William Shatner
William Shatner | |
|---|---|
Shatner in 2025 | |
| Born | March 22, 1931 Montreal, Quebec, Canada |
| Education | McGill University (BCom) |
| Occupations |
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| Years active | 1951–present |
| Works | Filmography |
| Spouses |
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| Children | 3, including Melanie |
| Relatives | Joel Gretsch (son-in-law) |
| Awards | Full list |
| Honours | Officer, Order of Canada |
| Website | williamshatner |
William Shatner[1][2] OC (born March 22, 1931) is a Canadian actor. In a career spanning seven decades, he is best known for his portrayal of Captain 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 American television shows. He appeared as Captain 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 embraces comedy, drama and reality shows. In seasons 4 and 5 of the NBC series 3rd Rock from the Sun, he plays the alien "Big Giant Head" to whom the main characters report. From 2004 until 2008, he starred as attorney Denny Crane in the final season of the legal show The Practice and the entire run of its spinoff, Boston Legal. The role of Denny Crane won Shatner two Emmy Awards, one for his contributions 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.[3]
Aside from acting, Shatner has had a career as a recording artist, starting with his 1968 album, The Transformed Man. Shatner's 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".[4] 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".[5]
In 2021, Shatner flew into space aboard Blue Origin NS-18, 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.[6][7] Minutes after the flight, he described experiencing the overview effect.[11]
- ^ @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.
- ^ "Birth act". CinéArtistes. Archived from the original on November 13, 2022. Retrieved November 13, 2022.
- ^ 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.
- ^ "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.
- ^ "William Shatner releases metal album; Shatner's greatest hits". The Washington Post. Archived from the original on February 10, 2021. Retrieved October 14, 2021.
- ^ 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.
- ^ a b Cite error: The named reference
launchwas invoked but never defined (see the help page). - ^ 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.
- ^ 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.
- ^ "FAA Commercial Human Spaceflight Recognition". Archived from the original on December 28, 2021. Retrieved December 10, 2021.
- ^ [8][9][7][10]