Star Trek's Lazarus Actor Quit On The First Day Of Filming The Alternative Factor
In any long-running franchise like "Star Trek," there are bound to be numerous stories of things that could've been. One example from "Star Trek: The Original Series" concerns the casting of Lazarus (Robert Brown) from Season 1, Episode 27 — "The Alternative Factor." The crew of the USS Enterprise discovers the eccentric scientist claiming to know of an antimatter universe that threatens the existence of both realities. It's a solid premise for a science-fiction story, but perhaps "Star Trek" Lazarus would be more widely known had another actor shown up for filming, namely John Drew Barrymore, father to Drew Barrymore.
Daily Star Trek News detailed the sequence of events, explaining that creator Gene Roddenberry wanted Barrymore for the part, which was set to begin filming in November 1966. He was already a famous actor at this point, and despite being a one-off role, Barrymore accepted it initially. The only problem is that on the first day of filming "The Alternative Factor," Barrymore was nowhere to be found.
Casting director Joe D'Agosta sent a memo from Barrymore to producer Herb Solow, stating, "Between 4 and 5 p.m. [Barrymore] sent word that he did not want to do the role and refused to accept a work call for filming the following morning, November 17. With the cooperation of his agent and lawyer, I told him that he was committed and had to report to work. Mr. Barrymore then became unavailable and out of reach. His reasons were that the script changes had altered his character." It may sound like typical Hollywood drama, but it led to major repercussions for the actor.
John Drew Barrymore was punished by the Screen Actors Guild
The part was then filled in by Robert Brown, who had worked with William Shatner before on a television pilot that didn't sell. Even though Brown wasn't familiar with the lore of "Star Trek," Gene Roddenberry convinced him to do it. Already a day behind the production, filming was apparently harrowing for Brown, but it turned into one of his most memorable roles.
As for John Drew Barrymore, he wasn't getting away easily. Based on information from "Inside Star Trek," Desilu Productions, the production company behind "Star Trek," filed a complaint with the Screen Actors Guild. A Trial Board was put together, which is serious business, and the members of the board ended up suspending Barrymore's SAG membership for six months, during which time he couldn't do any acting work. Interestingly enough, it wouldn't be the last time a Barrymore ran afoul of Hollywood unions.
Following the suspension, Barrymore continued acting sporadically until the 1970s when he became more reclusive and withdrew heavily from society until his death in 2004. Brown also acted off and on over the years with his final credit being a 1994 episode of "In the Heat of the Night." He passed away in 2022 at the age of 95.
As for the "Star Trek" "Alternative Factor" episode, it's usually at the bottom of most people's rankings of the first season. A review from The A.V. Club reads, "What really kills this episode is the pacing; a lot of time is spent wandering around, and we don't get the real truth of things (such as it is) till the last ten minutes." Perhaps knowing what went on behind the scenes will explain why certain aspects of the episode didn't pan out the way they could have.