William Shatner Almost Wrestled a Real Tiger on Star Trek

Reported by TVLine, William Shatner once wanted to fight a real Bengal tiger during filming of 'Star Trek.' The plan ended after the tiger broke the chain around its neck.

The episode was 'Shore Leave,' the 15th of the original series. The crew lands on a planet that turns thoughts into reality. They accidentally summon a tiger, a samurai, a white rabbit from 'Alice in Wonderland' and a World War II fighter plane.

Producer Robert Justman wanted the tiger scare done as a cutaway, TVLine reports, citing his memo in the book 'These Are the Voyages: TOS: Season One.' 'Unless, of course, you want to screw around working with a full-grown Bengal tiger on location or on stage. In which case, include me out,' Justman wrote.

Shatner did not take the cutaway suggestion. A tiger was brought in. Then it briefly got loose and broke the chain around its neck. A handler regained control, but Shatner had changed his mind.

'Instantly my testicles rose up into my Adam's apple and the ignorant machismo that had been pulsing so heartily through my veins was replaced by sheer abject terror,' Shatner recalled. 'I stood there trying not to look too horrified as I gracefully backed down, "for the good of the show."'

The 1968 book 'The Making of Star Trek' tells it differently. In that version, creator Gene Roddenberry tried to convince Shatner not to fight the tiger. Shatner agreed only after Leonard Nimoy, who played Spock, said, 'Bill, you don't have to wrestle the tiger. I'll just pinch him.'

The tiger was a late addition to an episode being rewritten during filming. Roddenberry rented so many animals that he got a deal on an elephant, paying $150 for the elephant and its trainer instead of the usual $400. The shoot ran out of time before anyone filmed with the elephant. First assistant director Gregg Peters had charge of it, and the cast and crew kept asking when he would use it. 'The Making of Star Trek' says they were still asking two years later.

TVLine says 'Shore Leave' is generally regarded as a very good episode, though it did not make the outlet's list of the 60 best 'Star Trek' episodes. Maybe the elephant would have given it the nudge it needed.

• Gene Roddenberry
• Leonard Nimoy
• Shore Leave
• Star Trek
• TV history
• William Shatner