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Movies and TV series often strive to craft illusions, convincing audiences that characters are on far-off worlds or facing life-threatening situations. Occasionally, this illusion includes actors hiding physical attributes that don’t align with their roles. For instance, wrestler Kerry Von Erich famously competed with a prosthetic foot in the 1980s after a motorcycle accident, a detail most fans were unaware of.
Von Erich isn’t alone in this regard. Several TV stars have managed to conceal their limb differences while appearing regularly on screen. Here are five actors whose missing fingers went unnoticed by viewers.
1. Bob Ross
The beloved art teacher from television hosted The Joy of Painting on PBS from 1983 to 1994. While his painter’s palette hid a little-known truth: he was missing a finger. Ross left high school early and initially worked as a woodworker with his father, where a carpentry accident cost him part of his left index finger. He later abandoned that profession, joined the Air Force, and eventually found success as a painter.
2. James Doohan
James Doohan. | John Springer Collection/GettyImagesFamous for his role as Montgomery “Scotty” Scott in Star Trek (1966-1969) and its film adaptations, Doohan took great care to hide a missing finger from movie cameras. The injury occurred during his military service on D-Day in 1944, when he stormed the beaches of Normandy. As part of the Royal Canadian Artillery Regiment, Doohan shot two German snipers but was later hit by friendly fire from a Canadian sentry. A cigarette case saved him from a chest wound, but bullets struck his leg and right middle finger, which had to be amputated.
On Star Trek, clever camera angles often concealed Doohan’s missing finger, and hand doubles were occasionally used. However, in some scenes, like in “The Trouble With Tribbles,” the absence of his finger becomes apparent.
3. Telly Savalas
Telly Savalas. | United Archives/GettyImagesSavalas became a 1970s icon through his role in the cop series Kojak, known for his signature lollipop. Few fans may have noticed that he was missing part of his left index finger, whether in the show or his films. The cause of the injury remains unclear, with Lost magazine suggesting it could have been from a grenade accident during his military service or even a rat bite in his childhood.
4. Matthew Perry
Matthew Perry. | Annamaria DiSanto/GettyImagesPerry, famous for his role as Chandler Bing on NBC’s Friends for a decade, is missing part of his right middle finger. As reported by Esquire, the actor lost it in a childhood accident when his finger got caught in a car door.
5. Walter Jones
Walter Jones. | Bobby Bank/GettyImagesJones played Zack, one of the original Mighty Morphin’ Power Rangers. The actor is missing the middle finger on his left hand, though it’s hard to notice when he’s in his Ranger suit. The show reused action scenes from the Japanese series Super Sentai, where a different actor played Zack’s character. As Jason David Frank explained to Complex in 2013, the Rangers only wore their suits in the Command Center with helmets off, as most action footage came from Japan.
