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The
Canadian-born actor attended McGill University where he was
active in theater productions on campus. During his summers
through college, Shatner performed in the Royal Mount Theater
Company. When he graduated in 1952 with a B.A., Shatner began
work at the National Repertory Theater of Ottawa. He
eventually won co-starring roles in plays such as "The
Merchant of Venice" and "Henry V," as well as the Most
Promising Actor award. After a run in New York in the play,
'Tamburlaine," Shatner was signed to a seven-year contract by
20th Century Fox. He married a Canadian actress, Gloria Rand
and honeymooned in Scotland. It was something of a working
honeymoon, however, as Shatner had a role in an Edinburgh
Festival production of "Henry V."
After his honeymoon, Shatner returned to New York where he
guest starred on numerous series, including Goodyear
Playhouse, Circle Theater, Philco Playhouse,
Studio One and The Defenders. Then came his
movie debut, "The Brothers Karamazov," with Richard Basehart.
Not wanting to miss out on the Western genre that was so
prominent in Hollywood, Shatner learned to ride a horse and
rope.
Next, Shatner landed the starring role in the two-year
Broadway run of "The Secret Life of Suzie Wong." This was
followed by "A Shot in the Dark" with Julie Harris and then
"L'Idiote," all on Broadway.
In 1961, Shatner landed two films, "The Intruder," where he
plays a rabble-rouser traveling from one Southern town to
another, getting people to riot against court-ordered school
integration. It was later released under the titles, "I Hate
Your Guts!" and "Shame." Shatner also appeared in "Judgment at
Nuremberg."
Then came the role for which he is undoubtedly best known;
Captain James T. Kirk on Star Trek. Unfortunately,
during the three years that series ran, Shatner not only
separated from his wife, but lost his father, as well.
After the original series ended in 1969, Shatner went on to
star in the first seven Star Trek feature films. He
also made such films as "Sole Survivor," and the Sherlock
Holmes classic, "The Hound of the Baskervilles." Guest
appearances on series like, The Sixth Sense, Barnaby
Jones, and Hawaii Five-O kept him in the public
eye.
In 1970 Shatner played the brilliant prosecutor in "The
Andersonville Trial," which was a fine film and garnered him
good reviews. During the shooting of that film, Shatner met
Marcy Lafferty, who would become his second wife. Then, in
1974 Shatner, along with his fellow starship colleagues,
embarked on 18 episodes of an animated Saturday morning
cartoon based on Star Trek. In 1979 "Star Trek: The
Motion Picture" was released and Shatner was firmly back in
command as James T. Kirk. When "Star Trek V" was shot, it was
Shatner at the director's helm.
In 1982, Shatner starred in a cop series, T.J.
Hooker which lasted four years. Following Hooker,
Shatner then went on to host to the popular series Rescue
911. In 1994, Universal made a television series,
TekWar based on the series of books written by Shatner
and Ron Goulart. While Shatner did not star in the series, he
did make appearances and directed several of the episodes. He
has also made several guest appearances on NBC's hit comedy
3rd Rock from the Sun playing the role of The Big Head.
Shatner can also be seen and heard promoting Priceline.com on
both television and radio.
Shatner is also the author of several books of a
biographical nature, including "Star Trek Memories" and "Star
Trek Movie Memories," relating the making of Star Trek
movies, including "Star Trek Generations." As a novelist,
Shatner has also, with collaborators Judith and Garfield
Reeves-Stevens, contributed to the Star Trek oeuvre
with several novels, including "The Ashes of Eden" and "The
Return."
Filmography
1958 "The Brothers Karamazov"
1961 "The Explosive
Generation"
1961 "Judgment at Nuremburg"
1964 "The
Outrage"
1967 "White Commanche"
1968 "The
Intruder"
1968 "Hour of Vengeance"
1974 "Big Bad
Mama"
1974 "Dead of Night"
1975 "Impulse"
1975 "The
Devil's Rain"
1977 "Kingdom of the Spiders"
1977 "A
Whale of a Tale"
1978 "Challenge to Survive"
1978 "The
Third Walker"
1979 "Star Trek: The Motion Picture"
1980
"The Kidnapping of the President"
1982 "Visiting
Hours"
1982 "Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan"
1982
"Airplane II: The Sequel"
1984 "Star Trek III: The Search
for Spock"
1986 "Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home"
1989
"Star Trek V: The Final Frontier" (also directed)
1991
"Bill and Ted's Bogus Journey"
1991 "Star Trek VI: The
Undiscovered Country"
1993 "National Lampoon's Loaded
Weapon I"
1994 "Star Trek Generations"
1997
"Trekkies"
1998 "Free Enterprise"
2000 "Miss Congeniality"
2000 "Falcon Down"
2001 "Mindmeld"
2002 "American Psycho 2"
2002 "Showtime"
2002 "Shoot Or Be Shot"
2002 "Splat Attack"
Series
Star Trek
T.J. Hooker
Rescue
911
Tek Wars
Iron Chef
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