I was notified on July 17 to be ready to start August 7 for an October air date. When we reached the screen we did not have a single segment ready. It was done so fast the writers never got a chance to know what it was all about.

Jack Elam was his co-star. Although Temple Houston did not survive its first season Hunter accepted the lead role of Captain Christopher Pike in "The Cage" the first pilot episode of Star Trek. A loan-out to co-star with John Wayne in the title roles of the now-classic western The Searchers began the first of three pictures he made with director John Ford; the other two being The Last Hurrah (1958) starring Spencer Tracy and Sergeant Rutledge (1960).

Christopher Pike in the original pilot episode of Star Trek. Jeffrey Hunter (born Henry Herman “Hank” McKinnies November 25 1926 – May 27 1969) was an American film and television actor.