William Shatner
(born March_22, 1931) is a Canadian actor and writer who was born in Montreal, Quebec. He received his Bachelor's_degree from McGill_University in 1952. Shatner is most famous for his starring role as Captain James_T._Kirk of the Starship_Enterprise in the television show ''Star_Trek'' from 1966 to 1969 and in some of the subsequent movies. Shatner has written two books chronicling his experiences playing Captain Kirk and being a part of the Star Trek franchise. He has since worked as a writer, producer, director, and best-selling author. Trained as a classical Shakespearean actor, he played at the Stratford_Festival_of_Canada in Stratford,_Ontario before going to the United_States to work. His movie debut was in the classic MGM film ''The_Brothers_Karamazov'' with Yul_Brynner in which Shatner starred as the pious brother Alexei. He also appeared in the Stanley_Kramer film ''Judgment_at_Nuremberg''.Post-Star Trek career
Shatner had a long dry spell in the decade between the original Star Trek series and the Star Trek movies, which he attributes to his being typecast as Captain Kirk, making him unable 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. This was directed by George C. Scott and received excellent reviews. The dry spell ended for Shatner (and the other ''Star Trek'' cast) when Paramount produced '''' in 1979, under pressure from long loyal fans of the series. Its success re-established Shatner as an actor, and Captain Kirk as a cultural icon. 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; this show became a popular hit. As the unwilling central public figure of a widespread geek-culture of '' (1982), ''National_Lampoon's_Loaded_Weapon_I'' (1993) and ''Saturday_Night_Live'', in which he advised Star Trek fans to "Get a life!", repeating a popular catch-phrase. Shatner has enjoyed success with a series of ghost-written ''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 the 1990s Shatner appeared in several plays on American National_Public_Radio, written and directed by Norman_Corwin. Shatner has appeared in several episodes of the television series ''Third_Rock_From_the_Sun'' as "The Big Giant Head"', a fat, womanizing, substance-abusing, higher-ranked officer from the same alien planet. In 2004, Shatner was cast as the eccentric but highly capable attorney Denny Crane for the final season of the legal_drama ''The_Practice'' and then its subsequent spin-off, ''Fleet Street''.Family and other ventures
William Shatner has been married four times: # Gloria Rand in the 1950s. # Marcy Lafferty whom he married in 1976; they divorced in 1994. # Nerine Kidd whom he married on November_15, 1997; she drowned on August_9, 1999 at the couple's home. # Elizabeth Martin whom he married on February_13, 2001 Shatner has three daughters: Leslie, Lisabeth, and Melanie, and a son, Daniel. He currently lives in Southern_California. In his spare time, he enjoys breeding and showing American_Saddlebreds and Quarter Horses. Shatner has a 360-acre horse farm in Kentucky named Bellreve where he raises the winning horses. Shatner is also the CEO of the Toronto,_Ontario-based Core_Digital_Effects company which provided the special_effects for the 1996 film ''Fly_Away_Home''. As an author, William Shatner has enjoyed some success with his ghost-written ''Tek'' series of science_fiction novels, the first published in 1990 was entitled ''TekWar''. The sitcom Father_Ted pays homage to Shatner by making Father_Ted_Crilly a Tek fan.Musical tangent
His musical record, ''The Transformed Man'' (1968), has become a camp favorite. It includes spoken-word covers of "Mr. Tambourine Man" by Bob_Dylan and "Lucy_in_the_Sky_with_Diamonds" by The_Beatles. These are widely held to be so bad they are hilarious. Shatner also spoofed them in a series of television commercials delivered in the same style over music. George_Clooney chose William Shatner's "Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds" as one of his Desert_Island_Discs as an incentive to leave the island. He said, "If you listen to [this song], you will hollow out your own leg and make a canoe out of it to get off this island." Shatner again satirises himself in the recent cartoon series "Futurama": in Episode 56 he recites (spoken-word) Eminem's "Slim Shady" song during a feast, spoofing his own "Lucy" chant.Trivia
Memorable quotes
"I am not a Starfleet commander, or T.J. Hooker. I don't live on Starship NCC-170...(some audience members say "one"), or own a phaser. And I don't know anybody named Bones, Sulu, or Spock. And no, I've never had green alien sex, though I'm sure it would be quite an evening. ("Pomp And Circumstances" begins playing) I speak English and French, NOT KLINGON! I drink Labatt's, not Romulan ale! And when someone says to me 'Live long and prosper', I seriously mean it when I say, 'Get a life'. My doctor's name is not McCoy, it's Ginsberg. And Tribbles were PUPPETS, not real animals. PUPPETS! And when I speak, I never, ever talk like every. Word. Is. Its. Own. Sentence. I live in California, but I was raised in Montreal. And yes, I've gone where no man has gone before, but I was in Mexico and her father gave me permission! My name is William Shatner, and I am Canadian!" -- from a Just for Laughs appearance, it is a parody of the popular Molson Canadian Commercial entitled "I am Canadian".Bibliography
''(incomplete)''External links
Original, History and Authors:
en-wikipedia-org/wiki/William Shatner | History and Authors | Edit Content
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