Star Trek episode "Arena" airs 1967

One of the classic episodes from the original series Star Trek, Arena, first aired January 19, 1967.  Outpost Cestus III has been destroyed and the crew of the Enterprise retaliates against the killers, a reptilian race known as the Gorn.  As the ships battle, another alien race, the Metrons, stop them and place Captain Kirk (William Shatner) and the Gorn captain on a planet to solve their dispute one-on-one.

It is the first episode to feature photon torpedoes and the first to establish transporters cannot beam through deflector shields. 

Ted Cassidy of the Addams Family provided the voice of the Gorn.

The Mythbusters investigated the diamond cannon Kirk used to defeat the Gorn, and found it to be implausible.  The bamboo used to make the cannon would have been destroyed in the explosion and killed Kirk.  But the episode takes place on an alien planet so you never know. 

Ted Cassidy, Lurch from the Addams Family, born 1932

Actor Ted Cassidy, born July 1932, in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, is best known for his role as the faithful butler to the Addams Family, which ran for two seasons in the mid-1960's.  He was a successful actor but also found success doing voice-overs.  He appeared on Star Trek as Ruk on What Are Little Girls Made Of?. He provided the voice of Balok's puppet in the Corbomite Maneuver and Gorn in Arena.

He appeared in I Dream of Jeannie, The Six-Million Dollar Man and The Bionic Woman.  He even provided the voice for Godzilla in the animated series in the late 1970's.

He passed away in January 1979 following heart surgery.

Grant Woods, Star Trek actor, born 1932

Grant Woods, born March 13, 1932 in Vim, Colorado, played Lieutenant Kelowitz in three episodes of the original series of Star Trek, which is kind of unusual for a character that made little more than cameos.  He appeared in Galileo Seven, Arena and This Side of Paradise.

He passed away in October 1968 from a motorcycle accident.

Grant Woods as Lt. Kelowitz in Galileo Seven