowance to pay a secretary to handle Nimoy's fan mail), Brewis rejected Desilu's proposal, and instead made a series of demands which Ed Perlstein called "outrageous" in his memo to Herb Solow:

• Leonard would receive $4,500 per show for the 1967/1968 season for up to six days work and no averaging out. Thereafter $500 per year increases.

• Leonard’s current residual pattern provides for scale plus 10%. He now wants 100% of original salary for reruns spread over five reruns.

• Leonard wants to direct a minimum of one out of each 13 programs.  The first directorial assignment would be at minimum and the second and subsequent assignments at the top of the show.

• On theatrical release of episodes, by present contract we pay 100% of Leonard’s applicable compensation (not scale) and he is now asking for five times his applicable program compensation or $25,000, whichever is greater.

• On personal appearances Leonard wants first-class transportation and first-class accommodations for himself and his wife.

• Leonard wants a permanent dressing room large enough to serve as both his dressing room and office with space for his personal secretary (to be paid by him personally) and a telephone installed at our cost except he would reimburse us for long distance calls.

• Leonard is willing to accept our generous gift of $100 per program for his own personal secretary for fan mail but he wants us to furnish him with all supplies, photos, etc. for fan mail. We have been furnishing this in the past and I see no reason not to continue it.

• In the event Leonard is required over night for any duration of time to be away from the Los Angeles area in connection with the production of the program, personal appearances and what-have-you, he wants his per diem to be the same as the highest per diem paid to any actor on the show.

• Leonard wants the unlimited rights to do voice over commercials, whether in his voice or otherwise.

• He wants a list of the sponsors so that he can determine whether or not any guest appearances that he does on other shows will be competitive to our sponsors.

• On any future record deals, such as the Dot album, Leonard wants the right to be able to negotiate directly with the record company and not through us. I told Alex that Desilu owns the character and the voice of Mr. Spock and that all deals will have to go through Desilu. As regards Leonard Nimoy personally in his own personal voice without the publicity of his role in the STAR TREK series, he could negotiate as freely as he wishes on any record deal except that there cannot be any prohibition against his doing a record under our deal with any record company.⁵

As outrageous as Nimoy's demands may have been perceived in 1967, they pale in comparison to many of the demands attributed to the actor in the years since:

• Neither Brewis, nor Nimoy, ever demanded $9,000 an episode for the 1967-68 broadcast season — the actual number was half that ($4,500 an episode, with $500 escalations each season thereafter).
• Profit participation was never a subject of discussion. In addition, William Shatner had 5% profit participation in Star Trek, not the 20% figure quoted by Mark Clark.⁶
• Nimoy never demanded "greater script input." Story memos from Nimoy were rare during the run of the series. I have seen little evidence that they increased in seasons two and three compared to the first season.
• Nimoy did not offer to install a telephone in his dressing room at his own cost; he demanded that Desilu cover this expense.
• Although billing became a minor issue in this dispute, Nimoy did not demand "star billing." Indeed, Nimoy's billing did not change once it was revised to read "Also Starring Leonard Nimoy as Mr. Spock" beginning with "The Naked Time" in the first season.
• Nimoy did not demand "a greater percentage of merchandising money" or a "percentage of the show's merchandising."

Ten days after his initial memo on the subject, Ed Perlstein wrote to Herb Solow again, detailing a number of concessions made by the studio to Nimoy and Brewis:

Further to my memo to you of March 20th and following my conversation with you Wednesday, March 28, as well as conversations with Gene Roddenberry and Bernie Weitzman, I spoke to Alex Brewis yesterday and advised him that in addition to our having waived the average-out clause and agreeing to furnish a telephone for Leonard in his dressing room subject to Leonard’s payment of out-of-town charges and several other minor concessions, we would adjust Leonard’s salary to $2,500 per program for the 1967/1968 broadcast season. 

When I gave Alex these further concessions I told him that this was as far as we were going and there is no renegotiation in that we have extended ourselves much beyond our previously agreed to contractual terms and if Leonard didn’t accept these terms we felt free to continue under our contract terms for the second year.⁷

Perlstein's offer confirms Herb Solow's claim in Inside Star Trek that "The studio would have been amenable to the $2,500 request." Brewis rejected the studio's counter-offer, which gave Nimoy a $750 raise per episode and gave into his request for a private telephone line. According to Perlstein's memo, Brewis told him, "Everything that you offered is no good!" and proceeded to make additional demands of the studio, which are reproduced below:

• With regard to directing, Leonard insists that he was promised he would direct in the second year and he wants to direct, and insists upon directing, at least one, and preferably two or three, STAR TREK episodes during this year.

• Leonard wants $3,750 per show for a maximum of six days work for the 1967/1968 season; $4,500 per show for up to six days work for the 1968/1969 season; $5,000 per show for up to six days work for the 1969/1970 season; and $5,500 for the 1970/1971 season for up to six days work per show.

• On reruns Leonard wants 35% for the first rerun, 25% for the second rerun, 20% for the third rerun, 10% for the fourth rerun and for each rerun thereafter without stopping at the end of the fifth rerun.

• Leonard wants specific language in the contract that the billing he is currently receiving cannot be changed without his approval.

• Leonard wants the contract to specifically indicate in writing that the dressing room will consist of two rooms with a bathroom, a telephone in the permanent dressing room and a telephone in the dressing room on the set.

• With regard to off-camera voice commercials, Leonard wants unlimited rights subject only to conflicts of sponsorship.

• In connection with guest appearances in addition to or as part of the three out of each 13 permitted in each cycle and if STAR TREK finishes before the other one-hour Desilu shows, Leonard wants to be a Guest Star, at the top of the show, on the shows that are still shooting.⁸

Of these demands, Perlstein told Solow that, "usually I am a very peaceful and serene man but I must tell you that I told Alex off at each request and not only do I think that Leonard is sick but I think we can include Alex and Leonard’s business manager in this observation as well."⁹ (Had Nimoy actually received the demanded 10% payment for all reruns, after the third rerun, in perpetuity, he would have made a small fortune when Star Trek began playing endlessly in syndication shortly after the series completed its first run on NBC). The afternoon after writing this memo, Nimoy called Perlstein directly, without his agent or business manager acting as an intermediary, which only escalated matters. Perlstein recounted this phone call in a memo sent to Herb Solow (with Gene Roddenberry and Bernie Weitzman on carbon copy) the next day:

Yesterday afternoon I received a telephone call from Leonard Nimoy directly in which he indicated that since we weren’t interested in further negotiations and that we intended to exercise his option pursuant to our contract, he was officially advising me that he would not report for work when required notwithstanding the consequences that we may bring against him. Leonard was very arrogant in indicating that being an actor was not the only employment or source of income available to him in his life span. I told him that if we sought the recourse of SAG in suspending him permanently for willful disregard of his contract, he would never be able to work again as an actor. Leonard again indicated that he would take that chance.

I told Leonard that if he had any thoughts or other avenues in the theatrical industry, Desilu will exert all pressure to other producers of the entertainment industry to make known to all in the entertainment industry what he has done and what he contemplates doing.

Leonard seemed to indicate that he was still willing to negotiate and I told him that Desilu was not renegotiating but had reconsidered previous increase requests and had come to a final conclusion of the $2,500 per program fee for Leonard plus $500 escalations for each year thereafter for the balance of the original five-year term. 

A second purpose for Leonard’s call to me was to find out whether or not under the circumstances we thought it was advisable for him to go to the NAB Convention in Chicago tomorrow, I told him we were exercising his option and expected him to perform and, therefore, we would want him to appear at the Convention. I will check with Bernie Weitzman on this to see if he does, in fact, want Leonard there. I think it would be a grave mistake, and giving in to Leonard, if we did not want him to go to Chicago. Leonard is willing to go to the Convention if we want him to and I think he should go.

Will each of you [Herb Solow, Bernie Weitzman, and Gene Roddenberry] please advise your thoughts as to this matter and, if necessary, let’s arrange a meeting. My personal opinion is that we should exercise the option per the contract and not budge one inch from our last offer of $2,500 per program.¹⁰

Solow, Weitzman, and Roddenberry apparently agreed with Perlstein's assessment of the situation, and later that same day, Perlstein sent Shirley Stahnke a memo asking her to pick up Nimoy's option pursuant to the terms of his original 1965 contract:

During the past several days in my conversations with Alex Brewis and Leonard Nimoy I have advised that we commence shooting on Thursday, April 27, and will require Leonard a day or two in advance for purposes of makeup, wardrobe, etc.

Please prepare for signature an immediate confirmation of the requirement for Leonard Nimoy to be available for shooting on April 27 and prior thereto with respect to wardrobe and makeup for the STAR TREK series. The terms and provisions with respect to his employment for the second contract year (1967/1968 production and broadcast season) will be as per the contract, which is $1,750 per program.¹¹

On carbon copy, in addition to various production personnel and executives, was Alex Brewis, which meant that Nimoy would have gotten the message almost immediately — Desilu was through negotiating. The next day, Gene Roddenberry sent Gene Coon a somewhat pessimistic memo which broached the possibility of replacing Nimoy with another actor:

Sorry to greet you back with this news, but our contract negotiations with Leonard Nimoy and his representatives seem stalemated. There is a possibility that we might have to start our second year of STAR TREK or even continue the show without Leonard Nimoy as "Mister Spock". Naturally, we hope we can avoid this, but despite our efforts to offer Nimoy a contract well above the original contract, an offer which I believe was eminently fair, his agents have placed totally impossible demands upon the Studio and upon Norway Corporation. They include such things as the absolute right to direct three episodes of STAR TREK during the coming year, Guest Star demands on other shows, a right [to] exclusively negotiate for himself records and merchandising on the Spock character, plus money demands that we could not meet this year and scaled up demands over future years that we could not meet then either.

We have a contract with Nimoy, once signed by both sides in good faith at the beginning of STAR TREK. Since we find it impossible to bargain with him, since they refuse to accept our best offers, or even discuss them reasonably, we've [had] no option but to inform Nimoy and his agents that he is picked up on the original contract and ordered to report for work per our schedule. He counters that he will refuse to report -- at which time we have no choice but to suspend him and take legal action.

Accordingly, I've been working with Joe D'Agosta on re-creating the part and creating a new Vulcan Science Officer, who can go to work on our first show.

Frankly, Nimoy and his representatives are very near trying to blackjack us into submission, by holding "Mister Spock" as hostage. In their enthusiasm over a first-year success, over considerable mail volume and public adulation, they are kidding themselves into believing a very successful and much-wanted actor named Nimoy joined us and did it all. And that our posture should be totally that of humble gratitude. I won't play that game, nor will Desilu.

I'm sorry about this. Naturally, I hope sweet reason will prevail. But if it does not, we must be prepared to continued [sic] STAR TREK with the same excitement and quality it has always had.¹²

In their new book, The Fifty-Year Mission, authors Mark A. Altman and Edward Gross state that "Roddenberry and Desilu were united in the notion of recasting Spock" at this point, but the evidence contradicts this claim.¹³ In spite of moving forward with plans to replace Nimoy in case negotiations failed, Roddenberry's letter quoted above makes it clear that the executive producer hoped Nimoy would return for Star Trek's second season. Moreover, when details of Star Trek's second season were announced in the March 29, 1967 issue of Weekly Variety, Leonard Nimoy was listed as returning alongside William Shatner. In contrast, the same article announced Mission: Impossible would have a new star with Peter Graves, replacing Steven Hill in the show's sophomore season.¹⁴ Finally, in spite of the contentious negotiation, Desilu did elect to send Nimoy to the National Association of Broadcasters (NAB) Convention, which was held in Chicago that year, from April 2-5, 1967.¹⁵ On April 7, 1967, Back Stage confirmed Nimoy's presence at the convention, stating, "A real nice guy [at the NAB convention] was Leonard Nimoy of 'Star Trek.'—No, he did not have his big ears on!" The story also reported that Nimoy was attending Desilu's Suite at the expense of the studio.¹⁶

Nimoy may have been all smiles at the NAB Convention, but after returning home, he sent Ed Perlstein (with Roddenberry, Weitzman, and Solow on carbon copy) a letter that reiterated his serious intentions to walk away from Star Trek if Desilu didn't return to the negotiating table. This letter said, in part:

I am in receipt of your option pick-up letter and feel I must inform you, that under the terms and conditions stated in the contract and as subsequently amended in your verbal offer, I do not feel I can perform the services you call for.

I believe my reasons for this position were clearly stated in our telephone conversation on Thursday March 30.

I believe I have made my ideas quite clear, but my representatives will be happy to discuss any further ideas Desilu may have towards a happier resolution of this situation.

Since the studio has chosen to take a “freeze” attitude, I am prepared to deal with whatever “consequences” may arise from my action, if in fact there should be any.¹⁷

Herb Solow describes what happened next in Inside Star Trek:

So the empty threats and the mind games began. I met with Alex Brewis and explained the NBC-Desilu money problems—and I made threats. "If your client doesn't report to work under his current contract, the studio will consider him to be in breach of contract, terminate him, sue him, and find some other actor to wear the pointed ears. Remember, it's not important who plays the role; any good actor can do that. It's the pointed ears that count; they're the star."

The studio position was reported to Leonard. He was upset at my reference to "any good actor" being able to play the Spock role. But he had his job to do. And I had mine. 

--Herbert F. Solow, Inside Star Trek: The Real Story (1996), p.324

Although there's no archival evidence detailing this meeting between Herb Solow and Alex Brewis, there is other evidence confirming the substance of Solow's memory. On March 30, 1967, casting director Joe D'Agosta had sent a memo to Gene Roddenberry (with Herb Solow on carbon copy) listing over three dozen casting suggestions for a new Vulcan character to replace Leonard Nimoy's Mr. Spock.¹⁸ According to Herb Solow in Inside Star Trek, this memo "was a ploy, a bit of psychological warfare designed to induce Leonard to capitulate."¹⁹ If the memo did make it's way to Nimoy, it certainly would have reinforced that the studio thought any good actor could play the Spock role.

Additionally, the same day Ed Perlstein received Nimoy's letter dated April 6, Perlstein sent a letter to Chet Migden — at that time, the assistant national executive secretary for the Screen Actors Guild, who would later become the organization's chief negotiator  — starkly indicating Desilu's position in the matter of Leonard Nimoy and Star Trek. In the letter, Perlstein told Migden, in part:

As per my telephone conversation with you today, I am herewith forwarding to you a copy of Leonard Nimoy’s letter to me of April 6th which was sent by Certified Mail with a return receipt requested and which was delivered to me this afternoon. 

I would appreciate it very much if you would call upon Leonard Nimoy and discuss his intended breach and tell him the facts of life.  I would appreciate it if you would get back to me with the results of your conversation with him by the end of this week so that we can determine whether to commence legal action immediately.²⁰

According to Inside Star Trek, the player that finally ended the negotiations stalemate between Desilu and Nimoy was NBC:

The final skirmish came a week later. NBC, the original campaigner against the Spock character and the pointed ears, hearing through Leonard's agent that he might walk off the show, was also furious. "What are we hearing, Herb? You're thinking of replacing Nimoy? Are you out of your mind? Our management would go ballistic. Research tells us he's the most popular part of the whole damn show!" 

The war was lost. Nimoy got more money: $2,500 per show plus $100 for expenses, better billing, a more lucrative merchandising deal, and more script input. 

--Herbert F. Solow, Inside Star Trek: The Real Story (1996), p.324

Other sources have repeated the substance of Solow's account of NBC's intervention and studio's ultimate concessions to Leonard Nimoy. Marc Cushman and Susan Osborn's These Are The Voyages, for example, mostly paraphrases Solow when describing the outcome of the contract dispute:

The network had been monitoring the influx of fan mail and understood the importance of Nimoy to Star Trek . Solow was told to keep Spock on the Enterprise. There would be no further discussion. 

Nimoy won the battle by getting the raise he originally had in mind, not the outrageous one his agent had asked for. He would now be paid $2,500 per episode, with a raise of $500 per episode for each year to follow, plus payment of residuals increased through the fifth repeat. In addition, Nimoy would receive $100 per episode for expenses. He also received a more lucrative merchandising deal. To Roddenberry’s chagrin, there was one last concession -- Nimoy was guaranteed a right to give input on the scripts.

--Marc Cushman with Susan Osborn, These Are The Voyages — TOS: Season Two (eBook Edition, March 2014)

Mark Clark's Star Trek FAQ presents roughly the same account, although it claims that Nimoy also received "limited profit participation" in the series as a result of the negotiation:

However, NBC was adamant that Nimoy be retained. Eventually, the two sides agreed on a new salary of $2,500 per week with better billing, more story input, and limited profit participation. The rest of the cast received smaller pay increases. 

--Mark Clark, Star Trek FAQ (2012), p.131-132

When reviewing archival sources, however, it becomes clear that Solow's memory of the concessions made to Nimoy were a lot worse than the terms the actor actually received in 1967, and his memory of NBC's involvement may also be exagerated compared to what actually occured.

When Ed Perlstein contacted Chet Migden at the Screen Actors Guild, he asked for a response from Nimoy by the end of the week. Apparently, he got one; that Friday, Perlstein sent Shirley Stahnke a memo detailing the final revisions to Nimoy's original contract and asked her to send them to Leonard Nimoy for his signature:

All of the terms and conditions contained in the agreement dated June 2, 1965 will apply except as follows:

• The initial program compensation for up to seven days work per program will be $2,500 for the second contract year (1967/1968 broadcast season); $3,000 for the third contract year (1968/1969 broadcast season); $3,500 for the fourth contract year (1969/1970 broadcast season) and $4,000 for the fifth contract year (1970/1971 broadcast season).

• The residual payments with respect to programming for the second and subsequent contract years (commencing with the 1967/1968 broadcast season) shall be minimum for foreign; 100% of applicable initial program payment for theatrical release; and for network and/or syndicated reruns 50% of initial applicable program payment applied as follows:

                                             1st Rerun - 20%

                                             2nd Rerun - 15%

                                             3rd Rerun - 7%

                                             4th Rerun - 4% 

                                             5th Rerun - 4%

         There are no rerun payments due after the fifth rerun.

• Desilu agrees to pay Leonard Nimoy $100 per program towards the expense of his personal secretary handling fan mail. This agreement to pay the $100 per program shall only be applicable with respect to the 1967/1968 broadcast season.

• In the event Leonard Nimoy is required over night or for any duration of time to be away from the Los Angeles area in connection with the production of the program series, personal appearances on behalf of sponsors or network, the per diem to be paid to Leonard Nimoy shall be the same as the highest per diem paid to any actor on the STAR TREK series.

• It is specifically agree that the billing afforded to Leonard Nimoy in connection with the 1966/1967 broadcast season shall not be altered without first securing Leonard Nimoy’s approval with respect to all programs produced in subsequent years in which Leonard Nimoy appears.

• Leonard Nimoy shall have the right to do off-camera voice commercials subject to sponsor, time and network restriction and also subject to not receiving any mention of his name, either orally or on screen, in connection with said commercials nor in any way utilizing the voice of the character portrayed in the STAR TREK series. Leonard Nimoy will, none-the-less advise Desilu of any such off-camera voice commercials that he does. Except as permitted here under, Leonard Nimoy will not do any commercials without having first secured Desilu’s approval.²¹

This memo makes it clear that several concessions first described in Inside Star Trek, as well as other sources, were never actually granted. Nimoy did not receive profit participation — this would not happen until later, during the movies.²² Nimoy did not receive better billing (his billing remained the same in seasons two and three as it had been during most of season one, although it was put in writing that his billing would not be altered without his approval, possibly a consequence of the billing mistakes that had occurred on his credit during the first few episodes of season one). Nimoy did not receive a better merchandising deal. And, Nimoy did not receive greater story input, script approval, or anything else regarding the right to approve or comment on any scripts or story outlines in progress. It wouldn't make sense for Desilu to have granted any of these concessions to Nimoy — since neither he, nor his representatives, ever demanded any of them.

The big question is: did NBC actually intervene to keep Nimoy on the show? After reviewing the archival record, I find this unbelievable. In all the correspondence between the representatives of the actor and the studio in the UCLA files, the network is barely mentioned, and there's no correspondence indicating the network's intervention at any point. I think it is much more likely that, once SAG was involved, the potential career-ending consequences of legal action by the studio and suspension by the Guild became overwhelmingly clear to Nimoy, which forced him back to the negotiating table and allowed Desilu to dictate most of the final terms. Consider the various demands made by Alex Brewis on behalf of his client, and compare them to the terms that were finally granted by the studio on April 10, 1967:

• Nimoy at first demanded $4,500 per show, and then made a counter-offer of $3,750 per show, with $500 escalations for each season thereafter in both cases. What Nimoy actually received was $2,500 per show in season two, with $500 escalations thereafter — the exact same terms that Desilu had already offered to Nimoy on March 29, 1967.
• Nimoy first demanded 100% of his initial program rate spread out over the course of five reruns, and then made a more aggressive counter-offer for the same, plus 10% of his initial program rate for all subsequent reruns in perpetuity. What Desilu granted was an improvement over Nimoy's initial terms (SAG scale plus 10%), but was far removed from his demands — the actor received 50% of his initial program rate spread out over five reruns, with no residuals paid out for any subsequent reruns.
• Nimoy demanded five times his initial program rate for any episode exhibited theatrically or $25,000, whichever figure was greater. On this point, the studio gave him nothing — his contract terms for theatrical exhibition of Star Trek remained unchanged from his original contract, dated June 2, 1965 (he would be paid his initial program rate).
• Nimoy demanded that he direct at least one episode of season two, and preferably two to three episodes of the season. Instead, he was given no right to direct in his contract, and ultimately never directed an episode of the show.
• Nimoy demanded a larger dressing room with specific amenities, including a private telephone. Although the studio had previously been open to installing a telephone for the actor, provided he paid long-distance charges, the final changes to his contract indicate he was given no phone or any other changes to his dressing room.
• Nimoy demanded first-class accommodations and transportation for he and his wife for personal appearances related to the show, in addition to per diem as high as the per diem paid to any other actor on the show. Desilu acquiesced to his per diem demands, but his transportation and accommodation demands were denied.
• Nimoy demanded that he be a guest star at the top of show rate on any other Desilu show still shooting once Star Trek wrapped production. This request was denied; ultimately, Nimoy made no guest appearances on other shows during the run of Star Trek (he appeared in a TV movie, Valley of Mystery, broadcast on September 29, 1967, but this was footage re-purposed from an abandoned pilot called Stranded that Nimoy had filmed in 1965).
• Nimoy demanded the right to negotiate future record deals without Desilu acting as an intermediary, but no changes were made in this regard. Desilu informed the actor that he could independently negotiate all the record deals he wanted if they did not involve Star Trek or the Mr. Spock character, although Nimoy's next two albums would both feature Mr. Spock on the cover.
• Nimoy demanded specific language in his contract stating that his billing could not be changed without his approval, which Desilu granted, although this was a very minor point, since Nimoy's billing was established by early in the first season and would not change throughout the rest of the series.
• Nimoy wanted the unlimited right to negotiate "off-camera voice commercials...subject only to conflicts of sponsorship." Desilu granted Nimoy a much more restrictive deal in his new contract terms, allowing him the right to do off-camera voice commercials, but "subject to sponsor, time and network restriction and also subject to not receiving any mention of his name, either orally or on screen, in connection with said commercials nor in any way utilizing the voice of the character portrayed in the STAR TREK series."²³ Moreover, the contract indicated that Nimoy would not do any commercials without first notifying Desilu.

Leonard Nimoy didn't get a raw deal from the studio — he improved his per episode compensation, received better residuals, gained a secretarial allowance to handle the significant fan mail he received, plus a few other, minor concessions — but it is clear that Nimoy was not in the driver's seat when it came to the final terms of his revised contract for the second season and beyond. It's also clear that many of the demands attributed to Nimoy and his agent, as well as many of the concessions made by Desilu, were recalled incorrectly by Herb Solow and Bob Justman in Inside Star Trek, and that subsequent sources have only exaggerated these claims, rather than clarified and corrected them. Hopefully, this piece will set the record straight.

Images courtesy of Trek Core.

Endnotes:

1 Daily Variety, May 31, 1967, p.9 ("Leonard Nimoy and Nichelle Nichols, regulars of "Star Trek," have resolved their salary demands with Desilu, re-signed for next term.")

2 First Year Production Pay Rates, May 31, 1966, Gene Roddenberry Star Trek Television Series Collection, Box 35, Folder 1

3 Memo from Shirley Stahnke to Bernie Weitzman, June 6, 1966, Gene Roddenberry Star Trek Television Series Collection,  Box 27, Folder 18

4 Memo from Ed Perlstein to Herb Solow, March 20, 1967, Gene Roddenberry Star Trek Television Series Collection, Box 35, Folder 11

5 Memo from Ed Perlstein to Herb Solow, March 20, 1967, Gene Roddenberry Star Trek Television Series Collection, Box 35, Folder 11

6 Letter from Gunther H. Schiff to Ed Perlstein, October 14, 1965, Gene Roddenberry Star Trek Television Series Collection, Box 31, Folder 2 (""The only cost that can be deducted from Bill's 5% is the distribution fee of 50%")

7 Memo from Ed Perlstein to Herb Solow, March 30, 1967, Gene Roddenberry Star Trek Television Series Collection, Box 35, Folder 11

8 Memo from Ed Perlstein to Herb Solow, March 30, 1967, Gene Roddenberry Star Trek Television Series Collection, Box 35, Folder 11

9 Memo from Ed Perlstein to Herb Solow, March 30, 1967, Gene Roddenberry Star Trek Television Series Collection, Box 35, Folder 11

10 Memo from Ed Perlstein to Herb Solow, March 31, 1967, Gene Roddenberry Star Trek Television Series Collection, Box 35, Folder 11

11 Memo from Ed Perlstein to Shirley Stahn, March 31, 1967, Gene Roddenberry Star Trek Television Series Collection, Box 35, Folder 11

12 Memo from Gene Roddenberry to Gene Coon, April 1, 1967, reprinted in Herbert F. Solow and Robert H. Justman, Inside Star Trek: The Real Story (1996), p.319

13 Mark A. Altman and Edward Gross, The Fifty-Year Mission: The Complete, Uncensored, Unauthorized Oral History of Star Trek: The First 25 Years (2016), p.150

14 "Desilu's Budget Soars to Record $21-Mil for '67-'68," Weekly Variety, March 29, 1967, p.64

15 Claude Hill, "Radiomen Map Clean-Up Battle vs. Dirty Records," The Billboard, April 8, 1967, p.3

16 Ted Green, "Main Street," Back Stage, April 7, 1967, p. 2, 4

17 Letter from Leonard Nimoy to Ed Perlstein, April 6, 1967, Gene Roddenberry Star Trek Television Series Collection, Box 35, Folder 11

18 Memo from Joe D'Agosta to Gene Roddenberry, March 30, 1967, reprinted in Herbert F. Solow and Robert H. Justman, Inside Star Trek: The Real Story (1996), p.321-323

19 Herbert F. Solow, Inside Star Trek: The Real Story (1996), p.320

20 Letter from Herb Solow to Chet Migden, April 10, 1967, Gene Roddenberry Star Trek Television Series Collection, Box 35, Folder 11

21 Memo from Ed Perlstein to Shirley Stahnke, April 14, 1967, Gene Roddenberry Star Trek Television Series Collection, Box 35, Folder 11

22 Letter from Henry Holmes to Paramount Pictures Corp, June 18, 1984, Nicholas Meyer Papers, Box 48 ("Notice of Objections by Profit Participants 'Star Trek II'")

23 Memo from Ed Perlstein to Shirley Stahnke, April 14, 1967, Gene Roddenberry Star Trek Television Series Collection, Box 35, Folder 11

Sources:

The Nicholas Meyer Papers (1945-2000)

The Gene Roddenberry Star Trek Television Series Collection (1964-1969)

Star Trek Creator: The Authorized Biography of Gene Roddenberry (David Alexander, 1994)

Inside Star Trek : The Real Story (Herbert F. Solow and Robert H. Justman, 1996)

Star Trek FAQ (Unofficial and Unauthorized): Everything Left to Know About the First Voyages of the Starship Enterprise (Mark Clark, 2012)

These Are The Voyages — TOS: Season Two (Marc Cushman with Susan Osborn, March 2014)

The Fifty-Year Mission: The Complete, Uncensored, Unauthorized Oral History of Star Trek: The First 25 Years (Edward Gross and Mark A. Altman, 2016)