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William Shatner

William Shatner

OC
Shatner in 2023
Born (1931-03-22) March 22, 1931 (age 93)
Montreal, Quebec, Canada
Other namesBill Shatner[1][2]
EducationMcGill University (BComm)
Occupations
  • Actor
  • author
  • director
  • musician
  • producer
Years active1951–present
WorksFilmography
Spouses
  • Gloria Rand
    ​
    ​
    (m. 1956; div. 1969)​
  • Marcy Lafferty
    ​
    ​
    (m. 1973; div. 1996)​
  • Nerine Kidd
    ​
    ​
    (m. 1997; died 1999)​
  • Elizabeth Anderson Martin
    ​
    ​
    (m. 2001; div. 2020)​
Children3, including Melanie
RelativesJoel Gretsch (son-in-law)
AwardsFull list
HonoursOfficer, Order of Canada
Websitewilliamshatner.com

William Shatner[3][4] OC (born March 22, 1931) is a Canadian actor. In a career spanning seven decades, he is best known for his portrayal of James T. Kirk in the Star Trek franchise, from his 1966 debut as the captain of the starship Enterprise in the second pilot of the first Star Trek television series to his final appearance as Captain Kirk in the seventh Star Trek feature film, Star Trek Generations (1994).

Shatner began his screen acting career in Canadian films and television productions before moving into guest-starring roles in various U.S. television shows. He appeared as James Kirk in all the episodes of Star Trek: The Original Series, 21 of the 22 episodes of Star Trek: The Animated Series, and the first seven Star Trek movies. He has written a series of books chronicling his experiences before, during and after his time in a Starfleet uniform. He has also co-written several novels set in the Star Trek universe and a series of science fiction novels, the TekWar sequence, that were adapted for television. Outside Star Trek, Shatner played the eponymous veteran police sergeant in T. J. Hooker (1982–1986), hosted the reality-based television series Rescue 911 (1989–1996), guest starred on the detective series Columbo, and acted in the comedy film Miss Congeniality (2000).

Shatner's television career after his last appearance as Captain Kirk has embraced comedy, drama and reality shows. In seasons 4 and 5 of the NBC series 3rd Rock from the Sun, he played the alien "Big Giant Head" to which the main characters reported. From 2004 until 2008, he starred as attorney Denny Crane in the final season of the legal show The Practice and in its spinoff Boston Legal, a role that earned him two Emmy Awards, one for his contribution to each series. In 2016, 2017 and 2018, he starred in both seasons of NBC's Better Late Than Never, a comical travel series in which a band of elderly celebrities toured east Asia and Europe.[5]

Aside from acting, Shatner has had a career as a recording artist, beginning in 1968 with his album The Transformed Man. His cover versions of songs are dramatic recitations of their lyrics rather than musical performances: the most notable are his versions of the Beatles' "Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds", Bob Dylan's "Mr. Tambourine Man", and Elton John's "Rocket Man".[6] His most successful album was his third, Seeking Major Tom (2011), which includes covers of Pink Floyd's "Learning to Fly", David Bowie's "Space Oddity" and Queen's "Bohemian Rhapsody".[7]

In 2021, Shatner flew into space aboard a Blue Origin sub-orbital capsule. At age 90, he became the oldest person to fly in space and one of the first 600 to do so.[8][9] Minutes after the flight, he described experiencing the overview effect.[10][11][9][12]

  1. ^ Moon, Barbara (October 26, 1957). "Bill Shatner's adventures in Hollywood". archive.macleans.ca. Maclean's. Archived from the original on December 12, 2021. Retrieved December 12, 2021.
  2. ^ Hahn, Jason Duaine (October 14, 2021). "Jeff Bezos Says He and William Shatner 'Gave Each Other the Gift of Space' After Historic Flight". People. Archived from the original on December 12, 2021. Retrieved December 12, 2021. 'He's not only the beloved character James T. Kirk who along with Gene Roddenberry and the whole cast and crew of Star Trek inspired millions, but he's also Bill Shatner. And Bill Shatner is an incredible man', Bezos, 57, wrote on Instagram Thursday.
  3. ^ @WilliamShatner (October 3, 2022). "Well Wikipedians, use this tweet as proof positive that my middle name is not Alan; I don't have a middle name.🙄" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  4. ^ "Birth act". CinéArtistes.
  5. ^ Pena, Jessica (July 16, 2018). "Better Late Than Never: Cancelled; No Season Three for NBC TV Show". TV Series Finale. Archived from the original on October 20, 2021. Retrieved July 16, 2018.
  6. ^ "A history of William Shatner's strange musical career in 11 tracks". Me-TV Network. Archived from the original on April 14, 2021. Retrieved October 14, 2021.
  7. ^ "William Shatner releases metal album; Shatner's greatest hits". The Washington Post. Archived from the original on February 10, 2021. Retrieved October 14, 2021.
  8. ^ Etherington, Darrell (October 4, 2021). "William Shatner to fly on Blue Origin's next human spaceflight on October 12". TechCrunch. Archived from the original on October 20, 2021. Retrieved October 13, 2021.
  9. ^ a b "William Shatner, TV's Capt. Kirk, blasts into space". AP NEWS. October 13, 2021. Archived from the original on October 13, 2021. Retrieved October 13, 2021.
  10. ^ Fisher, Kristin (December 10, 2021). "First on CNN: The US gives Bezos, Branson and Shatner their astronaut wings". CNN. Archived from the original on December 10, 2021. Retrieved December 10, 2021. The US government is making it official, Jeff Bezos, Richard Branson, and William Shatner have earned the title of astronaut after their flights to the edge of space. The Federal Aviation Administration will also award Commercial Space Astronaut Wings to 12 other people who have flown at least 50 miles above Earth on a FAA licensed commercial spacecraft, including the crew of SpaceX's Inspiration4 mission. The FAA will award wings to eight people who flew on Blue Origin's New Shepherd spacecraft, three who flew on Virgin Galactic's SpaceShipTwo, and to the four members of the SpaceX crew who spent three days in space in September.
  11. ^ Etherington, Darrell (October 4, 2021). "William Shatner to fly on Blue Origin's next human spaceflight on October 12". TechCrunch. Archived from the original on October 20, 2021. Retrieved October 13, 2021.
  12. ^ "FAA Commercial Human Spaceflight Recognition". Archived from the original on December 28, 2021. Retrieved December 10, 2021.