William Shatner

William Shatner (born in Montreal, Quebec, March 22, 1931) is an actor, writer and musical performer. Shatner is most famous 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.

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. He says this period was a humbling one, as he would take any odd job, including small party appearances to support his family. In 1970, Shatner appeared as the prosecutor in a PBS television film of the Broadway play The Andersonville Trial. Trial was directed by George C. Scott and received excellent reviews. He also took roles in made-for-TV productions, such as The Horror at 37,000 Feet. 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 as a cultural icon.

Related Topics:
Typecast - 1970 - Prosecutor - PBS - Television - Broadway - Play - The Andersonville Trial - George C. Scott - The Horror at 37,000 Feet - Paramount - 1979 - Fan - Cultural icon

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While continuing to film the successful series of Star Trek movies, he returned to television in the 1980s, starring as a uniformed 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.

Related Topics:
1980s - Police officer - T.J. Hooker - 1982 - 1986 - Rescue 911 - 1989 - 1996

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As the unwilling central public 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 1 (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.

Related Topics:
Geek - Trekkie - 1982 - National Lampoon's Loaded Weapon 1 - 1993 - Saturday Night Live - Catch-phrase - Free Enterprise - 1998

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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 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.

Related Topics:
Science fiction - 1990 - TekWar - 1995 - First-person shooter - Build engine

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

Related Topics:
1990s - National Public Radio - Norman Corwin

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

Related Topics:
3rd Rock from the Sun - Substance-abusing - Planet - Emmy

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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. With the 2005 Emmy win, Shatner became one of the few actors (along with co-star James Spader and Kelsey Grammer ) 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).

Related Topics:
2004 - Legal drama - The Practice - Emmy - Spin-off - Boston Legal - Golden Globe - 2005 - James Spader - Kelsey Grammer - Cheers - Frasier

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In late 2004, Shatner reserved a $200,000 seat to fly aboard Virgin Galactic's VSS Enterprise, and is expected to become a full-fledged astronaut when he flies into suborbital space in 2008, along with other paying passengers.

Related Topics:
Virgin Galactic - 2008

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