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William Shatner

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William Shatner (born March 22, 1931 in Montreal, Quebec, Canada) is a Canadian actor, who gained fame for his starring role as Captain James T. Kirk of the USS Enterprise in the television show Star Trek from 1966 to 1969 and in seven of the subsequent movies. Shatner has written three books chronicling his experiences playing James T. Kirk and being a part of the Star Trek franchise.

He has since worked as a musician, bestselling celebrity author, producer, director, and celebrity pitchman (most notably for Priceline.com).

Now in his seventies, Shatner shows no signs of slowing down. His acting career reached a new peak when he won two Emmy Awards (in 2004 and 2005) for his portrayal of attorney Denny Crane in the television series The Practice and Boston Legal.

Contents

Biography

Early life

Shatner was born in Montreal, Quebec, Canada to Joseph Shatner and Anna Garmaise, both of whom were the children of Jewish immigrants from Eastern Europe;[link] the family name was originally "Schattner". He attended Willingdon Elementary School and Baron Byng High School (now known as Sun Youth) in the area known as the Mile End (Montreal), as well as West Hill High School in Notre-Dame-de-Grâce in Montreal, Quebec, and earned a Bachelor's degree in commerce from Montreal's McGill University (which has a building unofficially called the Shatner Building named after him) in 1952. Trained as a classical Shakespearean actor, he performed at the Shakespearean Stratford Festival of Canada in Stratford, Ontario — in later years generations of Canadian high school students were startled to see photos of the famous William Shatner (as of the equally famous Lorne Greene) in their Shakespeare texts playing a wide range of Shakespearean roles at the Stratford Festival.

In 1954 he was cast as "Ranger Bill" on the popular Howdy Doody Show in the United States. His official movie debut was in the 1958 MGM film The Brothers Karamazov with Yul Brynner, in which Shatner starred as the youngest of the Karamazov brothers, Alexei (he had earlier appeared in a 1951 Canadian film entitled The Butler's Night Off). In 1959, he received good reviews when he took on the role of Robert Lomax in the Broadway production of The World of Suzie Wong. In 1962 he starred in Roger Corman's award-winning movie The Intruder. He also appeared in the Stanley Kramer film Judgment at Nuremberg and two episodes of the acclaimed science fiction anthology series The Twilight Zone. Shatner guest-starred in The Man from U.N.C.L.E. in an episode that also featured Leonard Nimoy, with whom Shatner later would be paired in Star Trek. Shatner also starred in the 1965 Gothic horror film Incubus — the second feature-length movie ever made with all dialogue spoken in the constructed language Esperanto.

Star Trek career

William Shatner was first cast as Captain James Tiberius Kirk for the second pilot of ', entitled "Where No Man Has Gone Before". He subsequently was contracted to play Captain James T. Kirk for the Star Trek series and held the role from 1966 to 1969. In 1973, Shatner returned to the role of Captain Kirk, albeit only in voice, in the . He was slated to reprise the role of Kirk for ', a follow-up series chronicling the second five-year mission of the Enterprise, but Star Trek: Phase II was cancelled in pre-production and expanded into .

William Shatner as Captain James T. Kirk
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William Shatner as Captain James T. Kirk

Shatner is notable for having participated in the first televised interracial kiss, with Nichelle Nichols, in the 1968 episode "Plato's Stepchildren". The scene provoked protest and was seen as groundbreaking, even though the kiss was portrayed as having been forced by mind control. The episode was not telecast in some Southern cities for fear of protest in those states; nevertheless, the majority of the feedback of the incident was positive. Shatner has claimed in memoirs that no one on the set felt the kiss to be very important until a network executive raised fears of a Southern boycott, and the kiss was almost written out of the script. Gene Roddenberry supposedly made a deal, that the scene would be shot with the kiss, and with a cut-away shot which merely implied a kiss, and then a decision would be made on which to use. The footage of the actual kiss was eventually used. Some cast members have written that this was because Shatner deliberately ruined the take for the implied-kiss footage (by staring at the camera and crossing his eyes) to force the real kiss being used.

For years Shatner was accused of being difficult to work with by some of his Star Trek co-stars, most notably George Takei and James Doohan, both of whom openly professed that they despised Shatner for being an arrogant, egotistical, line-stealing showboater who tried to keep his co-stars in the background.Howard Stern Show, Sirius Radio Network, January 10, 2006. In the 2004 Star Trek DVD sets, Takei seemed to have buried the hatchet with Shatner, but the gulf between Shatner and Doohan was more difficult. In the 1990s, Shatner made numerous attempts to patch things up with Doohan, but was unsuccessful for some time; however, an Associated Press article published at the time of Doohan's final convention appearance in late August 2004 stated that Doohan had forgiven Shatner and they had mended their relationship.

Between 1979 and 1991, William Shatner played Captain Kirk in the six Star Trek films, and directed the fifth. In 1994, he returned to the role of Captain Kirk in Star Trek Generations (his character's final appearance).

In the summer of 2004, rumors circulated that the producers of were considering bringing William Shatner back into the Trek fold. Reports in the media indicated that the idea was given serious thought, with series producer Manny Coto indicating in Star Trek Communicator magazine's October 2004 issue that he was preparing a three-episode story arc for Shatner. Shortly thereafter, Enterprise was cancelled, likely ending all hope that Shatner would return to Star Trek.

Post-Star Trek career

Shatner had a long dry spell in the decade between the original Star Trek series and the first Trek film, which he believes was due to his being typecast as Captain Kirk, making it difficult to find other work. Moreover, his wife Gloria Rand left him and the Canadian actor, unfamiliar with California divorce laws, was all but wiped out financially.[[Citing sources citation needed]] With very little money and acting prospects, he lived in a truck bed camper in the San Fernando Valley until acting bit-parts turned into higher paying roles. Shatner refers to this period in his life as "That Period", a humbling one in which he would take any odd job, including small party appearances, to support his family. Perhaps the nadir of this period was his role in Big Bad Mama, prized by Shatnerites for his nude scene with Angie Dickinson. The dry spell ended for Shatner (and the other Star Trek cast members) when Paramount produced in 1979, under pressure from loyal fans of the series. Its success re-established Shatner as an actor, and Captain Kirk - now promoted to Admiral - as a cult icon .

While continuing to film the successful series of Star Trek movies, he returned to television in the 1980s, starring as a police officer in the T.J. Hooker series from 1982 to 1986; this show became a popular hit. He then hosted the popular dramatic reenactment series Rescue 911 from 1989 to 1996.

William Shatner's star on the Canadian Walk of Fame.
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William Shatner's star on the Canadian Walk of Fame.

As the unwilling central figure of a widespread geek-culture of Trekkies, Shatner is often humorously critical of the sometimes "annoying" fans of Star Trek. He also has found an outlet in spoofing the cavalier, almost superhuman character persona of Captain Kirk, in films such as (1982), National Lampoon's Loaded Weapon (1993) and Saturday Night Live, in which he advised Star Trek fans to "Get a life," repeating a popular catch-phrase. Shatner also appeared in the film Free Enterprise in 1998, in which he played himself and tried to dispel the Kirk image of himself from the view of the film's two lead characters.

Shatner has enjoyed success with a series of Tek science fiction novels. The first — published in 1990 — was entitled TekWar. This popular series of books led to a Marvel Comics series, to a number of television movies, in which Shatner played a role, and to a short-lived television series. In 1995, a first-person shooter game named William Shatner's TekWar was released, and was the first game to use the Build engine.

In the 1990s, Shatner appeared in several plays on National Public Radio, written and directed by Norman Corwin.

Shatner was cast as "The Big Giant Head," a womanizing, party animal of a high-ranking officer from the same alien planet as the show's protagonists in several episodes of the television series 3rd Rock from the Sun. He was nominated for an Emmy for this role.

In 2003, Shatner appeared in Brad Paisley's Celebrity country music video along with Little Jimmy Dickens, Jason Alexander, and Trista Rehn.

William Shatner as Denny Crane in Boston Legal
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William Shatner as Denny Crane in Boston Legal

In 2004, Shatner was cast as the eccentric but highly capable attorney Denny Crane for the final season of the legal drama The Practice, for which he was awarded an Emmy, and then its subsequent spin-off, Boston Legal, for which he won a Golden Globe and an Emmy in 2005. (He was nominated again in 2006.) With the 2005 Emmy win, Shatner became one of the few actors (along with co-star James Spader as Alan Shore) to win an Emmy award while playing the same character in two different series. (Even more rare, Shatner and Spader each won a second consecutive Emmy while playing the same character in two different series).

On October 19, 2005, while working on the set of Boston Legal, Shatner was taken to the emergency room for lower back pain. He eventually passed a kidney stone, but recovered and soon returned to work.

In 2006 Shatner sold his kidney stone for $75,000 to GoldenPalace.com. The money will go to a housing charity. [link] (In an appearance on The View on Tuesday, May 16, 2006, Shatner stated that the $75,000, along with an additional $20,000 raised from the cast and crew of Boston Legal, paid for the building of a house by Habitat for Humanity.)

Shatner also plays on the World Poker Tour in the Hollywood Home games. He plays for the Wells Fargo Hollywood Charity Horse Show.

Shatner is also the CEO of the Toronto, Ontario-based [C.O.R.E. Digital Pictures] company, which provided the special effects for the 1996 film Fly Away Home.

Family and other ventures

William Shatner has been married four times, to Gloria Rand (1956-69), Marcy Lafferty (1973-94), Nerine Kidd (1997-99) and Elizabeth Martin (2001 to present)

Shatner has three daughters, Leslie Carol (1958), Lisabeth Mary (1960) and Melanie (1964), born from his marriage to Rand. Melanie had a brief career as actress and is now the proprietor of Dari, an upscale women's clothing boutique. She is married to actor Joel Gretsch.

In his spare time, Shatner enjoys breeding and showing American Saddlebreds and Quarter Horses. Shatner has a 360-acre (1.5 km²) horse farm in Kentucky named Bellreve, where he raises the winning horses.

Shatner's 2004 Has Been album cover
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Shatner's 2004 Has Been album cover

Musical tangents

Main article: William Shatner's musical career
William Shatner has had a much-parodied musical career, starting with the 1968 album The Transformed Man. His exaggerated, interpretive reading of "Mr. Tambourine Man" became an instant camp classic. Shatner would eventually parody his own musical style several times in the 1990s, including during an episode of Futurama, in which he performed a spoken word version of the rap hit "The Real Slim Shady".

His second studio album, Has Been, was released in 2004. Ben Folds acted as producer. Collaborating artists included Aimee Mann, Henry Rollins, Brad Paisley and Joe Jackson. Has Been features the single "Common People", a cover version of the song by Pulp.

He appears on the piece "'64 - Go" by Lemon Jelly, featured on their CD entitled '64 - '95, and in Brad Paisley's music video for "Celebrity".

Facts and Figures

Tell me why (I need another pet rock)
Tell me why (I got that Alf alarm clock)
Tell me why (I bid on Shatner's old toupee)
They had it on eBay
  • In an episode made prior to Shatner's appearance on 3rd Rock from the Sun, Dick tries to appear slimmer by wearing a girdle dubbed the "Shatner".
  • The character of Zapp Brannigan in the TV series Futurama was conceived as a mixture of both Shatner and Kirk, with Brannigan frequently exhibiting character traits associated with both. On the DVD commentary of Zapp's first appearance, the creators describe him as being "40% Kirk, 60% Shatner", and that the initial premise for the character was "What if the real William Shatner was the captain of the Enterprise instead of Kirk." Shatner himself - along with most of the rest of the surviving Star Trek cast - would appear in an episode during the series' fourth season.
  • Tim Allen's role as Commander Peter Quincy Taggart/Jason Nesmith in Galaxy Quest was inspired by Shatner and his relationship with his fellow Star Trek stars. Allen's role is an almost perfect analogue of James T. Kirk/William Shatner; Taggart has a reputation for taking off his shirt at the flimsiest excuse, rolling on the ground during combat, and making pithy speeches at the drop of a hat, while Nesmith is an egomaniac who regards himself as the core of Galaxy Quest, and tells fans to 'get a life'.
  • "William Shatner" is the title for songs by The Wedding Present and The Scofflaws.
  • He provided a voice over for a character in the 2006 film Over the Hedge alongside Avril Lavigne, Steve Carell, and Bruce Willis.
  • Shatner was an occasional celebrity guest on The $10,000 Pyramid in the 1970s, once appearing opposite Nimoy in a matchup billed as "Kirk vs. Spock." His appearances became far less frequent after a 1977 appearance, in which, after giving an illegal clue which deprived the contestant of a big money win, he threw his chair out of the Winner's Circle.
  • Both Shatner and Star Trek co-star Nimoy are of the same ethnicity, Jewish Ukrainian.
  • Both Shatner and Leonard Nimoy are the only two cast members of who share the same month and year together (in birthdays), by only 4 days. Shatner's birthday is: March 22, 1931, and Nimoy's birthday is: March 26, 1931.
  • In the 3rd Rock From The Sun episode "Frozen Dick", John Lithgow's character has a panic attack after seeing something on the wing of an aircraft. This is a reference to an episode of the The Twilight Zone, Nightmare at 20,000 Feet, where William Shatner - who plays the "Big Giant Head" in 3rd Rock - played an airline passenger tormented by a monster on the airplane. Twenty years later, in , John Lithgow played the same role in an updated version of Nightmare at 20,000 Feet. Later in the 3rd Rock episode, Shatner mentions he saw something on the wing of the plane, and Lithgow exclaims, "The same thing happened to me!"
  • In the movie "Fight Club," when asked by Brad Pitt which celebrity he would fight if he could, Edward Norton's character says, "Shatner. I'd fight William Shatner." [Sound Clip]

    • Memorable quotes

    "I'm not a Starfleet commander, or T.J. Hooker. I don't live on Starship NCC-170... (some audience members say "1"), or own a phaser. I don't know anybody named Bones, Sulu, or Spock (picture of Dr. Benjamin Spock is shown on screen behind him). And no, I've never had green alien sex, but I'm sure it'd be quite an evening. (Pomp and Circumstance begins playing.) I speak English and French, not Klingon! I drink Labatt's, not Romulan ale! And when someone says to me 'live long and prosper', I seriously mean it when I say, 'get a life'. My doctor's name is not McCoy, it's Ginsberg (nude picture of Dr. Ginsberg shown on screen). And tribbles were puppets, not real animals. PUPPETS! And when I speak, I never, ever talk like Every. Word. Is. Its. Own. Sentence. I live in California, but I was raised in Montreal. And I believe in priceline.com, where you never have to pay full price for airline tickets, hotels, and car rentals! I've appeared onstage at Stratford, at Carnegie Hall, Albert Hall, and the Monkland Theatre in NDG. And, yes, I've gone where no man has gone before, but... I was in Mexico and her father gave me permission! My name is William Shatner, and I am Canadian!"

    : — from a Just for Laughs [appearance]; a parody of the popular Molson Canadian Commercial entitled "I Am Canadian"
    "I've always had sort of an ironic view of life. My belief system is that when this is over, it's over. That you don't look down from heaven and wait for your loved ones to join you. There may be some soul activity, but I'm not sure about that. But what I am sure about is that your molecules continue and in due time become something else. That's science.

    "And that works for me. So that if this is it, you better take it at its right proportion. That there are serious things, but most things are temporal and ephemeral, and you should cultivate that attitude. That joy and love and all the verities are what counts. So I try not to take too many things seriously, and if I find myself caught up in the seriousness of the moment, within a period of time, I'm able to cajole myself out of it."

    : — from the History Channel documentary How William Shatner Changed the World
    "It's a question that I find like asking somebody, 'Did you have a breast implant?' or 'When did you get your lobotomy?'"

    : — when asked if he wore a hairpiece

    Filmography

    Upcoming:

    Television work

    Shatner (left) on The Twilight Zone episode, Nightmare at 20,000 Feet
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    Shatner (left) on The Twilight Zone episode, Nightmare at 20,000 Feet

    Books

    Fiction

    See TekWar
  • Star Trek series, all with Judith and Garfield Reeves-Stevens
  • * Star Trek: The Ashes of Eden, 1995, ISBN 0671520350
  • * Star Trek: The Return, 1996, ISBN 0671526103
  • * Star Trek: Avenger, 1997, ISBN 0671551329
  • * Star Trek: Spectre, 1998, ISBN 0671008781
  • * Star Trek: Dark Victory, 1999, ISBN 067100882X
  • * Star Trek: Preserver, 2000, ISBN 0671021257
  • * Star Trek: Captain's Peril, 2002, ISBN 0743448197
  • * Star Trek: Captain's Blood, 2003, ISBN 067102129X
  • War series
  • * Man o' War, 1996, ISBN 0399141316
  • * The Law of War, 1998, ISBN 0399143602
  • Quest for Tomorrow series
  • * Delta Search, 1997, ISBN 0061052744
  • * In Alien Hands, 1997, ISBN 0061052752
  • * Step into Chaos, 1999, ISBN 0061052760
  • * Beyond the Stars, 2000, ISBN 0061051187
  • * Shadow Planet, 2002, ISBN 0061051195
  • Comic book adaptations
  • *Star Trek: The Ashes of Eden, DC Comics graphic novel, 1995, ISBN 1563892359

    • Nonfiction

    Discography

    External links

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