The Actor That Almost Replaced Leonard Nimoy Returned To Star Trek 40 Years Later
The three-season NBC run of "Star Trek" in the late 1960s (aka "The Original Series") was not a smooth ride for anyone at any level of production. Each hour-long episode cost, in 2023 dollars, over $1 million to produce (with the classic "The City on the Edge of Forever" being particularly pricey), which, given the series' Nielsen ratings struggles, was a huge problem for the network (which pulled the plug on the show in 1969 much to its rabid fans' consternation). Also tricky, the stars' salaries. William Shatner and Leonard Nimoy played chicken with NBC in pay negotiations, basically daring the execs to fire them.
According to "Star Trek" historian Marc Cushman, the network decided they'd had enough of Nimoy's hardball act; rather than bring back the hugely popular (with fans at least) Mr. Spock, they opted to write the character out of the show and bring in a brand new Vulcan. However, it should be noted that Cushman has misremembered some details from the past before, and this is only one man's account of what happened at this time in "Star Trek" history.
This was nearly a disaster for everyone involved, save for actor Lawrence Montaigne, who entered negotiations to play the new pointy-eared character. Obviously, NBC ultimately stuck with Nimoy, but Montaigne was not done with "Star Trek." Indeed, he'd remain a small part of its intergalactic tapestry for 40 years. Here's how it all went down.
How Spock nearly became Stonn
According to Edward Gross and Mark A. Altman's "Star Trek" oral history "The 50-Year Mission: the Complete, Uncensored, Unauthorized Oral History of Star Trek," the network was getting inundated with fan mail, much of which centered on the logic-bound Spock. Nimoy's agent knew this, and he requested a raise. Per Cushman:
"His agent said, 'He's only getting twelve hundred and fifty dollars a week and he needs a raise,' but Desilu is losing money on the show and the board of directors was thinking of canceling it even if NBC wanted to continue because it was bankrupting the studio. So they said, 'We can't give you a raise,' and they replied, 'He's not reporting to work.'"
When producer Gene L. Coon returned from vacation, series creator Gene Roddenberry informed him that they were bringing in a new Vulcan, who, according to Montaigne, essentially had a background identical to Spock. The filming of the second season was about to start when NBC came to their senses and realized it would be foolish to alienate their hardcore audience. Cushman categorized the network's response thusly, "You are not doing the show without that guy. Pay him whatever you need to pay him to keep him on the show."
Montaigne was hardly heartbroken. As he told Gross and Altman:
"I was working so much at the time that it didn't really matter to me. The idea of joining the show was interesting. They made a very attractive deal. Not as much as Leonard was getting, but it was steady work and I wouldn't have to go out and audition for roles. I'm one of those actors where I had three shots at series, but none of them worked out, for better or for worse. So I was not very upset or anything."
Also, his "Star Trek" time would come.
Justice (and marriage) for Stonn
The producers were still fond of Montaigne, so they offered him the part of Stonn, a Vulcan suitor of T'Pring (Arlene Martel — intended to be Spock's mate since childhood) in the season 2 kickoff "Amok Time." Montaigne took one look at the narratively important, but dialogue-poor role and wanted no part of it. His agent was fine with this, and endeavored to ask for a "ridiculous amount of money and star billing," which would force the casting team to move on. Surprisingly, NBC made the deal. Again, Montaigne was unbothered. "I went ahead and did it," he said. "it was an easy job. I just had to stand there and look menacing."
Given that "Amok Time" is arguably the cream of the TOS crop, fans inevitably wondered what became of the jilted Stonn. In classic Trekker fashion, he found his way into loads of fan fiction, including a non-canonical fan-directed film which starred TOS cast members Nichelle Nichols and Walter Koenig. Per Montaigne:
"[A]lmost 50 years later I returned as [Stonn] in the [fan] film 'Star Trek: Of Gods and Men.' And Arlene Martel, who played the girl I was supposed to marry in 'Amok Time,' performed the marriage ceremony between my character and Nichelle Nichols as Uhura. 'Star Trek' is a small world."
It's also, at its best, an incredibly accepting and supportive one. I'm glad Montaigne and Stonn found some resolution, even if it wasn't a part of the official timeline. Sounds better than potentially getting killed by Spock whilst competing in kal-if-fee.