William Shatner has cultivated a career that has spanned over 50 years as an Emmy and Golden Globe winning actor, director, producer, screenwriter, recording artist, author, and horseman. He is one of pop culture's most recognizable figures and has also established himself as a major Hollywood philanthropist.
Born in Montreal, Shatner developed an early interest in acting and started working professionally at the CBC before he reached his teens, then eventually joined the Stratford Shakespeare Festival under Sir Tyrone Guthrie. When he moved to New York, he not only became part of television's Golden Age, working on programs such as Playhouse 90 and Studio One, but also made his film debut in 1957's The Brothers Karamazov, and starred on Broadway.
In 1966, Shatner originated the role of "Captain James T. Kirk" in the television series Star Trek, which rocketed to fame - but only after the show was cancelled and then later re-launched in syndication. The series spawned a feature film franchise in which Shatner reprised the role of Captain Kirk in seven of the Star Trek motion pictures. He made his feature film directorial debut in 1989 with Star Trek V: The Final Frontier (in which he also starred and helped conceive the story). Since then, he has directed several other features, television movies, and series.
Shatner played the title role in the network series T.J. Hooker before hosting television's first reality-based series, Rescue 911, for six seasons. He has guest starred in several hundred television programs including classics such as The Twilight Zone, Alfred Hitchcock Presents and Mission: Impossible, and garnered an Emmy nomination for his appearances in 3rd Rock from the Sun.
Shatner also won an Emmy in 2004 for his recurring role as eccentric lawyer "Denny Crane" on The Practice, the David E. Kelley-created legal drama. Shatner then reprised the role - this time as a series regular - on the hit program Boston Legal. As a result, he won his first Golden Globe in January 2005 and another Emmy that September. He has since earned four more Emmy nominations, a second Golden Globe nod as well as two SAG Award nominations.
Shatner was one of the first celebrities in Hollywood to recognize the importance of the Internet. Since April 1998, he has served as the spokesman for Priceline.com, contributing his enduring appeal, trademark sense of humor and entertaining style to the groundbreaking series of commercials.
Currently, Shatner hosts Shatner's Raw Nerve on the BIO Channel, his own edgy and off-beat celebrity interview series; Aftermath, also on BIO, a series Shatner created to explore the profound and personal life changes of individuals who found themselves at the center of highly public events; and Weird or What?, a series that explores mysteries and strange phenomena. He will also star this September in the CBS prime time series, $#*! My Dad Says as Ed, the titular 'Dad'.
To find out more about William Shatner's life and art, including his music, books, horses and charity work, please visit: williamshatner.com
