07-13-2022, 07:58 AM
(This post was last modified: 07-13-2022, 08:01 AM by FaceInTheCrowd.)
Except that there's that letter Roddenberry sent Hunter that appears to confirm that Hunter chose not to do any more Star Trek.
Applying Occam's razor to this whole thing and choosing the simplest explanation, I lean toward Hunter's wife simply delivering the message that Hunter had chosen not to sign on for a second pilot or any other filming and Roddenberry, feeling a little butthurt about his first star bailing on him, ginning up the "I had to fire him" tale.
At the time, Hunter was not a big enough movie star and Star Trek was not a big enough deal for anyone to bother documenting the circumstances for posterity, but since Hunter did go on to make a few more movies and Star Trek was not successful in the years between the first pilot and Hunter's death, I doubt that Hunter ever had any regrets about it. If he'd lived another 10-20 years he probably would have.
Applying Occam's razor to this whole thing and choosing the simplest explanation, I lean toward Hunter's wife simply delivering the message that Hunter had chosen not to sign on for a second pilot or any other filming and Roddenberry, feeling a little butthurt about his first star bailing on him, ginning up the "I had to fire him" tale.
At the time, Hunter was not a big enough movie star and Star Trek was not a big enough deal for anyone to bother documenting the circumstances for posterity, but since Hunter did go on to make a few more movies and Star Trek was not successful in the years between the first pilot and Hunter's death, I doubt that Hunter ever had any regrets about it. If he'd lived another 10-20 years he probably would have.