Jeffrey Hunter Jeffrey Hunter was the stage name of Henry Herman McKinnies , Jr . . Although a veteran of dozens of films , " Star Trek " fans best remember him for his portrayal of Captain Christopher Pike in the first pilot for entitled , filmed in . Hunter filmed his scenes between Friday and Wednesday , and Friday and Friday at Desilu Culver Stages 15 and 16 , and the 40 Acres back lot . Although this pilot was never aired during the show ' s initial run , it was incorporated as flashback sequences in the TOS episodes and . It ultimately made its premiere as a stand - alone episode in . After the rejection of the original pilot , Hunter moved on to new roles and the part of the " Enterprise " captain went instead to William Shatner when the series began production for a second pilot . Herbert F . Solow , being interviewed for " E ! Mysteries & Scandals " , stated that the first pilot was screened for Hunter ' s wife . She stated after the screening that Hunter would not be returning for the second pilot , as he was a " movie star " and did not do television . Yet Solow ' s superior , Oscar Katz , remembered it somewhat differently , " " Business Affairs negotiated with Jeffrey Hunter and we all thought it was the usual actor / network situation – they don ' t want to do it for reason XYZ , and it ' s a device for getting the price up . We kept increasing the price and he kept saying no . One day I said , " What ' s with Jeffrey Hunter ? " and I was told he just won ' t do it at any price . Finally I said , " Tell Jeffrey Hunter to get lost " . " " ( " " ) Early life . Hunter was born in New Orleans but moved with his family to Milwaukee , Wisconsin , at the age of three . He began acting as a teenager , performing for the North Shore Children ' s Theater and a local group called the Port Players , as well as working in radio . While attending Whitefish Bay High School , he served as co - captain of the school football team . After graduation , he served in the United States Navy for one year before continuing his acting studies at Northwestern University in Illinois , all the while continuing to work in theater and radio . He then moved on to study drama and radio at the University of California in Los Angeles . In 1950 , his performance in the university ' s production of " All My Sons " caught the eye of talent scouts from both Paramount Pictures and 20th Century Fox . He then did a screen test for Paramount , where he met his future wife , Barbara Rush . Although a job with Paramount did not pan out due to a change in studio executives , Hunter was subsequently signed with 20th Century Fox , and went on to perform in many films for the studio until his contract expired in 1959 . After turning down " Star Trek " , Hunter spent the remainder of the 1960s finding work on B - movies produced in foreign countries , as well as occasional guest star work on television . Career . Hunter ' s first work for Fox was a supporting role in the 1951 film noir " Fourteen Hours " , which also featured fellow " Trek " alumni Jeff Corey , Richard Beymer , and , as an extra , Brian Keith ( with whom Hunter later worked on an episode of " Climax ! " in 1957 ) . Around the same time , he filmed a small role in the musical " Call Me Mister " , which also featured Robert Easton ( who appeared in several other Fox - produced films starring Hunter ) and was actually released two months prior to " Fourteen Hours " . This was followed by a war drama entitled " The Frogmen " , co - starring TOS veterans Warren Stevens and James Gregory , and the adventure film " Red Skies of Montana " , which also featured Warren Stevens as well as Lawrence Dobkin . Hunter then acquired his first lead role in 1953 ' s " Sailor of the King " . Hunter went on to star in the Western " Three Young Texans " and the adventure film " Princess of the Nile " , both released in 1954 and both co - starring Michael Ansara . These were followed by 1956 ' s " The Proud Ones " ( with Whit Bissell ) – in which Hunter played a sheriff ' s deputy who got into a shoot - out with a gunslinger coincidentally named Pike – and 1957 ' s " The True Story of Jesse James " ( with Barry Atwater , Biff Elliot , Frank Gorshin , Clegg Hoyt , Frank Overton , and Jason Wingreen ) . Hunter also worked on 1956 ' s " The Great Locomotive Chase " ( co - starring Kenneth Tobey and Morgan Woodward ) for The Walt Disney Company and 1957 ' s " Gun for a Coward " ( with Dean Stockwell ) for Universal . Hunter ' s last film for Fox as a contract player was 1958 ' s " In Love and War " , co - starring Paul Comi and France Nuyen . Perhaps Hunter ' s most notable film work were those films in which he collaborated with director John Ford , none of which were produced by 20th Century Fox . His first and most famous collaboration with Ford was the acclaimed 1956 western " The Searchers " , in which Hunter played the nephew and riding partner of John Wayne ' s character . Hunter would again work with Ford in the 1958 drama " The Last Hurrah " and the 1960 western " Sergeant Rutledge " , appearing with Constance Towers . In 1960 , Hunter starred in the war drama " Hell to Eternity " , which also featured a young George Takei . The 1961 film " Man - Trap " saw Hunter co - star with future TOS guest actor Arthur Batanides . In what may be his best known and certainly most controversial film role , Hunter starred as Jesus Christ in the 1961 Biblical film " King of Kings " . The film , which chronicles the life of Christ from his birth to his crucifixion and subsequent resurrection , was critically panned and flopped at the box office ( the only religious epic from MGM to do so ) . Hunter himself was ridiculed for his portrayal of Christ , due mainly to his youthful appearance . ( According to Michael and Harry Medved ' s 1980 book " The Golden Turkey Awards , " the film was derisively called " I Was A Teenage Jesus " . ) Since then , however , the film has become more highly - regarded and has even earned back its $ 6 million budget as a result of worldwide sales . The following year , Hunter was part of the ensemble cast of the 1962 World War II epic " The Longest Day " , which had him again co - starring with John Wayne . It was following this that Hunter began to take on more roles in television , including " The Alfred Hitchcock Hour " ( in an episode with Abraham Sofaer ) , " Combat ! " ( with Rex Holman ) , " Bob Hope Presents the Chrysler Theater " ( with Sally Kellerman , Nancy Kovack , and Jason Wingreen ) , " The F . B . I . " ( working with the likes of Stephen Brooks , Jonathan Lippe , Julie Parrish , and Paul Sorenson ) , " Kraft Suspense Theatre " ( again working with Warren Stevens ) , and " Daniel Boone " ( with Sabrina Scharf , John Crawford , and Pamelyn Ferdin ) . He also had guest spots on the classic shows " Death Valley Days " and " The Green Hornet " . He was even the star of his own series , playing a circuit - riding Texas lawyer in the NBC western series " Temple Houston " ( 1963 - 64 ) . Hunter ' s film credits during this time included the William Conrad - directed " The Man from Galveston " ( 1963 , with Grace Lee Whitney ) and " Brainstorm " ( 1965 , with Biff Elliot , Steve Ihnat , Phillip Pine , Bill Quinn , and Joan Swift ) , the science fiction adventure " Dimension 5 " ( co - starring France Nuyen , Maggie Thrett , Robert Ito , and Jon Lormer ) , and a cameo appearance in 1967 ' s " A Guide for the Married Man " ( with Majel Barrett and Jason Wingreen ) , in which he and a number of other celebrities – including Lucille Ball – played " Technical Advisers " . Hunter then co - starred with Lawrence Tierney and Marc Lawrence in 1967 ' s " Custer of the West " . The remainder of his film career consisted of foreign - made B - movies , with the last being 1969 ' s " Viva America " . He also made his last TV appearance that year , in an episode of " Insight " with Booker Bradshaw . He lobbied hard for the role of Mike Brady in " The Brady Bunch " in 1968 , but the role was given to Robert Reed . Death . In 1969 , Hunter tragically died during surgery to repair a skull fracture resulting from a fall in his home after he had suffered a massive cerebral hemorrhage . His death occurred only one week before the airing of the final " Original Series " episode , . Shortly before his death , in an incident that received little mention in the press , he suffered from stroke - like symptoms with semi - paralysis of his right arm and loss of speech capability during a flight from Spain to the United States . Injuries Hunter had received a few weeks prior , on a movie set in Spain , when a car window shattered near him , were suggested as the cause of these symptoms , and also of the stroke that led to his death . Christopher Hunter , Jeffrey ' s son , in an interview for an " E ! Mysteries & Scandals " episode dealing with his father , stated that he thought the explosion cracked his skull . Later in the program , Christopher made the statement that " " I think alcoholism did contribute to his death as much as anything else . " "