Och, Kaplan, we barely knew ye...
Lt. Kaplan was the lead security guard in "The Apple," Somehow despite both being in front leading the way at some points, and guarding the rear in others, he manages to survive until Spock notices they are being followed. At that point, Kirk has Kaplan circle around toward the back of where they are standing.
And this is when....
Lt. Kaplan becomes Krispy Kaplan and the second redshirt to die in the episode. Kirk bemoans the fact that he knew Kaplan’s family after they find the third dead redshirt (Mallory) and realizes he should have had the crew beamed back up at the first sign of trouble. Not that his realization helps Kaplan any now that he's a heap of ashes. And so we bid adieu to this fine young man in red.
But wait....
Someone who looks like Kaplan, but isn’t, shows up in “And The Children Shall Lead” as one of Chekov’s guards. Once a redshirt, always a redshirt. He’s doing fine until Chekov decides to start a fight and unfortunately, this guy draws....
Spock as his opponent. Not exactly a fair fight. And this leads to one of my favorite screenshots - a classic Vulcan nerve pinch and a very convincing look of agony from Spock’s target.
Both Lt. Kaplan and the security guard in “And the Children Shall Lead” were played by DIck (Richard Emile Ashley) Dial, Jr. He did have another acting part as one of the Fabrini guards in “The World Is Hollow and I Have Touched The Sky.”
But Dick Dial was primarily known as stuntman in Hollywood and Star Trek often used him in that regard as well. In the first season episode “Arena,” Dial was Shatner’s stunt double during the exciting fight scene with the Gorn. He also served as a stunt double for one of the Warriors in “Friday’s Child” and a general stuntman in “The Immunity Syndrome.”
As mentioned earlier, Dick Dial gained his fame mainly as a stuntman. But before that, he was an athlete at Classen High in Oklahoma City and also at the University of Oklahoma. Dial definitely had a well rounded sports background, which most likely helped him land work in Hollywood. He was a champion Golden Gloves boxer, a competitive sailor and a ranked tennis pro.
Dial began his Hollywood career in The Searchers as a stuntman, working along side Jeff Hunter in 1956 and landed a role as William Holden’s double on The Horse Soldiers. (Interestingly, both were John Wayne films). His Golden Glove championship came in handy when he landed work as one of the stuntmen in the boxing sequences in the Elvis Presley film Kid Galahad. This movie also had other TOS actors - Bill Zuckert, Louie Elias, and Seamon Glass. And he acted or performed stunts many other well known Hollywood movie stars such as Henry Fonda, Robert Duvall, Charlton Heston and Charles Bronson
The above photograph shows Dial as a character named Carson in the movie They Call Me Mr. Tibbs. He also was a stuntman in the same film. (This movie was mentioned in an earlier article on Charlie Washburn who was the second assistant director)
But Dick Dial had more success in television, starting with being Lloyd Bridge’s stunt double on Sea Hunt from 1958 to 1961 (he also doubled Bridges in a 1975-76 police series called Joe Forrester). Another series he worked on was The Fugitive where he doubled David Janssen from 1963-1967. Dial was seen often in small acting roles, such as the one above from Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea (second season episode “The Shape of Doom”) as well as The Man from U.N.C.L.E., The Time Tunnel, The Green Hornet, and Mannix.
After his appearances in Star Trek, Dial continued his acting career with appearances on The Mod Squad, The Felony Squad, and Mission Impossible. His appearance (seen above) in the 5th season Mission Impossible episode “Hunted” was particularly amazing because he was actually playing the character Barney in disguise (played by Greg Morris, whose son Phil appeared as one of the children in the TOS epiosde “Miri.”)
But this was not Dick Dial’s only association with Mission Impossible. He was Peter Graves’ stunt double for 89 episodes. His final long term stint as a stunt double was for Robert Loggia in Mancuso, FBI ( 20 episodes).
However, Dick Dial had a life beyond the screen. In his off time, he sailed competitively and was an “A” ranked tennis player. One of the members of a discussion board for Dick Dial on Memory Alpha remembers him as his Little League coach from 1968 to 1971.
Earlier in life, he had taken classes at the Art Institute of Chicago. So it should be no surprise he continued to use that talent later in life. Dial’s caricatures of celebrities and friends were hung in two well-known Hollywood restaurants owned by a friend of his (La Scala Presto and La Scala Malibu) . He also did humorous political cartoons that were published in papers such as the LA Times. Many of his oil paintings were considered to be gallery quality. Unfortunately, very few of these can be seen (other than in photos) and his daughter DuPree Dial is still looking for them. If you think you may have one, look for the name DIAL in the bottom right hand corner. Of all Star Trek memorabilia you could have, this may be one of the rarest. Think of it - how wild would it be to own a piece of art from a man whom Mike Douglas (a popular TV host in the 60s and 70s) referred to as “The Hollywood Stuntman.”
Someone on Tumblr with the name "Frank-o-meter" constructed this handy dandy chart of redshirts in "The Apple." It provides a nice way to pay tribute to Kaplan and his fellow comrades in red. And a reminder that with Kaplan, we have covered most of the information known on the actors who portrayed them.
Hendorff - https://www.facebook.com/talesoftheunknownredshirt/posts/1732560857049439
Mallory - www.facebook.com/talesoftheunknownredshirt/posts/2099712617000926
Marple - (recently appeared in the article on THE VELVET VAMPIRE)
Above panel taken from the following Tumblr post -
https://frank-o-meter.tumblr.com/post/157117085705/star-trek-rest-in-peace-part-3-all-but-one
