
Acting
Born March 22, 1931 · Montreal, Quebec, Canada
William Shatner, OC (born March 22, 1931) is a Canadian actor. In a career spanning seven decades, he is best known for his portrayal of 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 James 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). After his last appearance as Captain Kirk, Shatner's television career has embraced comedy, drama and reality shows. In seasons 4 and 5 of the NBC series 3rd Rock from the Sun, he played the alien "Big Giant Head", to which the main characters reported. From 2004 until 2008, he starred as attorney Denny Crane in the final season of the legal show The Practice and in its spinoff Boston Legal, a role that earned him two Emmy Awards, one for his contribution 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. Aside from acting, Shatner has had a career as a recording artist, beginning in 1968 with his album The Transformed Man. His 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". 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". 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. Minutes after the flight, he described experiencing the overview effect.

765874: Unification
2024

Aliens Among Us with William Shatner
2024

William Shatner: You Can Call Me Bill
2024

Dick Van Dyke: 98 Years of Magic
2023

Full Moon's Roadshow Revisited
2023

A Tear in the Sky
2022

Fireheart
2022

2021 and Done with Snoop Dogg & Kevin Hart
2021

Shatner in Space
2021

Expedition Unknown: Shark Trek
2021

WWE Hall Of Fame 2020
2021

Senior Moment
2021

Creators: The Past
2020

To Your Last Death
2019

Devil's Revenge
2019

The Steam Engines of Oz
2018

Aliens Ate My Homework
2018

Batman vs. Two-Face
2017

Not a War Story
2017

The Truth Is in the Stars
2017

Heroes Manufactured
2017

Star Trek: Inside the Roddenberry Vault
2016

For the Love of Spock
2016

When Elephants Were Young
2016

Range 15
2016

Koko: The Gorilla Who Talks to People
2016

They Came from the Swamp: The Films of William Grefé
2016