With a slew of wives and decades of adventures under his ever-widening belt, Shatner really isn't that different from his legendary TV alter ego, Captain James Tiberius Kirk on the original
Star Trek. Before he rocketed (literally) to fame, Shatner did Shakespeare on stage and a host of small-screen guest spots. When he signed on to play Kirk in 1966, it was just another gig. Its cult wasn't born until the '70s when the show found new life in syndication.
ST spawned a multitude of movies, small-screen spin-offs, books and conventions, thanks in part to Shatner, who played Kirk in seven
ST films between 1979-1994. Shatner did take on other projects including a starring role on the cop series
T.J. Hooker and a stint as host of
Rescue 911. Yet Shatner and Kirk remained inextricably linked and soon the actor — beloved/ridiculed for his stilted speech patterns and parade of toupees — embraced his campy place in pop culture, spoofing his image in myriad TV shows, recordings, books, even a series of commercials for Priceline.com. At age 73, Shatner reinvented himself yet again with a recurring role as a nutty attorney on the last season of
The Practice, which snagged him his first Emmy in 2004 and another in 2005 for playing the same part on the spin-off
Boston Legal.
William Shatner Fast Facts:- Began acting career as a child on Canadian radio.
- Early TV career included memorable turns on The Twilight Zone and an episode of The Man from U.N.C.L.E. with future Star Trek costar Leonard Nimoy.
- Shared TV's first interracial kiss on the Star Trek episode "Plato's Stepchildren" with Nichelle Nichols, who played Lt. Uhura.
- Mask of killer Michael Myers in the original Halloween (1978) was a likeness of his Star Trek character, Captain Kirk, painted white.
- Title of his memoir Get a Life! (1999) was derived from a 1986 Saturday Night Live skit spoofing fans of Star Trek.
- Varied (and much spoofed) music career includes cult classic The Transformed Man (1968), featuring unique covers of "Mr. Tambourine Man" and "Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds," and Has Been (2004), with Ben Folds, Aimee Mann, Henry Rollins and others.
- Third wife Nerine Kidd drowned in the swimming pool of their Los Angeles home on August 9, 1999. Although the two had been estranged, they reconciled shortly before she died.
- William Shatner Relationships:
- Anne Shatner - Mother
- Elizabeth Martin - Wife
- Gloria Rand - Ex-wife
- Joseph Shatner - Father
- Leslie Shatner - Daughter
- Lisabeth Shatner - Daughter
- Marcy Lafferty - Ex-wife
- Melanie Shatner - Daughter
- Nerine Kidd - Wife (deceased)
- William Shatner Awards:
- 2007 Emmy: Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series - Nominee
- 2008 Golden Globe: Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role in a Series, Miniseries or Motion Picture Made for Television - Nominee
- 2008 Emmy: Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series - Nominee
- 2005 Golden Globe: Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role in a Series, Miniseries or Motion Picture Made for Television - Winner
- 1999 Emmy: Outstanding Guest Actor in a Comedy Series - Nominee
- 2004 Emmy: Outstanding Guest Actor in a Drama Series - Winner
- 2005 Emmy: Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series - Winner
- 2006 Emmy: Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series - Nominee
- College:
- Attended McGill University, Montreal, Quebec, Canada
