William "Bill" Shatner (born March 22, 1931) is a Canadian actor, author, producer, and director. In his seven decades of television, Shatner became a cultural icon for his portrayal of James T. Kirk, Captain of the USS Enterprise, in the Star Trek franchise. He has written a series of books chronicling his experiences playing Captain Kirk and being a part of Star Trek, and has co-written several novels set in the Star Trek universe. He has written a series of science fiction novels called TekWar, which were adapted for television.
Shatner also played the eponymous veteran police sergeant in T. J. Hooker (1982–86) and hosted the reality-based television series, Rescue 911 (1989–96), which won a People's Choice Award for the Favorite New TV Dramatic Series. Shatner also appeared in seasons 4 and 5 of the NBC series 3rd Rock from the Sun as the "Big Giant Head" that the alien characters reported to. From 2004 until 2008, he starred as attorney Denny Crane in the final season of the legal drama The Practice and its spinoff series Boston Legal, a role that earned him two Emmy Awards.
Shatner has also worked as a musician, an author, a director, and a celebrity pitchman.
Early Life[]
Shatner was born to Anne (nee Garmaise) and Joseph Shatner, a clothing manufacturer and has two sisters, Joy and Farla. His paternal grandfather, Wolf Schattner, anglicized the family name to "Shatner".
All of Shatner's grandparents were Jewish immigrants (from Austria-Hungary, Ukraine and Lithuania) and he was raised in Conservative Judaism.
Shatner attended two schools in Notre-Dame-de-Grâce, Willingdon Elementary School and West Hill High School, and is an alumnus of the Montreal Children's Theatre. He studied Economics at the McGill University Faculty of Management in Montreal, Canada, where he graduated with a Bachelor of Commerce degree. In June 2011, McGill University awarded him an honorary Doctorate of Letters.
Star Trek[]
Shatner was cast as Captain James T. Kirk for the second pilot of Star Trek, titled "Where No Man Has Gone Before". He was then contracted to play Kirk for the Star Trek series and held the role from 1966 to 1969. During its original run on NBC, the series pulled in only modest ratings and was cancelled after only three seasons. In 1973, he returned to voice the role of Captain Kirk, in the animated Star Trek series.
Notable Films[]
- The Brothers Karamazov (1958)
- Judgment at Nuremberg (1961)
- Star Trek: The Motion Picture (1979)
- Star Trek II: 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)
- Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country (1991)
- Star Trek Generations (1994)
- Miss Congeniality (2000)
- Miss Congeniality 2: Armed and Fabulous (2005)
- Over the Hedge (2006)
- Batman vs. Two-Face (2017)