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William Shatner
Age
82
Birthday
Mar. 22nd, 1931
Born in
Montreal, Quebec, Canada
Height
5' 9 1/2
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:
- His 1986 _"Saturday Night Live" (1975)_ (qv) appearance mocked Iran-Contra figure 'Oliver North' (qv) (with Shatner standing mute in a green uniform), his own recently-cancelled _"T.J. Hooker" (1982)_ (qv) and even overzealous _"Star Trek" (1966)_ (qv) fans, when a sketch had him addressing a convention with the words "Get a life!". So many fans asked him later if he'd meant anything by the sketch (he hadn't, it was written by the _"Saturday Night Live" (1975)_ (qv) staff) that "Get a Life!" became the title of his fan memoir.
- In the late 1960's he recorded an LP titled "The Transformed Man", which is considered a camp classic today. One track was a spoken cover version of "Mr. Tambourine Man", in which he gave an over-dramatic performance that some compared to a man on a bad drug trip. Shatner today embraces his checkered reputation as a "camp" performer.
- Once lived on Giraud Street, in Montreal.
- 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.
- Money from his dad's Laval, Quebec hardware and furniture business supported him during the actor's job hunt in the U.S.
- Shatner is the CEO of the Toronto-based Core Digital Effects company that did the effects for the 1996 film _Fly Away Home (1996)_ (qv).
- Mr. Lemli, a character from the original _"Star Trek" (1966)_ (qv) series played by 'Roger Holloway' (qv), was named after his three daughters Elizabeth, Leslie and Melanie.
- Released an album titled 'Has Been' in 2004. The album was produced by 'Ben Folds' (qv) who also plays on the album. Other guest performers on the album include Joe Jackson, Aimee Mann, Henry Rollins and Adrian Belew.























































