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William ShatnerAdd to My CelebsAge 81 Birthday Mar. 22nd, 1931 Born in Montreal, Quebec, Canada Height 5' 9 1/2 |
NOTE: Complete List of Works can be found at IMDB
Handsome Canadian-born actor who - despite his detractors - has notched up an impressive 50-years-plus in front of the camera, most recently displaying comedic talent, and being instantly recognizable to several generations of cult TV fans as the square-jawed Capt. James T. Kirk, commander of the starship USS Enterprise.
Shatner spent many years honing his craft in TV and live theater before debuting alongside 'Yul Brynner' in The Brothers Karamazov (1958). He was kept busy during the 1960s in films such as The Intruder (1962) and Judgment at Nuremberg (1961) and on television guest-starring in dozens of shows such as "Alfred Hitchcock Presents" (1955), "The Defenders" (1961), "The Outer Limits" (1963) and "The Twilight Zone" (1959). In 1966 Shatner boarded the USS Enterprise for three seasons of "Star Trek" (1966), co-starring alongside 'Leonard Nimoy', with the series eventually becoming a bona-fide cult classic with a worldwide legion of fans known as "Trekkies".
After "Star Trek" folded, Shatner spent the rest of the decade and the 1970s making the rounds guest-starring on many prime-time TV shows, including "Hawaii Five-O" (1968), "Marcus Welby, M.D." (1969) and "Ironside" (1967). He has also appeared in several feature films, but they were mainly B-grade (or lower) fare such as the embarrassingly bad Euro western Comanche blanco (1968) (aka The White Comanche) and the campy Kingdom of the Spiders (1977). However, the 1980s saw a major resurgence in Shatner's career with the renewed interest in the old "Star Trek" (1966) television series culminating in a series of big-budget "Star Trek" feature films including Star Trek: The Motion Picture (1979), Star Trek: The Wrath of Khan (1982), Star Trek III: The Search for Spock (1984), Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home (1986), Star Trek V: The Final Frontier (1989) and Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country (1991). In addition, he starred in the lightweight cop series "T.J. Hooker" (1982) from 1982 to 1986, alongside spunky Heather Locklear, and surprised many fans with his droll comedic talents in Airplane II: The Sequel (1982), Loaded Weapon 1 (1993) and Miss Congeniality (2000).
He has most recently been starring in the David E. Kelley (I) television shows "The Practice" (1997) and "Boston Legal" (2004).
TRIVIA:
- He understudied 'Christopher Plummer (I)' (qv) in a stage production of "Henry V".
- Wrote some Star Trek fiction novels, among them "The Ashes of Eden", "The Return", and "Avenger".
- He and his wife, Elizabeth, have two Dobermans.
- His version of "Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds" was voted as the worst massacre of a 'The Beatles' (qv) song ever in May 2003.
- According to 'Debra Hill (I)' (qv), a Halloween mask in Shatner's likeness was painted white and used as the mask of Michael Myers in the original _Halloween (1978)_ (qv).
- Is a vegetarian.
- Is an expert equestrian (horse rider), which was put to good use in _Star Trek: Generations (1994)_ (qv). Co-star 'Patrick Stewart (I)' (qv), despite his classical background, had very little experience with horses, so Shatner helped teach him. One of Shatner's tips was to wear pantyhose under his pants, to reduce chafing.
- Dr. James Kirkland, Ph.D wrote a 1996 "Star Trek" novel titled, "First Frontier". And in his acknowledgments, thanked Capt. Kirk (original series episode "Arena") for inspiration and being his childhood hero.
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