Quick Facts
Canadian Celebrities Born In March
Also Known As: William Alan Shatner
Age: 93 Years, 93 Year Old Males
Family:Spouse/Ex-: Elizabeth Shatner (m. 2001), Gloria Rand (m. 1956–1969), Marcy Lafferty (m. 1973–1996), Nerine Kidd (m. 1997–1999)
father: Joseph Shatner
mother: Anna
siblings: Farla, Joy a
children: Leslie Carol Shatner, Lisabeth Shatner, Melanie Shatner
Born Country: Canada
Quotes By William Shatner
Jewish Actors
Height: 5'10" (178 cm), 5'10" Males
Ancestry: Hungarian Canadian, Austrian Canadian, Ukrainian Canadian, Polish Canadian, Canadian American
Notable Alumni: New England Institute Of Technology, McGill University Faculty Of Management, Montreal Children's Theatre
City: Montreal, Canada
More Facts
education: Montreal Children's Theatre, McGill University Faculty Of Management, New England Institute Of Technology
Childhood & Early Life
William Shatner was born in Notre-Dame-De-Grace, Montreal, Quebec, Canada on March 22, 1931, in a Jewish family to Joseph Shatner and Anne Shatner. His father Joseph had a cloth manufacturing business and his mother worked as an elocutionist. Shatner had two sisters.
He studied at West Hill High School and later at Baron Byng High School. He showed a talent for acting as early as eight when he captivated audiences as a member of the Montreal Children’s Theatre. Shatner was also active on radio programmes on Canadian Broadcasting Corporation.
He became quite popular as a young performer but instead of continuing with it he pursued commerce programme at the prestigious McGill University in Montreal. Shatner was awarded his bachelors’ degree in 1952.
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Career
In 1954, William Shatner started off as a performer at the Stratford Shakespeare Festival after having trained in the nuances of Shakespearean acting at the Canadian National Repertory Theatre. Two years later Shatner acted in the play ‘Tamburlaine the Great’ at Broadway.
Shatner acted in plays as well as television programmes for some years before he got his first break in films in the year 1958, when he was cast in the film ‘The Brothers Karamazov’ produced by MGM. The same year, Shatner’s performance in the play ‘The World of Suzie Wong’ was well received.
Throughout the 1960s, William Shatner worked in movies and television simultaneously, along with a bit of theatre. He starred in films like ‘Explosive Generation’, ‘Intruder’ and ‘Judgement at Nuremberg among others while on television he was a part of the cast of ‘Thriller’, ‘Twilight Zone’ and ‘The Outer Limits’.
In 1966, Gene Roddenberry decided to cast William Shatner in the role of Capt. James T. Kirk in the famous TV show ‘Star Trek’ and he starred in the show for its entire duration of three years. It was one of the most important roles in Shatner’s career and he went on to star in the Star Trek films that were made later.
In 1968, Shatner began his career in music with the album ‘The Transformed Man’ and went on to produce three more albums in his career. The three albums were ‘Has Been’, ‘Seeking Major Tom’ and ‘Ponder the Mystery’. The last one was released 45 years after his first album was released.
After ‘Star Trek’ was discontinued in 1969, William Shatner’s career went through a bit of a lull as he could not get the sort of roles that he was looking for having become too identifiable with his ‘Star Trek’ character. Around this time Shatner worked mainly in television shows like ‘The Andersonville Trial’, ‘Barbary Coast’ and ‘The Hollywood Squares’ among others.
In 1979, his career took a positive turn with the release of the film ‘Star Trek: The Motion Picture’ where Shatner played the iconic role of Capt. Kirk. Shatner went on to play the role in the subsequent six Star Trek films. He played the role of Captain Kirk in other movies like ‘Airplane: The Sequel’ and ‘National Lampoon’s Loaded Weapon 1’ as well.
He started working in the TV series ‘T.J. Hooker’ in 1982, and he also directed some episodes of the series. Seven years later Shatner hosted the popular crime show ‘Rescue 911’ which ran for seven years. He also wrote some science fiction novels at the time and the first published book was ‘TekWar’.
He appeared in the show ‘The Practice’ in the role of the lawyer Denny Crane and the character became so popular that in 2004, he was cast as the same character in the show ‘Boston Legal’. His performances in the latter show earned him rave reviews. Four years later his autobiography ‘Up Till Now- The Autobiography’ was released. He has appeared in a number of TV shows, documentaries and films over the latter part of his career.
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Major Works
William Shatner has had a long career in television, films and the stage and he has produced excellent work across mediums. However, the most important work of his career was his portrayal of Capt. James T. Kirk in the Star Trek films.
Awards & Achievements
In 2005, William Shatner was awarded both the Golden Globe and the Emmy award for best supporting actor for his portrayal of Denny Crane in the show ‘Boston Legal’.
Personal Life & Legacy
He got married to actress Gloria Rand on August 12, 1956. The couple had three daughters. The marriage ended in divorce after 13 years.
In 1973, he got married to Marcy Lafferty but this marriage too ended 23 years later in 1996. He did not have any children from this marriage.
In 1997, he got married to actress Nerine Kidd but two years after their marriage, Kidd died as a result of drowning in a swimming pool due to the effects of alcohol and Valium.
