Janos Prohaska was a talented costume designer and stuntman who played a number of iconic characters in the original series, but his untimely death in a plane crash in 1974 meant he never got to meet fans and sign photos at the conventions that were just then starting. So his autograph is exceedingly rare.

Prohaska was born in Hungary in 1919 and made a living in Hollywood by creating and performing in a series of alien and animal costumes. He was featured in Star Trek in The Cage, The Devil in the Dark, A Private Little War, and The Savage Curtain. 

I recently interviewed Star Trek collector Gerald Gurian for an article on his excellent book Autographs of the Final Frontier. Gurian shared with me a real rarity: Prohaska’s signature on a contract for the 1968 Woody Allen comedy Take the Money and Run. Prohaska is on-screen for only a few seconds, for which he received the day rate of $350 plus first-class airfare between San Francisco and LA. 

Here is the scene from the movie:

Prohaska’s first scheduled day on set, June 26, 1968, was a few months before he filmed his last Star Trek appearance, as Yarnek in The Savage Curtain, in December of that year.  

Gurian also shared these images with me: a scan of a 4 x 5-inch transparency from The Cage that was once part of Matt Jefferies’ Desilu photo collection and a behind-the-scenes image of clapper loader Bill McGovern with Prohaska as the Mugato.

These images are posted here with Gurian’s permission. Thank you, Gerald.

Postscript

Prohaska was once well known for playing the Cookie Bear from 1969 to 1971 on The Andy Williams Show, although his Hungarian accent meant his lines were spoken by someone else.

Here is a brief interview with Janos Prohaska: