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Was the fact that Captain Picard has no hair just a random artefact of the fact that Patrick Stewart was the best/chosen actor for the role?

Or was the choice of Patrick Stewart influenced in any way by the fact that the show creators/casters preferred the bald look for some reason before Stewart was cast?

I'm looking for authoritative info, not guesses.

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6
  • No guesses? Aww, darn.
    – Xantec
    Apr 3, 2012 at 16:32
  • 18
    Nobody going to do the baldly going joke?
    – Reinstate Monica - Goodbye SE
    Apr 3, 2012 at 16:59
  • 6
    @Wikis: Something like "to baldly go where no man has gone before..."
    – TGnat
    Apr 3, 2012 at 17:22
  • @TGnat: that's the one...
    – Reinstate Monica - Goodbye SE
    Apr 3, 2012 at 17:56
  • 8
    God only made so many perfect heads... the rest of you he put hair on :)
    – Chad
    Apr 4, 2012 at 20:21

2 Answers 2

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25

It look like Patrick Stewart's baldness was a point against him when he was cast as Captain Picard. From Memory alpha :

In the early pre-production stage of the series, TNG producer Robert H. Justman wanted Stewart for the role of Data. (Patrick Stewart: The Unauthorized Biography)
[...]
Stewart was invited to read for the part of Jean-Luc Picard after Robert Justman saw him during Shakespeare readings at a lecture at UCLA. Gene Roddenberry's first thought was that he "can't put a bald head man in the captain's chair". (TNG Season 1 DVD special feature "The Beginning")

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4
  • 10
    Patrick Stewart as Data?! What?!
    – Plutor
    Apr 3, 2012 at 17:09
  • 3
    @Plutor That would have lead to the question : How an androids could go bald?
    – DavRob60
    Apr 3, 2012 at 17:11
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    @DavRob60: A bald headed android, looks like this [bug]...*puts.sunglasses.on*...is [status-by-design]. YYYEEEAAAAHHHHHH...
    – Bobby
    Apr 3, 2012 at 18:39
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    @DavRob60 And hair on an android makes MORE sense?
    – Zibbobz
    Apr 8, 2014 at 16:54
31

In this video interview, Patrick Stewart is asked about the topic. He recalls a reporter asking the question to Gene Roddenberry.

"Surely by the 24th century, they would have found a cure for male pattern baldness?" And Gene Roddenberry said "No, by the 24th century, no one will care".

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  • 5
    Gene was so right. Plus...I've seen or read (not sure which) an interview with Stewart in which he explains that wigs were tried on him, but he simply looked like a bald guy in a wig, so they let him be natural.
    – Marian
    Feb 17, 2013 at 8:16
  • 2
    They learned their lesson from Shatner, I guess.
    – Jeff
    Apr 10, 2013 at 13:37
  • 1
    It is hilarious that Roddenberry said this in light of the accepted answer.
    – jpmc26
    Aug 12, 2015 at 14:34
  • @jpmc26, Roddenberry didn't live in the 24th century.
    – cjm
    Aug 13, 2015 at 14:27

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