He's gone.

With those two words Mr Spock told Captain Kirk of the end of his friend and fellow starship commander, Commodore Matt Decker, played superbly by William Windom.

A great philosophical discussion between the older crowd (I hate saying I'm part of that) and the younger crowd is which is better, Star Trek TOS or Star Trek TNG. If I have to explain the difference, you wouldn't understand. I've always thought it was the original. First it's the original and it's generally better the first time around. But a fact of life was in the 60s they just didn't have the technology to do science fiction as they would do in the 80s and beyond. Even if they did the show was on a shoe string budget and they were pulling things out of their asses from day one. So they had to concentrate on things that are rather quaint in today's TV. Story. Plot. Character development.

The Doomsday Machine was a classic of the original series with Commodore Decker being found in the wreck of his ship, the USS Constellation. The strong leader was devastated by the fact his wrong decision led to the death of his crew. After trying to destroy the Doomsday Machine using the Enterprise, driven by guilt, he kills himself by flying a shuttle craft into the device.

Windom played Decker like a man possessed. Decker was a story of obsession that rivals that of Captain Ahab and he cannot live while the device goes on. Decker cannot destroy it so his guilt destroys him.

I've just finished an excellent biography of Humphrey Bogart, Tough without a Gun. One of the facts brought by the book was how actors in movies back in Hollywood's golden era were just that, actors. They learned their craft in small parts in plays and movies, hoping for the one big break. But they knew how to act. Sorry, the leading men of today could not hold a candle to Boggie, or Henry Fonda, Charlton Heston, or John Wayne.

Or William Windom. He was more of a character actor than a leading man but he was always acting like this was his shot at an Oscar or an Emmy. Back when a man worried about doing his job, not pushing an agenda or hoping to get a ride on Air Force One.

Another great one passes. RIP William Windom. You will be missed.