#talosian

What is a publicity photo of Lurch and Cousin Itt from The Addams Family doing on a Star Trek blog? These two did appear in The Original Series but not in the same episode. 

Didn’t realize Cousin Itt had a face hidden under all that hair, did you? In the 23rd century this Talosian had the face but not the hair.

Those were Felix Silla’s expressive eyes appearing under all of Cousin Itt’s hair in that side by side shot. Unfortunately, we can’t see them behind all the make-up and prosthetics needed for the Talosian. We never saw Felix again in Star Trek but we did see him in Buck Rogers as the robot Twiki.

We just have to post one more photo - look at those eyes! 

By the way, Felix Silla said that when he auditioned for the role, they had him walk around in a floor length wig made from human hair. But because it was both hot and heavy and because all the guys on the set often left their smoldering cigarette butts on the floor of the sets, the producers made sure the wig Felix wore on the set was made from synthetic fibers. 

Lurch here has his dance moves going. There really was a dance called “The Lurch” created just for The Addams Family, but it didn’t seem to catch on. But here we are centuries later in a galaxy far, far away and it appears even Ruk knows the steps. 

Well, the cat’s out of the bag. Yes, both Lurch and Ruk were played by Ted Cassidy. A well known voice actor, we heard his voice as Balok in “The Corbomite Maneuver” and as well as that of the Gorn Captain in “Arena.”  

But most people don’t realize he  also played another role on the series. The disembodied hand (and sometimes attached arm) known as Thing was actually Ted Cassidy’s. Although, if both Thing and Lurch were in the same scene, then either associate producer Jack Voglin or an unidentified third person lent a hand. (Sorry, some lines you just can’t resist)