Captain Christopher Pike commanded the
USS Enterprise in the pilot episode of
Star Trek,
The Cage (TOS). He was played by
Jeffrey Hunter, who later turned down the role of Captain
James T. Kirk. Good job, dumbass. Judging from his performance in the pilot, Hunter might have done a better job than
William Shatner.
In
The Menagerie (TOS), we discover that Captain Pike was horribly injured in an accident, leaving him paralyized and unable to communicate except through the use of a flashing light. So much for 23rd century technology.
Spock, who served under Pike before becoming Kirk’s first officer, risks the
death penalty to bring Pike to
Talos IV, where the
Talosians use their abilities to create powerful mental illusions to free Pike from the restraints of his crippled body. Hunter was unavailable for The Menagerie, and it was pointless paying his relatively hefty fee for the guy to do nothing but sit around in a chair all day, so
Sean Kenney (who showed up in bit parts in other episodes) played the crippled Captain Pike, and Hunter is only seen in footage recycled from The Cage.