Kirk loses his memory and marries an Indian princess. Spock does his second mindmeld on Kirk in 3 episodes, by Mem Alpha’s count. The site also says:

• The obelisk was built especially for this episode.
• The lake featured in this episode is the Franklin Reservoir above Los Angeles. It has been featured in hundreds of westerns and police shows, but is most famous as the fishin’ hole in the opening credits for The Andy Griffith Show.
• Other than the street sword fight in “All Our Yesterdays“, this was the only episode with outdoor shooting in the entire third season.
• Uhura is not on the bridge in this episode, but stock footage from “And the Children Shall Lead” places her there for a moment.
• During the first attempt to deflect the asteroid a rare top shot of the Enterprise is shown.

A lousy episode unless you enjoy seeing Shatner making an ass of himself. It’s a ham display, and not the familiar, herky-jerky hamminess Shatner fell into when trying to goose a line. Here we see Shatner’s special mode, in which he would physically try to overwhelm whatever emotion he had to put across, bring his whole body into it. In this episode he has to convey Kirk’s deep happiness at being an Indian god and marrying the Indian princess in a beautiful forest, so he squeezes his eyes shut and swings his arms wide while swiveling. He puts a lot of force into the squeezing and beaming; I think his face goes red. The moment isn’t so much fake as unreal. A fine distinction, of course, but watching him you don’t feel like Shatner is trying to shortcut his way to his goal. He’s just deeply misguided. Very few people could make such a mistake and then pursue it at such white heat.

The Indian princess is played by Sabrina Scharf. “Born Sandra Mae Trentman in Delphos, Ohio,” per Mem Alpha, and IMDB says she was a bunny at the Playboy Club in NYC. No birth year.

She was a late ’60s/early ’70s type exemplified by Ali MacGraw: long straight black hair, wholesome features. Barbara Hershey was another. Don’t think Angelina Jolie today would qualify, too facially exotic. The earlier type was more like a lush, wholesome blonde but with the hair somehow gone black.

Scharf’s credits start in 1965 with a role on Gidget (“Penelope Peterson”). Her Star Trek role was her 10^th in 3 years, including a couple of movie parts. The movies have really dreadful period titles: The Virgin President (“President’s Girlfriend”) and the very hard-bitten Dead Heat on a Merry-Go-Round. The credit line for the second film, per IMDB, is “Girl in bed with James Coburn.” In 1969 she was in Easy Rider as Sarah, possibly not a large role. (update,  In Comments, Joe S. Walker says this: “Sabrina Scharf was the female lead in “Hell’s Angels On Wheels”, a 1967 American International effort starring Jack Nicholson. It’s been a long time since I saw “Easy Rider” but as I recall Peter Fonda and Dennis Hopper spend some time in a commune where she’s one of the leading spirits, and she questions why they want to go back out into the bad wide world.“)

Also in 1969  she married Bob Schiller, who had been doing fine as a comedy writer since the 1950s and would do even better in the 1970s, thanks to Norman Lear. Scharf had a dozen more roles, mainly tv, after the marriage, then her credits stop in 1975. Mem Alpha says that at some point she entered politics and even became a state senator, but that’s all it says. Googling turns up a bunch of little show-biz items that also mention her being a state senator but say nothing about party, period served, etc. Damn.

The episode shows off her legs a bit, and they’re not just long but toned. Nowadays being toned is standard for actors/actresses. Back then it wasn’t, even for cheesecake.

The jealous lug, b. 1934, Stanislaus County, Calif., had 50 parts by IMDB’s count, started in 1957, ended in 1983 with a Quincy. Mem Alpha: “Solari died of cancer in 1991 at the age of 56. A popular acting coach and theater director, Solari once had a theater named after him. It has since been renamed.” Jesus.

The old chief. His name was Richard Hale, b. 1892 in Rogersville, Tenn. IMDB lists 130 credits, earliest None Shall Escape (1944, his role was “Rabbi David Levin”), latest a Police Woman ep (1978, ep was titled “Sons”). The site dug up some photos from very, very early in his career; at least I assume they’re for/from theater work.

“Blind Man,” “Soothsayer,” “King Chandra,” “Chief Xolic,” “Gaunt Man.” He was in the Night Gallery pilot. Mem Alpha says, “He was often cast in the role of a Native American, and as such, made guest appearances on seveal television Westerns, including Bonanza, Cheyenne, Gunsmoke, Rawhide, and Wagon Train. He has also appeared in several episodes of Perry Mason.”

… There’s a movie called The Explosive Generation, from 1961, William Shatner as a sex ed teacher with a turbulent classroom. Tag: “They look like kids — but they want love like adults!” Trailer here, though Shatner just sticks his hands in his jacket pockets and registers concern.

Some production facts from Mem Alpha, just because they interest me:

… Similarly to “The Corbomite Maneuver“, this episode was filmed early in the season, but aired much later because of the many, newly created special effect shots which took lot of time to be filmed and added in post-production.

… more costume changes than any other TOS character with the exception of Barbara Anderson (Lenore Karidian) in “The Conscience of the King.” Guest star France Nuyen’s costumes are far more revealing, however: the purple halter top, the silver flowered thing on black mesh, the orange dress, and the blue wedding gown with no sides.

This episode marks the first appearance of the Matt Jefferies-designed Klingon ship ... The new emblem of the Klingon Empire is seen on the model …

War vessel. Like people say, Matt Jefferies did great work. He designed the Enterprise and the bridge, both of which are magnificent, then followed himself with the Klingons’ war ship, also a triumph. The ship is oddly beautiful: kind of scary and off looking, like an alien warship should be, but in subtle ways, and at the same time it draws the eye: the ship is uncomfortable to look at but also pleasing to look at. I think it outclasses everything else about the old-series Klingons: the make-up, the dumb names (“Klingon” itself is kind of dumb). In fact I’d say it was better than the show’s Vulcan stuff, even better than Mr. Spock’s ears. The Klingon ship is old Star Trek‘s best go at representing alienness, a pretty fundamental mission for the series. 

Shatner’s enemy.  MemAlpha mentioned France Nuyen‘s outfits. She was born 1939, Marseilles; original name: France-Nguyen Van-Nga. The wig is copied off the cover painting of a science fiction magazine from a good ways back.

Per Wiki, Nuyen’s father was Vietnamese, mother was a French gypsy. When she was a teen somebody photographed her on the beach and she became a starlet.

In 1958 Nuyen and Bill Shatner starred in the Broadway adaptation of a hit novel, The World of Suzie Wong. Shatner says the play was sold out for months in advance because of mass theater parties booked from out of town. He claims that the result was a disaster because Nuyen was incompetent and impossible, a temperamental brat, somebody who couldn’t be trusted even to deliver her lines or do what the stage directions said.

The play would just fall apart, night after night, and Shatner had to stay alive up there somehow. So he began bending his lines; he twisted their delivery, sent the emphasis where it wasn’t expected. That way he could give the audience something to pay attention to. This is the origin story for the famous Shatner delivery, the crosswire rat-a-tat-tat everyone parodies. (“Man … was meant … to try,” and on “to” his voice goes up, and on “try” it goes down, throws the word away.)  He learned those tricks so he could survive France Nuyen. Sources: Up Till Now and Neal Pollack’s comments during Shatner’s Comedy Central roast, though I don’t advise watching the roast unless you’re some kind of moron. ( update, Not Neal Pollack. It was Kevin Pollak. )

Eyerolling.  In “Elaan,” Nuyen is just fine. Every big scene has got her in it, she has to carry the episode, and she comes thru. Moues, eye rolling, bellowing, cooing: she puts some life into the business, and it’s not just noise, there’s a performance. Some people you are really happy to see when you’re watching old Trek, and she’s one of them. (This effect, I mean brightening at the sight of competence, gets stronger if you’re watching a lot of episodes in a row. Now that I’m a few weeks into doing this rundown, I have to remind myself that I’m not really a James Doohan fan, that I’m just very grateful whenever he shows up.)

Nuyen was a reg on St. Elsewhere, got a master’s in clinical psych in 1986 and started counseling battered women, women inmates. After three years someone gave her a “Woman of the Year” award. 

Ambassador, others.  The green ambassador (Petri), b. 1930, NYC. Wiki says he did a lot of “summer stock and repertory companies,” then Shakespeare on Broadway, first movie was The Robe (1953), played Caligula.

Mem Alpha: “After recovering from a drug addiction and a career-ruining jail sentence, Robinson returned to acting on television in the late 1960s, … Besides TOS, other TV series on which he has made guest appearances include Mannix, Bewitched, The Wild Wild West, Kolchak: The Night Stalker (with fellow TOS guest actor John Fiedler), The Waltons, Barney Miller (with another TOS guest star, Lee Meriwether), and Murder, She Wrote.” Movie parts listed for 1970s to ’90s. In 1997-2000, hosted Beyond Bizarre for the Discovery Channel.

 Orange shoulders.  Big alien flunky, b. 1937, NYC. Married to the woman who played the pretty historian who falls for Khan, 1962-70, had a kid. First credits mentioned are movies in 1964, including Taggart, in which he starred. Last role was in Quantum Leap, decades later.

 During 1960s, Mem Alpha says, “guest appearances on such television series as The Virginian, Mannix, and Mission: Impossible, as well as Fantasy Island …”

Black redshirt. He has a couple of lines, pops up in a couple of scenes, though he doesn’t get to do anything useful. Was also Greg Morris’s stunt double on Mission: Impossible.

 Did a lot of small parts over the years, latest being a judge on Boston Legal.

Swamp Thing.  Alien bodyguard #1. He was born 1938, started as stunt double on Lost in Space in 1965, would eventually have speaking part on the ’70s Battlestar Galactica.

He was the guy in the Swamp Thing costume in Swamp Thing, The Return of Swamp Thing, and the Swamp Thing tv series. Mem Apha mentions movie credits in ’70s, ’80s, ’90s, in most cases decently budgeted films.

Viewscreen role. The Klingon, b. 1922. Mem Alpha: “Guest appearances on numerous television series, includingGunsmoke, Rawhide, The Untouchables, Wagon Train, Bonanza, The Virginian, and Gene Roddenberry’s The Lieutenant. … last appearance was in the 1972 pilot movie for the short-lived series The Delphi Bureau …”

Only known appearance:  The other alien bodyguard, another soul killed by Star Trek‘s wig deptartment:

… Scotty did the voice for the warning device sent up by the aliens (which Mem Alpha i.d.s as “Melkotian buoy”—“buoy” is odd, but nobody’s on board the thing so what else do you call it?)

 … The voice for the Melkotian itself (pop-eyed creature that looks like a dummy) was done by Abraham Sofaer. He voiced a superior glowing light blob two years before, in “Charlie X.”

… There was an early ’60s tv Western called The Tall Man. What a great name.

I’m going to start with the unspeaking slain rancher. Born as Palmer Lee in San Francisco, 1927, stage name was Gregg Palmer. In “Spectre” he gets plugged and falls over; this is right when the Enterprise crew has first arrived in the old West.

Why start with him? Because, if you want to read Wiki entries about minor ’60s tv actors, this is the greatest Wiki entry ever. It goes on for show after show, part after part. Gregg got his first role in 1950, a Martin and Lewis vehicle called My Friend Irma Goes West. Then, from 1955 to 1978, he did nothing except stand in front of cameras, mostly while episodes of tv Westerns were being shot. The entry’s got  character names, episode titles, co-stars: 14 paragraphs of this stuff. Palmer was “Burly Man” in John Wayne’s last movie. 

Somehow he also got over to England and appeared in two episodes of Doctor Who, the episode that closed off the first Doctor’s run and the episode that did the same for the second Doctor. Not major parts, but credited. Wiki says Gregg is the first actor to do both Star Trek and Doctor Who. 

All right, the rest of the actors. They’re good. Like “Devil in the Dark,” this is a real line-up of mugs, hard-bitten masculine types, but “Spectre” has a much better selection. Apparently Hollywood had great choices to offer if you were looking for Western types.

Villains are often a weak point of old Trek casting. Not this time. We have a very good Wyatt Earp, b. 1928, Chicago. The guy is scary. He did some notable manly films of the late ’60s/early ’70s: True Grit, Papillon, Chisum. His first film: Roger Corman’s I, Mobster (1958), which also had Celia Lovsky. “His last film role was an uncredited appearance as a judge in the popular comedy Deuce Bigalow: Male Gigolo.” Died “from lung and brain cancer in 2002.”

The Virgil Earp, also good, b. 1913. The voice of the announcer on the castaways’ radio in Gilligan’s Island, which Wiki says was his longest-running role. Did a lot of series westerns in the ’60s, including 8 different Bonanzas as different characters. (Mem Alpha and Wiki)

The Doc Holliday, b. 1915 in Lynn, Mass. Did some tv western guest shots in ’60s, also a bunch of Brando films. First role was a cameo in The Men, kept on a with a bunch of other Brandos in ’50s/early ’60s, then pops up in The Missouri Breaks (1976). 

Chekov’s love interest: the blond bargirl, b. 1941. This was her next-to-last acting role. She’d done guest spots on a number of shows: The Fugitive, Gunsmoke, The Invaders, started with a Twilight Zone in 1964 in which she’d been the central character, a folk singer. Had been Bob Dylan’s girlfriend in college, possibly inspired “Girl from the North Country.” In 1965 she married Wavy Gravy. Mem Alpha: “The two are still married, and Beecher now goes by the name Jahanara Romney. With her husband, she helps run a number of charitable organizations.”

Ed the barkeep, b. 1897, NYC. He’s good; he carries the scene where he reacts to Kirk’s claim to be from the future, etc. (by “react,” I mean he breaks up and guffaws elaborately). His credits all seem to be from the mid-’50s into the ’60s, last is Westworld (1973). Lot of Westerns, including tv work and some John Fords.

The sheriff, actor b. 1915 in NYC. TV/movie work from late ’50s on, but entry also says he was in Honeymooners. Last roles are in first Ace Ventura and Naked Gun: The Final Insult.

The barber, b. 1930, Philadelphia. Vincent McEveety put him into five episodes. The thing is, I’d say McCready was quite good; wonder why the other directors didn’t use him.

                             

The Morgan Earp, one hell of a scary face. The actor did an album “called Here in the Land of Victory. It featured a mix of country, blues, and eastern influenced folk.” Born 1928 in Denver, also appeared in Star Trek V, “his last known screen appearance.”

Latter shot directed by Shatner — naturally.