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• William Shatner

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• 29 wins & 44 nominations total

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• Keldor (voice)

• Jimmy Murray (voice)

• Barton Wallwork

• Victor Martin

• The Overseer (voice)

• Norm Glinski

• Oscar 'Oz' Diggs (voice)

• Phil The Plant (voice)

• David Marlowe

• Harvey Dent (voice)

• Grand Pear (voice)

• Kenneth Roubidaux

• executive producer
• 83 episodes

• executive producer (2016)

• 16 episodes

• 21 episodes

• excerpt biography 'Shatner: Where No Man'

• based on novel
• 18 episodes

• executive story consultant

• In-development projects at IMDbPro

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• William & Marcy
• 5′ 9″ (1.75 m)
• March 22 , 1931
• Montreal, Quebec, Canada
• Spouses Elizabeth Shatner February 13, 2001 - 2020 (divorced)
• Children Melanie Shatner
• Parents Joseph Shatner
• Other works TV commercial: "NFL on Fox".
• 5 Biographical Movies
• 7 Print Biographies
• 2 Portrayals
• 40 Interviews
• 30 Articles
• 3 Pictorials
• 26 Magazine Cover Photos

Did you know

• Trivia Shortly after the original Star Trek (1966) series was canceled, his wife Gloria Rand left him and took a lot of money with her. With very little money and his acting prospects low, he resided in a pick-up truck camper until continually acting in bit parts led into higher-paying roles.
• Quotes [When asked if he wore a hairpiece] It's a question that I find like asking somebody, "Did you have a breast implant?" or "When did you get your lobotomy?".
• Trademarks Clipped, dramatic narration.
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William Shatner boldly went into space for real. Here's what he saw

Joe Hernandez

Blue Origin's New Shepard rocket system lifts off from the launchpad carrying 90-year-old Star Trek actor William Shatner and three other civilians near Van Horn, Texas, on Wednesday. Mario Tama/Getty Images hide caption

Blue Origin's New Shepard rocket system lifts off from the launchpad carrying 90-year-old Star Trek actor William Shatner and three other civilians near Van Horn, Texas, on Wednesday.

Blue Origin's second human spaceflight has returned to Earth after taking a brief flight to the edge of space Wednesday morning.

Among the four passengers on board — there is no pilot — was William Shatner, the actor who first played the space-traveling Captain Kirk in the Star Trek franchise.

Canadian actor William Shatner, who became a cultural icon for his portrayal of Captain James T. Kirk in the Star Trek franchise, speaks at a convention in 2019. Michele Spatari/AFP via Getty Images hide caption

Canadian actor William Shatner, who became a cultural icon for his portrayal of Captain James T. Kirk in the Star Trek franchise, speaks at a convention in 2019.

"The covering of blue. This sheet, this blanket, this comforter that we have around. We think, 'Oh, that's blue sky,' " an emotional Shatner said after returning to Earth.

"Then suddenly you shoot through it all of the sudden, as though you're whipping a sheet off you when you're asleep, and you're looking into blackness, into black ugliness."

At age 90, Shatner is now the oldest person to fly into space.

"I do not know what I may appear to the world, but to myself I seem to have been only like a boy playing on the seashore, diverting myself in now & then finding a smoother pebble or a prettier shell than ordinary, whilst the great ocean of truth lay all undiscovered before me," he said in a tweet after landing.

William Shatner dresses as Capt. James T. Kirk at a 1988 photo-op promoting the film Star Trek V: The Final Frontier . Bob Galbraith/AP hide caption

William Shatner dresses as Capt. James T. Kirk at a 1988 photo-op promoting the film Star Trek V: The Final Frontier .

The rocket system, New Shepard, took off around 9:50 a.m. CT from a launch site near Van Horn, Texas.

Joining Shatner on the flight was a Blue Origin employee and two paying customers.

Billionaire Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, who owns Blue Origin, was on-site for the launch and shook the hands of all four passengers as they boarded New Shepard. The rocket is named after American astronaut Alan Shepard.

William Shatner is bound for space, but the rest of us will have to wait

The entire suborbital journey lasted about 10 minutes. On part of the trip, the four passengers experienced weightlessness.

The capsule topped out at an apogee altitude of 351,000 feet (about 66 miles up). It then fell back to Earth, landing under a canopy of parachutes in the West Texas desert.

Blue Origin launched its first human spaceflight in July , with Bezos and three others on board.

Wednesday's flight came about two weeks after 21 current and former Blue Origin employees wrote an essay accusing top executives at the space company of fostering a toxic workplace that permits sexual harassment and sometimes compromises on safety. Blue Origin denied the allegations.

• William Shatner
• blue origin

William Shatner

William Shatner is best known for his distinctive voice and his roles on 'Star Trek' and 'Boston Legal.'

Who Is William Shatner?

Actor, director, author, singer William Shatner is best known for his roles on Boston Legal and Star Trek .

Born on March 22, 1931, in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, Shatner started his career as a child performer in radio programs for the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. As a student at McGill University, he continued to pursue acting. Shatner spent his summers performing with the Royal Mount Theater Company. He graduated from the university in 1952 and joined the National Repertory Theater of Ottawa. Working with Sir Tyrone Guthrie, Shatner also appeared in productions at the Stratford Shakespeare Festival in Ontario.

Early Stage and Screen Roles

In 1961, Shatner had a small part in the Holocaust drama Judgment at Nuremberg , playing an army captain. He had a lead part in The Intruder (1962) as a racist who fought against school integration. On the small screen, Shatner had his first series, For the People , in 1965. He starred on the short-lived drama as an assistant district attorney in New York City.

'Star Trek' Series and Films

The following year, Shatner took on the role that made him famous around the world. As Captain James T. Kirk on Star Trek , he commanded the U.S.S. Enterprise , a starship traveling through space in the twenty-third century. Kirk encountered all sorts of unusual aliens and challenging situations during his journeys. Accompanying him on these adventures was his loyal crew, which included first officer Mr. Spock (Leonard Nimoy) and medical officer Dr. Leonard "Bones" McCoy (DeForest Kelley). The science fiction series created by Gene Roddenberry premiered on September 8, 1966, and lasted for three seasons.

During the run of the show, Shatner also made an unusual career move. He recorded an album, The Transformed Man (1968), which featured spoken word versions of contemporary pop hits. Already known for his dramatic, but earnest delivery of his lines on Star Trek , Shatner recorded renditions of such songs as the Beatles' "Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds."

Not long after the album, Star Trek was canceled. The show, however, continued to live on in syndication and became even more popular. Star Trek became a Saturday morning cartoon that ran during the mid-1970s, and it was resurrected a live action film in 1979. Returning to the role of Kirk, Shatner starred in Star Trek: The Motion Picture . The film's warm reception by film-goers showed how much affection the public had for the old series. At the beginning of the film, Kirk has become an admiral, Bones has retired, and Spock has returned to the planet Vulcan. But the three return to work on a new version of the Enterprise to solve a crisis involving a mysterious cloud that has destroyed several spaceships.

In the sequel Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan (1982), Kirk has to overcome an old adversary out for revenge, Khan Noonien Singh (Richardo Montalban). He followed with Star Trek III: The Search for Spock (1984) and Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home (1986).

The next chapter in the Star Trek film series received a lukewarm reception. For Star Trek V: The Final Frontier (1989), Shatner not only returned as Kirk, but made his debut as a feature film director as well. The film, unfortunately, received some fairly negative reviews. Movie critic Roger Ebert called it "a mess," involving "not much danger, no characters to really care about, little suspense, uninteresting ... villains, and great deal of small talk."

Not matter what the reviews said, the Star Trek film series continued at warp speed. The next installments were Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country (1991) and then Star Trek Generations (1994). In Generations , the members of the original Star Trek hand the baton to the cast of the spin-off series Star Trek: The Next Generation , marking the end of Shatner's starring role in the franchise.

TV and Movie Roles

't.j. hooker'.

In 1982, Shatner took on a new leading television role in T. J. Hooker , as a veteran police officer who returns to a street beat. The supporting cast included Heather Locklear and Adrian Zmed as younger officers who work with and look up to Shatner's character. Unlike the original Star Trek series, T. J. Hooker was immediately popular with television audiences.

Shatner remained a fixture on television even after T. J. Hooker went off the air, becoming the host for Rescue 911 in 1989. This was an early entry into the reality television genre, featuring reenactments of emergency situations.

'The Practice,' 'Boston Legal'

On the big screen, Shatner appeared as a beauty pageant host in Miss Congeniality (2000) and its sequel Miss Congeniality 2 (2005), with Sandra Bullock . In 2003, he made a guest appearance as a talented, but eccentric lawyer on The Practice . His turn as Denny Crane brought him his first Emmy Award for Outstanding Guest Actor in a Drama Series in 2004. He had been previously nominated for his guest appearance on the science fiction sitcom 3rd Rock from the Sun in 1999.

The Practice creator David E. Kelley created a spin-off series, Boston Legal , featuring Shatner's character Denny Crane in 2004. Law partner and master litigator Crane acts as a mentor of sorts to Alan Shore (played by James Spader). For his work on the series, Shatner won his second Emmy — this time for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series — in 2005. More nominations in this category followed in 2006 and in 2007.

'Shatner's Raw Nerve,' 'Weird or What?'

In 2008, Shatner began work on Shatner's Raw Nerve, a celebrity interview program on the Biography Channel. He then worked on another Biography Channel project entitled Aftermath with William Shatner , which focused on the stories of ordinary citizens who became overnight celebrities, and also hosted the supernatural-themed Weird or What?

'$#*! My Dad Says,' 'Better Late Than Never'

In 2010, Shatner returned to sitcom TV in the short-lived $#*! My Dad Says , based on a Twitter feed of the same name. He began hosting the U.S. version of the stop-motion series Clangers in 2015, and enjoyed some success with the reality-travel series Better Late Than Never the following year, alongside Henry Winkler , George Foreman and Terry Bradshaw .

'The UnXplained' on HISTORY

Shatner is the host and executive producer of the HISTORY nonfiction series The UnXplained , which premiered on July 19, 2019, at 10 pm ET/PT. The series tackles subjects that have mystified mankind for centuries, from mysterious structures and cursed ancient cities to extraterrestrial sightings and bizarre rituals.

“It’s an intriguing show that will offer viewers credible answers to questions about mysterious phenomena, while also leaving other theories left unexplained," Shatner said.

Shatner has experienced great success as an author. During the writers' strike of 1987, he transformed a screenplay idea into a novel. The result was TekWar (1989), a work of science fiction featuring a middle-aged private detective working in the twenty-second century. More Tek titles followed and were later adapted for television.

Additionally, Shatner worked with Judith and Garfield Reeves-Stevens to create a series of Star Trek novels, and launched the Quest for Tomorrow and Samuel Lord science fiction series.

Also a veteran of nonfiction, Shatner co-authored Star Trek Memories (1993) and Star Trek Movie Memories (1994) with Chris Kreski. He and Kreski also worked together on Get a Life! (1999), a look at the whole Star Trek fan phenomenon. The actor went on to pen several nonfiction books with David Fisher, including Up Till Now: The Autobiography (2008) and Live Long And...: What I Learned Along the Way (2018).

Marriages and Personal

From 1956 to 1969, Shatner was married to Canadian actress Gloria Rand. The couple had three children together. Shatner married actress Marcy Lafferty in 1973. That marriage ended in divorce in 1996. Shortly thereafter, he married model Nerine Kidd. Kidd's life came to a tragic end in 1999, when she accidentally drowned in a pool at the Shatners' home in Studio City, California.

After such a tragic loss, Shatner was able to find happiness again with his 2001 marriage to Elizabeth J. Martin, a horse breeder. In late 2019, it was reported that the 88-year-old actor had filed for divorce.

As part of his own love of horses, Shatner started the annual Hollywood Charity Horse Show to raise funds for children's charities in 1990.

In late 2017, Canadian Governor General Julie Payette appointed Shatner an Officer of the Order of Canada for his contributions to popular culture and his charity work.

QUICK FACTS

• Name: William Shatner
• Birth Year: 1931
• Birth date: March 22, 1931
• Birth City: Montreal
• Birth Country: Canada
• Gender: Male
• Best Known For: William Shatner is best known for his distinctive voice and his roles on 'Star Trek' and 'Boston Legal.'
• Astrological Sign: Aries
• McGill University

We strive for accuracy and fairness.If you see something that doesn't look right, contact us !

CITATION INFORMATION

• Article Title: William Shatner Biography
• Author: Biography.com Editors
• Website Name: The Biography.com website
• Url: https://www.biography.com/actors/william-shatner
• Access Date:
• Publisher: A&E; Television Networks
• Last Updated: December 11, 2019
• Original Published Date: April 2, 2014
• The line between making a total ass of yourself and being fundamentally funny is very narrow.

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William Shatner Recalls Landing His Star Trek Role as Captain Kirk

William Shatner shared the story behind his casting in Star Trek at SXSW 2023.

It's hard to even imagine what Star Trek would have been like if William Shatner had never been cast as Captain James T. Kirk. Back in 1966, Shatner first appeared as the iconic character, eventually going on to reprise the role in a series of feature films in the coming decades. While he's made his mark outside of the franchise, the actor will forever be synonymous with Captain Kirk, given the continued popularity of Star Trek .

While attending South by Southwest (SXSW), Shatner reflected on his original casting in an interview with Alamo Drafthouse founder Tim League (via THR ). Shatner was asked to share the story behind how he was cast as Captain Kirk in the 1960s, and that took the 91-year-old on a trip down memory lane. While first joking that "talent" was all he had to say in response, Shatner delved into the whole story, first pointing out how the original pilot featured actor Jeffrey Hunter as Christopher Pike, a completely separate character that served as the captain of the starship. He recalls how NBC rejected that original pilot, feeling that there was potential there but something wasn't quite right, offering them the chance to tweak the show with a new lead star.

"They presented the pilot to NBC and then there’s that moment when the gods — and, in this case, NBC executives — decide to buy or not to buy," Shatner remembers. "To buy, or not to buy, that is the question! They said, ‘No, we’re not going to buy it, because we don’t like it. But we like the idea. So rewrite, recast and we’ll give you the money to do it.’ I’ve never heard of that happening before or since.”

Related: Jonathan Frakes Talks Paying Homage to Jaws on the Latest Episode of Star Trek: Picard

William Shatner Made Star Trek More Believable

From there, Shatner just happened to be in the right place at the right time to receive an invitation to read for the lead in Star Trek . He also figured out what was wrong with the show, and once he brought along some changes with his casting, NBC ordered Star Trek to series.

"They went around looking for a new captain,” Shatner continued. “I was in New York doing some work. They called me and said, ‘Would you come and see the pilot?’ With the idea of me being the captain. And I watched the pilot [and thought], ‘Oh my God, that’s really good. Why didn’t they buy it?’"

Paying closer attention to the dialogue, Shatner also felt like the characters needed to be written a bit less wooden, as he explained, "Yet [the actors] were a little ponderous. Like, [ soberly ] ‘Helmsman, turn to the Starboard.’ You’ve been out five years in the middle of space, wouldn’t you say, [ casually ] ‘Hey, George, turn left’? ‘There’s a meteor coming!’ … ‘Well, get out of the way!’ So I added a little lightness. Then it sold. And that’s the answer.”

The rest his history, as they say, and every sci-fi fan is grateful.

• It's Not Just You

How William Shatner Turned a Flight of Fancy Into a Lyrical Pitch For the Planet

A version of this article also appeared in the It’s Not Just You newsletter. Sign-up here to get a new edition every weekend.

“I was moved to tears by what I saw, and I come back filled with…overwhelmed by sadness and empathy for this beautiful thing we call Earth.”

—Actor William Shatner upon returning safely home from his brief trip into space aboard a Blue Origin rocket on October 13th.

When William Shatner, the man who played the legendary Captain James T. Kirk on “ Star Trek, ” clambered out of a rocket capsule and into the west Texas desert, he was embraced by Jeff Bezos, Blue Origin’s founder and one of the richest men on this planet.

Getting Captain Kirk to fly Blue Origin was quite a P.R. coup for Bezos’ private spaceflight company in what has become a space tourism race amongst billionaires. But perhaps not in the way that Bezos might have imagined.

From the moment he stepped off the landing pad, and on every news show after that, Shatner spoke poetically and with Kirkian emotion about his ten-minute trip to the edge of space and how he saw death out there in the endless dark. He said seeing the Earth at that distance evoked a deep sense of mortality—not just his own as a 90-year-old man, but in the threat to Earth as we continue to pollute the thin blue atmosphere that makes life possible down here.

Leaning into Bezos , with tears in his eyes, Shatner described those layers of atmosphere as “this comforter of blue that we have around us.” And he went on to talk about what it felt like blasting through the 50 miles of that Earthly blanket at 2,500 miles an hour:

“Oh, that’s blue sky. And then suddenly you shoot through it, all of a sudden like you whip off a sheet when you’ve been asleep, and you’re looking into blackness. Into black ugliness.”

As he spoke, the other astronauts (or “customers” as Blue Origin’s Livestream hosts called the flight’s two paying passengers) and a Blue Origin executive who was also on the flight cheered and jumped and sprayed champagne on each other. Shatner went on, gesturing downward: “There is mother and Earth and comfort. And then, looking up, he said: “Is—is there death? Is that death? Is that the way death is?”

Bezos, also in a bright blue flight suit, pinned insignias on his four astronauts looking like the head of a small country. In a way, he is a kind of nation-state as the founder of the ubiquitous Amazon which dominates online commerce and cloud computing, and a man whose personal fortune is somewhere between $189 billion and $200 billion which is more than NASA’s entire budget. Bezos has pledged to give $1 billion per year toward environmental conservation over the next ten years. His critics suggest that’s too small a figure given Amazon’s carbon footprint (in addition to Blue Origin’s rockets) and estimates that Bezos made about $70 billion last year alone.

But on this day, there was little debate over those larger questions as Shatner accepted the insignia and thanked Bezos for the gift of a profound experience that he didn’t want to ever recover from, adding that everyone should be able to see Earth the way he had.

And from there, Captain Kirk was on every network show his plea for the planet and the health of our grandchildren becoming more forceful with each iteration.

It was glorious to watch T.V. hosts try to steer Shatner away from talk of death and toward the fun of being up there after playing a spaceship captain for decades. Shatner gamely made jokes about being 90 but then he would inevitably bring them back to his more significant point, that we can’t keep “burying our heads in the sand” about global warming. He told CNN’s Chris Cuomo: “I wish could bring a message of lightness to leaven the terrible news you keep announcing,” but “we’re at a tipping point.”

Sign up here to get an essay from Susanna Schrobsdorff every weekend.

Despite the mission statement on Blue Origin’s site, which talks about bringing millions of people to live and work in space, Shatner went on to tell Cuomo: “Space is cold and ominous and ugly, and it really threatens death, there’s death there. And you look down, and there’s this warm, nurturing planet.”

I spoke to Shatner a few years ago on the 50th anniversary of the original “Star Trek.” He talked about the climate crisis fervently then too. He’d read Rachel Carson’s environmental classic “Silent Spring,” 40 years ago and lamented that we didn’t take the threat to humanity more seriously then.

“We’re here because of technology. And it seems the only way out of it is technology,” he said suggesting that we use science to develop a way to get carbon dioxide out of the air, and dismissing ideas of moving humanity to another planet as a “fantasy.” Shatner believes that in our bickering about a billion here or there, we’re wasting time. “We seem to be vainly beating out fists against the windowpane of extinction.”

In many ways, the former Captain Kirk doesn’t sound so different from Carl Sagan , the famed American astronomer, who also dismissed the idea that there’s a backup home for us:

“Our planet is a lonely speck in the great enveloping cosmic dark. In our obscurity, in all this vastness, there is no hint that help will come from elsewhere to save us from ourselves.”

When TIME’s Jeffrey Kluger asked Shatner this week whether he’d want to cross that line between Earth and outer space again, he said he wasn’t sure, noting that at 90, who knows how much time he has to be here in the beauty of this planet. “I’m calling you from my beautiful home, overlooking the San Fernando Valley,” he said. “The sun comes up. I’ve had a lovely egg sandwich my wife made, my two dogs love me, and I’m sitting in a comfortable chair, and I’ve just come from this thrilling thing of life.”

I asked Shatner about Star Trek’s legacy and why it still inspires people today even though it was, in his words, a fantasy. “Star Trek proposes that technology four hundred years from now will have solved all these problems,” he said. “And that is one of the appeals of Star Trek–that it says the future exists, that we will exist.”

Write to me at: [email protected] , or via Instagram: @SusannaSchrobs. And, sign up here to get a new edition of It’s Not Just You every weekend.

EVIDENCE OF HUMAN KINDNESS ❤️

Here’s your reminder that creating a community of generosity elevates us all.

Arizona single mother of an 8-year-old boy, Karina, is a survivor of domestic violence and has been doing her best to stay afloat. Karina is a small business owner was hit really hard during the pandemic but as she says “she has managed to get by every month to meet my basic needs.”

Just when she thought things couldn’t get any harder, her son began to feel weak and was diagnosed with a rare genetic blood disorder. Not being able to work while spending weeks at a time at the local Children’s Hospital, she began to fall behind on her rent and was also at risk of losing the office space for her business.

Karina heard about Pandemic of Love on comedian Chelsea Handler’s Instagram page and decided to reach out to the organization in a last-ditch effort to catch up.

The organization’s Arizona chapter leader connected her to a recurring donor named Joannie. Joannie was so touched by Karina’s story and connected with her on the phone saying that “Karina reminded me so much to my younger sister who passed a few years back – hardworking, determined and filled with unconditional love for her son.”

Joannie could only help Karina with one month’s rent but wanted to do more. She formed a “giving circle” with her friends at her local church and book club and with 20 women chipping in for $100 each, they were able to present Karina with enough money to provide her relief for two additional months.

Karina wrote to Pandemic of Love in disbelief:

“I’ve been operating from a belief that I am alone, and now I understand that I am not. I’m surrounded by strong women in my community. And I’m so grateful.”

Story courtesy of Shelly Tygielski, author of “ Sit Down to Rise Up ” and founder of Pandemic of Love , a grassroots organization that matches volunteers, donors, and those in need.

COMFORT CREATURES 🐕

Meet Annie, submitted by Linda who writes: “She is a shy, 70-pound red lab. She is shy and a homebody …. perfect for a pandemic. To her, we owe our sanity, our reason to walk every day, and the ability to see life through her eyes. She knew of course nothing about the pandemic but I think she realized we were home 24/7 with her and boy was she spoiled!”

Write to me at: [email protected] , or via Instagram: @SusannaSchrobs. And, sign up here to get an essay every weekend.

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In a Blue Origin Rocket, William Shatner Finally Goes to Space

The actor who played Captain Kirk played the role of pitchman for Jeff Bezos’ spaceflight company at a time that it is facing a number of workplace and business difficulties.

William Shatner Blasts off to Space on Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin Rocket

At 90 years old, the actor william shatner became the oldest person to travel to space and cross the kármán line. the “star trek” star traveled to space with three other passengers on a mission that lasted about 10 minutes..

“T-minus 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4 — command engines start — 2, 1.” “The rocket is climbing towards an altitude, we’re aiming just over the Kármán line, the internationally recognized line of space of 100 kilometers that is about 328,000 feet, and a gorgeous view down the rocket. And there they are, over 328,000 feet, over 100 kilometers. Welcome to space, the newest astronauts on board our crew capsule. And here come the mains. Oh, what a flight.” “Stand by touchdown. Stand by touchdown.” “Stand by touchdown.” And the capsule touched down. Welcome back. The newest astronauts, Audrey Powers, William Shatner; our customers, Glen de Vries and Chris Boshuizen. What a day for you. Welcome back.” [cheering]

By Joey Roulette

NEAR VAN HORN, TEXAS — William Shatner , the actor best known as the heroic Captain James T. Kirk in “Star Trek,” and three other passengers returned safely from a brief trip to the edge of space on Wednesday.

Mr. Shatner, 90, became the world’s oldest space traveler on the flight, which was the latest excursion over the West Texas desert aboard a rocket built by Blue Origin for space tourists. The private space company is owned by Jeff Bezos, the founder of Amazon and one of the wealthiest men on the planet.

It was the sixth launch carrying private passengers this year, as billionaire-backed companies jockey to normalize launching humans to space. Carrying two paying passengers, the quick jaunt to space also checked off another revenue-generating flight for Blue Origin’s space tourism business, advancing competition with Richard Branson’s Virgin Galactic to attract more wealthy and adventure-seeking customers.

But the successful flight and landing came amid a string of controversies for Mr. Bezos’ company, particularly charges from current and former employees that its workplace culture was “rife” with sexism and that it prioritized speed over addressing some employees’ safety concerns. The company has rebutted the criticisms, but has also faced setbacks in other lines of its business.

William Shatner Is Brought to Tears Describing His Trip to Space

The actor who played captain kirk in “star trek” told jeff bezos his visit to the edge of space in the blue origin rocket was the most profound experience he could imagine..

Just unbelievable, unbelievable. I mean, you know, the little things — but to see the blue color whip by, and now you’re staring into blackness, that’s the thing. The covering of blue is — this sheet, this blanket, this comforter, this comforter of blue that we have around, we think, “Oh, it’s blue sky. And then suddenly, you shoot through it all of the sudden as though you’re whipping a sheet off you when you’re asleep. And you’re looking into blackness, into black ugliness and you look down, there’s the blue down there and the black up there. And it’s just — there is Mother Earth, comfort. And there is — is there, death? I don’t know — was that death, is that the way death is? Whoop, and it’s gone. Jesus. It was so moving to me. What you have given me is the most profound experience I can imagine. I’m so filled with emotion about what just happened. I just — it’s extraordinary, extraordinary. I hope I never recover from this. I hope that I can maintain what I feel now. I don’t want to lose it. It’s so — so much larger than me and life. And this is now the commercial, everybody — it would be so important for everybody to have that experience.

Those concerns were absent on Wednesday as an effusive Mr. Shatner bent Mr. Bezos’ ear just outside the capsule after it landed, pouring forth words during a video livestream to describe his brief trek into the limits of the planet’s atmosphere. His trip aboard the rocket might have been conceived as a publicity stunt, but brushing the edge of the sky left the actor full of wonder, mixed with unease.

“What you have given me is the most profound experience I can imagine,” Mr. Shatner told Mr. Bezos, waxing poetically about the “immeasurably small” line he witnessed between Earth and space, describing it as a fragile, underappreciated boundary between life and death.

“This air which is keeping us alive is thinner than your skin,” he continued, adding: “it would be so important for everybody to have that experience, through one means or another.”

Mr. Bezos, who has said he was inspired by “Star Trek” as a boy, listened, still as a statue. He may have been giving Mr. Shatner some space, but it was a sharp contrast to his appearance after his own brief spaceflight in July, when he was aboard the same spacecraft. Then, Mr. Bezos held forth from a stage, rousing condemnation from critics of the vast company he founded as he thanked Amazon’s employees and customers for making it possible for him to finance his private space venture.

Mr. Shatner shared the capsule on Wednesday with three other passengers: Audrey Powers, a Blue Origin vice president who oversees New Shepard operations, and two paying customers: Chris Boshuizen, a co-founder of the Earth-observation company Planet Labs, and Glen de Vries, a co-founder of a company that builds software for clinical researchers.

The launch Wednesday morning was pushed back by roughly an hour by two pauses to the launch countdown — caused in part by extra checks to the spacecraft and winds near its launchpad. The quartet was driven in electric pickup trucks to Blue Origin’s launchpad, roughly an hour before liftoff, flanked by Mr. Bezos and company employees.

For a moment, it appeared Mr. Bezos, dressed in a flight suit like the one he wore in July, would join them in flying to space. But he closed the hatch door before leaving the pad, sending the crew on their journey.

The rocket lifted off at 9:49 a.m. Central time, ascending nearly as fast as a speeding bullet at 2,235 miles per hour and sending the crew some 65.8 miles high. The whole trip lasted 10 minutes, 17 seconds, and gave the four passengers about four minutes of weightlessness.

Mr. Boshuizen, talking to reporters after the flight, likened the crew’s entry into space to a stone hitting the surface of a lake. “I was trying to smile but my jaw was pushed back in my head,” he said.

Mr. de Vries said the crew “had a moment of camaraderie” when they reached space. “We actually just put our hands together,” he said.

“And then we enjoyed the view as much as we can,” Mr. de Vries said.

In video footage released later by Blue Origin, Mr. Shatner appeared nearly speechless as the crew floated inside the capsule, legs aloft and small toys wafting around. “This is nuts,” said Ms. Powers, gripping the frame of one of the capsule’s windows.

William Shatner and Crew Float in Space

Footage captured the 90-year-old “star trek” actor and three other passengers floating weightless inside the blue origin spacecraft capsule during their trip to the edge of space..

“God.” “Weightlessness. Oh, Jesus.” [laughter] “No description can equal this.” “This is nuts.” “Oh, my God.” [laughter] “This is Earth.” “Oh wow.” “Holy hell.” “Oh, my goodness. Wow.”

The capsule then descended back to land under a set of three parachutes.

Mr. Shatner wasn’t thrilled about his new status as the oldest person to fly into space. “I wish I had broken the world record in the 10-yard dash, but unfortunately it was how old I was,” he said hours after the mission during a news conference on the landing pad. He beat the record recently clinched during Blue Origin’s first crewed flight in July by Wally Funk, an 82-year-old pilot and former candidate for NASA’s astronaut corps who was turned down from joining in the 60s because of her sex.

Like Blue Origin’s July trip, in which Mr. Bezos launched to space with Ms. Funk and two other passengers, Wednesday’s flight served as an advertisement of the company’s space tourism business to prospective wealthy customers. It is competing primarily with Virgin Galactic, a rival space company founded by Richard Branson, the British businessman.

Virgin Galactic’s suborbital ship is a space plane that takes off from a runway like a commercial airliner. It tops out at a lower altitude. The company sent Mr. Branson and three company employees to the edge of space in July aboard SpaceShipTwo, nine days before Mr. Bezos’ flight.

Blue Origin has declined to publicly state a price for a ticket to fly on New Shepard. The company is nearing $100 million in sales so far, Mr. Bezos had said in July. But it’s unclear how many ticket holders that includes.

Tickets on Virgin Galactic’s SpaceShipTwo were hiked to $450,000 in August, from $250,000, when the company reopened ticket sales after a yearslong hiatus. And flights to orbit — a much higher altitude than Blue Origin or Virgin Galactic’s trips go — are far more expensive. Three passengers going to the International Space Station next year are paying $55 million each for their seats on a SpaceX rocket, bought through the company Axiom Space.

But space tourism is not Blue Origin’s only business, nor its only challenge. Earlier this year, the company lost out to SpaceX, the rival rocket company owned by the billionaire Elon Musk, for a lucrative NASA contract to land humans on the moon. The company is currently challenging the award to SpaceX in federal court, and may receive a ruling in November.

Mr. Bezos’ company is also attempting to overcome technical hurdles in its effort to finish building its much bigger rocket, New Glenn, as well as that rocket’s engines, which are to be relied on by a competitor, United Launch Alliance, to fly NASA and Pentagon hardware on its rockets.

Its most immediate challenge has concerned accusations that the company’s work culture allowed harassment and sexist behavior. In September, Alexandra Abrams, the former head of employee communications at Blue Origin, published an essay with 20 unnamed current and former employees of the company outlining those charges, as well as accusations that internal safety concerns were often dismissed by management.

“Even if there are absolutely zero issues with all of Blue’s programs, which is absolutely not the case, a toxic culture bursting with schedule pressure and untrustworthy leaders breeds and encourages failures and mistakes each and every day,” Ms. Abrams said this week.

Blue Origin disputed the allegations in the essay, saying in a statement that the company has an internal hotline for sexual harassment complaints. And on Wednesday’s livestream of the launch, Ariane Cornell, Blue Origin’s astronaut sales director, emphasized the company’s safety record, saying “safety has been baked into the design of New Shepard from day one.”

On Wednesday after the flight, Mr. Shatner also brought up New Shepard’s safety.

“I think, just generally, the press needs to know how safe this was,” he said, adding “the technology is very safe, the approach was safe, the training was safe and everything went according to exactly what they predicted. We even waited for the winds an extra half-hour.”

But asked by reporters if he would launch to space again, he said, “I am so filled with such an emotion, I don’t want to dissipate it by thinking of another journey.”

David Streitfeld and Daniel E. Slotnik contributed reporting.

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Watch William Shatner get a second chance at Captain Kirk's Star Trek Generations death scene

The actor believed his death scene performance came off more "fearful" than full of "wonder."

Emlyn Travis is a news writer at  Entertainment Weekly  with over five years of experience covering the latest in entertainment. A proud Kingston University alum, Emlyn has written about music, fandom, film, television, and awards for multiple outlets including MTV News,  Teen Vogue , Bustle, BuzzFeed,  Paper Magazine , Dazed, and NME. She joined EW in August 2022.

William Shatner is getting another shot at Captain Kirk’s Star Trek Generations death scene. 

One week after the actor revealed that he wasn't pleased with Kirk’s final line delivery in the 1994 film, Shatner was offered a chance to recreate the dramatic the scene while visiting Jimmy Kimmel Live on Thursday. 

Shatner explained on the talk show that his problem with his original performance — which sees a bloodied Kirk say, “oh my,” before dying — was that the USS Enterprise captain sounded afraid of dying, rather than full of wonder at the prospect of the next adventure.  

“I think you die the way you live,” he said. “So, Captain Kirk always had these grotesque things happening, 'Oh, look at that! It’s an animal! I think it’s going to eat me,' you know? But without fear… with joy and love and opportunity to see what’s better.” 

So he attempted to see death through Kirk’s eyes. “I thought I had lived the ‘Oh my,’” he said. “I thought that he would see death — old man with a scythe on his shoulder — and look at it and wonder.” 

Instead, Shatner said that his take in the film “sounded fearful,” adding, “and I didn’t want to be fearful.”

Host Jimmy Kimmel then asked Shatner if he'd like a “do over,” before grabbing some fake rocks and debris to scatter around the 93-year-old as he got comfortable in his chair. Kimmel also offered Shatner some “ketchup as blood” if he’d like, but was swiftly turned down. 

Turned towards the camera, Shatner then performed a dramatic new rendition of Kirk’s “Oh my” scene, this time decidedly less fearful. To show his performance was over, he remarked, “...And he dies.”

“Wow,” Kimmel said as the audience cheered. “That was good.”

Earlier this month, Shatner admitted in an interview with ScreenRant that he “never quite hit” what he was trying to accomplish with the tragic scene.

“I never quite got that nuance that I was looking for,” he said. “I had another couple of takes, but they they didn't understand what I was doing.”

Watch Shatner get a second chance in the clip above.  

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William Shatner explains why Star Trek's Captain Kirk was killed off

Hollywood will always boldly go where the money is.

• Co-author of two Gen X pop-culture encyclopedia for Penguin Books. Won "Headline Writer of the Year"​ award for 2017, 2014 and 2013 from the American Copy Editors Society. Won first place in headline writing from the 2013 Society for Features Journalism.

James T. Kirk had to go, William Shatner was told.

Klingons and Khan couldn't kill off Captain James T. Kirk, but big money can bring anyone down. 

William Shatner, who played Kirk in the original Star Trek , said Saturday that the character's death was all about the Benjamins, according to CNET sister site comicbook.com .

Spoilers for a 1994 movie ahead: Kirk, played by Shatner, dies in the feature film Star Trek Generations while working with Star Trek: The Next Generation captain Jean-Luc Picard to stop a deadly missile. 

More on Star Trek

• Jean-Luc Picard returns: Here are 5 of his best Star Trek lines
• Kirk or Picard? Amazon's Jeff Bezos makes a prime choice
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Shatner said he was told the character would die whether or not he appeared in the movie. And if he didn't come back, Kirk would die offscreen. He agreed, but not until pressing the point of why this had to happen.

"So the producer said, 'We're going to kill Kirk because we think that The Next Generation will make more money at the box office,'" Shatner explained. 

But that wasn't enough for Shatner, who wanted to know why this couldn't happen with the character alive. The answer he was given is rather unsatisfying.

"'Ah, the box office, expenses, the budget, and the box office,'" Shatner says he was told. In short, the producers were ready to move on with focusing solely on the TNG cast, and felt the money tree for TOS was empty.

In August, CBS announced that Patrick Stewart, who played Picard, will return to that role in a new show on the streaming service CBS All Access. (Editors' note: CNET is owned by CBS.)

Shatner, 87, told the Toronto Star in August that he doesn't want to pull a Stewart and star in his own series, but he wouldn't rule out a guest appearance.

"It will have to pass through enormous hurdles including permission from Paramount and then they'll have to get back to me and see where things are at," he said.

Zip me up, Scotty: 50 years of Star Trek uniforms

CNET Magazine : Check out a sample of the stories in CNET's newsstand edition.

Taking It to Extremes : Mix insane situations -- erupting volcanoes, nuclear meltdowns, 30-foot waves -- with everyday tech. Here's what happens.

Watch CBS News

William Shatner, Captain Kirk from "Star Trek," will blast off to space on Blue Origin capsule

By William Harwood

October 4, 2021 / 11:18 AM EDT / CBS News

Update: Launch has been postponed until October 13 due to weather.

William Shatner, who became a cultural icon playing Captain Kirk on "Star Trek," plans to blast off into space for real next week. The actor will soar to the edge of space with three crewmates aboard a Blue Origin New Shepard spacecraft on October 12, the company announced Monday.

"I've heard about space for a long time now," Shatner said in the Blue Origin announcement. "I'm taking the opportunity to see it for myself. What a miracle."

So now I can say something. Yes, it’s true; I’m going to be a “rocket man!” 😝🤣 https://t.co/B2jFeXrr6L — William Shatner (@WilliamShatner) October 4, 2021

At 90, Shatner will become the oldest person to fly in space, edging out aviation pioneer Wally Funk, 82, who joined Blue Origin owner Jeff Bezos for the New Shepard's first piloted flight last July 20. Shatner's upcoming flight will be Blue's 18th overall and its second with passengers on board.

The actor will join three crewmates for the ride to space: Chris Boshuizen, a former NASA engineer and founder of the Earth-imaging company Planet Labs; Glen de Vries, co-founder of Medidata and vice chair of Dassault Systèmes' life sciences and healthcare division; and Audrey Powers, manager of Blue's flight operations.

"I'm so proud and humbled to fly on behalf of Team Blue, and I'm excited to continue writing Blue's human spaceflight history," Powers said in the company announcement. "I have great confidence in our New Shepard team and the vehicle we've developed."

Blue Origin and Richard Branson's Virgin Galactic are both offering sub-orbital up-and-down flights to the edge of space, giving passengers three to four minutes of weightlessness and spectacular views of the planet below before returning to Earth.

A ride on Virgin's winged spaceplane will cost up to $500,000 per passenger. Blue Origin has not announced pricing, but seats aboard the New Shepard are expected to run in the same neighborhood.

Branson upstaged Bezos when he took off aboard Virgin's winged spaceplane along with two pilots and three crewmates on July 11. It was Virgin's fourth piloted flight but the first with Branson and a full crew on board.

Bezos followed suit on July 20, the 62nd anniversary of the Apollo 11 moon landing, taking off aboard a New Shepard spacecraft with Funk, his brother Mark and Oliver Daemen, an 18-year-old Dutch student and the youngest person to fly in space.

Several current and former Blue Origin employees have alleged safety lapses at the company and a culture that demeans women and muzzles dissent. In a response to CBS News earlier, the company did not address the safety allegations but said there is no tolerance for discrimination or harassment of any kind.

Shatner's flight, like all New Shepard missions, will begin with blastoff from Blue Origin's West Texas launch site.

Riding atop a hydrogen-fueled rocket, the capsule will climb straight up, reaching a velocity just above three times the speed of sound before being released to continue soaring out of the lower atmosphere on its own.

Now weightless, the crew members will cross an altitude of 62 miles, the internationally recognized "boundary" between the discernible atmosphere and space, before arcing over to begin the long fall back to Earth.

Descending under large parachutes, the capsule will touch down near the launch pad about 10 minutes after takeoff.

During Blue Origin's first crewed flight in July, Bezos and his crewmates had time to unstrap and float about the cabin for several minutes near the top of their trajectory. Shatner and his crewmates can look forward to the same experience.

SpaceX also offers commercial spaceflights, but unlike the sub-orbital trips offered by Blue Origin and Virgin Galactic, the California rocket builder's Crew Dragon spacecraft flies much faster and much higher -- all the way to orbit.

Crew Dragons are used by NASA to ferry astronauts to and from the International Space Station. The company also can fly purely commercial, non-government missions. The first such flight, chartered by billionaire Jared Isaacman, took off last month and more flights are planned.

But pricing for orbital spaceflight is truly astronomical, measured in the tens of millions of dollars per seat, leaving Blue Origin and Virgin Galactic to compete for passengers in the less-expensive sub-orbital domain.

• Crew Dragon
• Virgin Galactic
• Blue Origin
• Richard Branson

Bill Harwood has been covering the U.S. space program full-time since 1984, first as Cape Canaveral bureau chief for United Press International and now as a consultant for CBS News.

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William Shatner Performs a ‘Do-Over’ of Captain Kirk’s Death Scene | Video

The sci-fi actor has admitted he didn’t like the take used in “Star Trek Generations”

Jimmy Kimmel may have given William Shatner one of the best birthday presents you can give an actor: the chance to redo a performance he didn’t like. On Thursday night, the “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” host and the “Star Trek” legend talked about Captain Kirk’s iconic death while promoting Shatner’s documentary about himself, “You Can Call Me Bill.”

“You said in the documentary that your last appearance as Captain Kirk, you didn’t love your acting or your take on your line in the movie,” Kimmel said.

“Well, yes. Somehow when you say it, it sounds awful,” Shatner said before asking the late night host if he could rephrase his self criticism.

“As an earnest artist, the take is on me. Captain Kirk is dying. So how does a person die? How do you die? How do you know when you’re dying?” Shatner said. “I think you die the way you live. So Captain Kirk always had these grotesque things happening, ‘Oh look at that. It’s an animal. I think it’s going to eat me.’ But without fear, but with joy and love and opportunity to see what’s better.”

Captain Kirk’s big death scene happened in the 1994 movie “Star Trek Generations.” The movie sees Captain Kirk teaming up with Captain Jean-Luc Picard (Patrick Stewart) to stop Tolian Soran from destroying a planetary system. Though the manage to kill Soran, Captain Kirk is fatally injured in the process. Shatner’s final scene sees him buried under rubble while quietly uttering the phrase “Oh my” before he passes away.

“I ad-libbed the, ‘Oh my.’ I thought he would see death, an old man with the scythe on his shoulder, and look at it and wonder,” Shatner said before noting the take that was used “sounded fearful.” “I didn’t want to be fearful.”

That’s when Kimmel brought out some hunks of rubble and a ketchup bottle and offered to let Shatner perform Captain Kirk’s death one last time, an offer the actor happily embraced. Watch the re-do of this iconic sci-fi death above.

That wasn’t the only birthday present Kimmel had in store for Shatner. Earlier in the interview, Kimmel regular Guillermo Rodriguez presenting the actor with a flaming cake adorned with 93 candles. Shatner tried to blow out the candles before letting Kimmel take over the brunt of the lung work.

“I noticed it’s a one tiered cake. It’s a little cheap isn’t it?” Shatner teased.

“We spared every expense,” Kimmel said.

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William Shatner Is Asking You to Re-Examine Your Life

The Star Trek pioneer says, "There's so much that is so miraculous and worthy of pondering," while discussing his documentary 'You Can Call Me Bill.'

The Big Picture

• Collider's Steve Weintraub speaks with Hollywood icon William Shatner about his documentary William Shatner: You Can Call Me Bill .
• Shatner reflects on his expansive career, from Star Trek: The Original Series to countless new projects, his musings on mortality, the importance of environmental preservation, and tons more.
• William Shatner: You Can Call Me Bill is now available to rent or purchase on VOD.

On his 93rd birthday, William Shatner 's contemplative documentary, You Can Call Me Bill , launched in theaters. The fan-financed doc explores the decades-long career of this science fiction pathfinder, in which the actor reflects on his life, Earth, and the meaning of our existence. This look backward and forward examines the man behind the myth, and his legacy across the globe, and it's going to be available at home soon. In honor of its VOD release, Collider's Steve Weintraub spoke with Shatner about everything from his formative time on Star Trek: The Original Series to his latest (and numerous) projects.

It's clear from this interview that Shatner's love and curiosity for life — that which You Can Call Me Bill highlights so poignantly — is simply a way of being for him. Every day he can find wonderment; like, for example, how he points out that we have "the Library of Congress and the London Library...all in your hand," when holding up his cell phone to the camera. If only we can remember to "be aware of [our lives] and its existence." Despite his involvement with a number of projects, like two new studio albums, his Netflix series The UnXplained , and plenty more to keep him busy, Shatner doesn't seem to miss an opportunity to appreciate his self-proclaimed "charmed life," which he seems to have dedicated to living to the fullest, appreciating his fans, going on adventures, and relaxing at home when his schedule allows.

Check out the full interview in the video above, or in the transcript below for more on what's to come from William Shatner, advice from the Captain Kirk actor, the importance of caring for our planet, the miracle of Star Trek , and even his thoughts on the adventure of death. And be sure to check out You Can Call Me Bill , which is now available to rent or purchase on VOD.

You Can Call Me Bill

Read Our 'You Can Call Me Bill' Review

William Shatner Is Looking to the Future in All His Endeavors

COLLIDER: Just like tens of millions, if not hundreds of millions of people on this planet, your work has inspired me and possibly led to me creating Collider due to my interest in sci-fi and everything else, so I say thank you.

WILLIAM SHATNER: You're welcome.

I have a million questions for you before I get into the actual film. I know you are busier than anyone else I know. I know that you are just always busy, so how many different things are you actually working on right now?

SHATNER: I've got a very popular show called The UnXplained . It's on Netflix and on Discovery. This week, two albums are coming out. There's a children's album which is sweet and available to kids of six, seven, to eleven and twelve, written about the interconnection of animals, mushrooms and trees. They speak to each other and sing to each other. I believe it's a delightful album. There’s also an album of my performance of songs that Robert Sharenow, Dan Miller and I wrote for the Kennedy Center. I did a performance at the Kennedy Center, which we filmed and recorded. That film and that recording is coming out now. There's this documentary that's releasing now. I've designed two watches. One is coming out now, the other watch will be about six months. I did a performance on Monday at the University of Indiana, 15 minutes before the eclipse. I did a performance of stuff I wrote, and I utilized the university band.

Then there's all kinds of businesses that I'm involved in — futuristic business. One business has invented the tricorder, so they can read one disease at a time, by reading your saliva. Then, there are other businesses. One, for example, — my life seems to be really charmed — is my image projected, a projection like in Star Trek , except obviously it's not my body. But it's such a complete 3D image, it seems real. And the way it's set up, I can see the audience, the audience can see me, and it's like I'm there. So, I joined that company. A week later, I got a call from Australia saying, would I appear in front of 4,000 ad campaign people? I said, “I can't fly to Australia, but I can project my image.” And she said, “That's better than you being there.” And so it goes. There are many more futuristic ideas that I'm backing because I like the idea of the fact that they may get better, they may have a future. And if not, it's a really delightful idea that I'm glad to be a part of.

Is the 'T.J. Hooker' Movie Happening With Its Original Star?

One other question before getting into the film. I heard rumblings — this might not be true — that there's some stuff going on behind the scenes about a T.J. Hooker movie. Is there any truth to that?

SHATNER: I have heard the same rumblings, but I think it's the writer's stomach. I think that's it. I don't know. Nobody's ever come to me to play some version of whatever they would think of.

What I think is great about the documentary is how it weaves so many of your performances through your talking. It's like a time capsule of your life, and I think it's really well done the way it uses all the different performances. What are you actually most excited for fans to see in the documentary?

SHATNER: You're looking at an actor who's done a lot of publicity for a lot of things over the years publicizing this film that's being released. But the film is a documentary about me, so if I say to you, “Isn't it wonderful?” I'm talking about me. “Aren't I wonderful? Aren’t I wonderful? That’s moved you? It’s different. I’m wonderful, aren’t I?” I can't say that. So I thought — whether it’s true or not — that if I didn't see it, I could talk about it more with some objectivity . So, we can talk about it, and I dimly recollect everything, not everything but the stuff we talked about, but I can't say what's good and what's bad because I haven't seen it. But from what I'm hearing, and all the great reviews we're getting, it's being well-received.

Oh, yeah. We gave it a positive review on the site, and we can be difficult sometimes.

SHATNER: That’s good, so some venture that gets a positive review really has earned it.

Yeah, we don't give them out unless it's earned.

Existentialism With William Shatner

One of the things that you get into in the film is you talk about your mortality. As I've gotten older myself — everyone thinks about their mortality — but for me, I always think about what will I miss when I'm gone?

SHATNER: Me too.

What will I miss out on? What are the answers to the big questions that will be discovered in 100 years that I won’t be here to experience?

SHATNER: Exactly.

You really do get into your mortality. Has that been like something that you've thought about for a long time?

SHATNER: It gets more and more strident the older you get. Every birthday, this voice gets louder: “You're gonna die!” But there’s a prior question, and that is, when do you know you're dying? Does a cough mean it's the end of your life? A headache? Some pain or ache that ordinarily you’d laugh off, or go to the hospital and say, “I got this ache?” How many people do we know who went to bed and didn't wake up? Or people who walked into a room and you heard a crash and they just died? And are they thinking, “Oh, jeez, I lost my balance,” or, “I'm dying?” I mean, how do you ask yourself the question, “Am I dying?” Because it may be just a nerve ending? So, that question has occupied me. If you get ill, you think, “I wonder that's gonna kill me?”

I know people that have gone to the hospital and they never came out. I'm sure you're in the same boat.

SHATNER: Exactly. Well, I wouldn't go in a boat, I'd go in a trailer.

[Laughs] Sure.

William Shatner Warns, "The Jeopardy This Earth Is In Is Very Real"

One of the things the film also gets into, and you talked about it when you went into space, is the fact that our planet is so precious and so finite. It feels like so many people on this planet just treat the earth as a garbage disposal, and I am desperate to get more people to give a shit. What can we do?

SHATNER: Yes. Give a shit, but do it in the toilet and not in the park.

[Laughs] Yes.

SHATNER: That's absolutely true. I had dinner with friends last night who just came back from Japan, and it reminded me of what's-his-name who was lauding Russia and how clean the subways are, and all the food, and the streets are so clean…Tucker Carlson. These people were saying, “We love our country, but coming from Japan where it's so clean and neat, and coming to the airports and the bus station, we're so ashamed of this garbage dump. You go along the freeway and you’ve got all kinds of terrible things lying on the side of the road.” It just requires our citizenry to be aware that the jeopardy that this earth is in is very real. All these things that are going extinct; even the things we know about that are going extinct, but when you find something that you didn't know existed went extinct, that's really sad. It took 3.8 billion years for that thing to evolve and it's gone, and nobody knew it was here or left. So, yes, it's a huge message that I keep talking about.

Have you actually been to Tokyo? I have, and I was stunned by exactly what your friends said. You could be in the oldest mall or the oldest building and it's cleaner than any bathroom in America.

SHATNER: We shot film down in the underground, because they don't speak English there and you get lost very easily. It's so clean. There's no garbage anywhere.

I thought it was amazing. It's like being on a different planet.

SHATNER: I don't know why we don't assign a lot of people, I know they have some, looking over the streets just picking up garbage and filling the potholes. Have you seen how bad the roads are?

Yes. My car also says that it has seen the road and how bad it is.

William Shatner Implores Us to Stay Endlessly Curious

Just ask yourself a question: “what am i doing".

One of the things that is also fascinating about you is that you've maintained this sense of curiosity about everything for what feels like your entire life, and I'll be honest, I have not been able to do that. What has been your secret to maintaining that attitude?

SHATNER: Well, I don't think it's a secret. You get used to everything. So, you pick up this thing here, and you make a call. The sense of extraordinary wonderment has long since left you that, in your hand, you have the Library of Congress and the London Library, and you're able to make a call to the ends of the earth — all in your hand. I mean, if you were to tell somebody prior to this invention, they'd say, “You're crazy. That's science fiction.” And prior to science fiction, they'd say, “I think we should shoot you. You're dangerous.” So, the wonderment of everyday life, of everything… I mean, I don't know how that phone works. Do you know how the phone works?

I do not know, except that I'm in love with it every day. I mean, it's changed the planet's life.

SHATNER: Absolutely. And there's no telling how many people are getting their education, learning to read, reading books. It might unlock all this potential that human beings have that [we] waste on war. So, if you can maintain this, “Where did this bread come from? My lord, it tastes good.” If you could just be aware of your life and its existence. You could find fault that you're not in a forest, living the natural life, but the life you can live here, of enlightenment and of kindness and of the poverty being eradicated, there's so much that is so miraculous and so worthy of pondering. Just ask yourself a question: “What am I doing? What am I doing? Get in the car.” What are you doing?

You have done an awful lot of conventions in your life. I have to know, do you have a preference between the cruise ship, Vegas, out-of-the-country? Are there certain locations that you're like, “Yes. Let’s do that?”

SHATNER: My basement would be great. I hate to leave home. It brings to mind, it’s not a convention but it’s a giant trip — I'm going to the Antarctic, Christmas week, with 250 people on a ship. There's still tickets available, and they're fairly expensive. It's a 10-day trip. It’s a voyage of a lifetime, and it's kind of Star Trek ie, and it has me and some other people who are identified in science fiction. It'll be enormously entertaining, but it leaves a couple of days before Christmas and goes to the Antarctic .

When you get offered something like that, is it an immediate yes? How much are you thinking about that before taking the trip? I mean, it's a big adventure.

SHATNER: I think that is a huge adventure to go to the Antarctic. They said, “Well, we'll pay you, and we'll give you cabins.” It was just so beautiful, the idea of spending 10 days with most of my family on that ship with those experiences — the polar bears and the penguins and the kayaks and the ice and the snow and the storms. So, that's gonna take place on Christmas Week.

I have done a cruise ship devoted to Star Trek with, I think, 2,000 people aboard the ship, and everybody interested in Star Trek . I never lose sight of the miracle of it. As much as it's sometimes, you know, “Hey, Captain Kirk…” and it's a little bit tedious, the miracle of Star Trek never leaves me .

It's what I said at the beginning, though. You and your fellow cast mates on the original show, and everyone who worked on it, influenced the entire planet, and it's not too often you can be a part of something like that. There are very few people on this planet that have done what you've done.

SHATNER: Well, it's, it's a phenomenon. Star Trek is a phenomenon with all its reiterations and people connected. It’s incredible.

Over the years, not so much anymore, but years ago there was a competition between whether or not you were a Star Trek fan or a Star Wars fan. There was always a little bit of a rivalry. Have you ever actually been asked to be on any Star Wars thing at all?

SHATNER: Not really. That would be taking it out of the reality of the show, and doing a gag, in the same way doing a cameo role is show-busy. It's not true to the nature of the show, so I've turned those down. But I don't look at any of the Star Trek s, including, I've got some buddies on The Next Generation , and I haven't really seen any of their shows. I just don't watch Star Trek . And there's a number of shows I've never watched that I'm in.

In All the Galaxy, William Shatner Just Wants to Be Home

Getting back to what I said earlier, which is, you've been fortunate to travel this world, is there a location on this planet that you've been to that really inspired you, or something that you really wanna tell people, “If you have the opportunity, you should go there?”

SHATNER: Well, the answer to where I want to go is my home. I've got a lovely home on a hill. I'm looking over the San Fernando Valley. I've got two dogs, they've got their places. We've got the house pretty much up to snuff, and it's a haven. Whenever I have to leave, it's onerous. But if you're suggesting what other place would I go, it would have to be where I didn't have to get dressed up. I could be like this and talk to people like I'm talking to you, and sort of do one-on-one, and have it very peaceful around me. It suggests Hawaii.

[Laughs] Hawaii is very nice, and not too far from California.

SHATNER: Right.

You have done so many different roles in your career. Obviously, many people have seen Star Trek , but if someone has actually never seen anything you've done before, what is the first thing you'd like them watching and why?

SHATNER: Well, I can't put a judgment on how good it was or how good I was in it, but when I'm asked a question about what I've done, I did a one-man show on Broadway, [ Shatner's World: We Just Live in It ]. The one-man show is literally that — no dancing girls, no music, no other entertaining aspects. It's you. Whether you're telling jokes or telling stories, it's you and the audience. I made that connection in New York, and I toured with quite a few places for some months afterwards. That's probably as tough an assignment and as well-worked out as it became. So that one-man show, there’s film on it. I haven't released it, actually, but there's a one-man show out there.

I’ve heard of this company called Legion M. Just something to think about.

SHATNER: [Laughs] Imagine somebody coming up and saying, “We're not gonna ask the public for financing, self-financing. We're gonna say to the public, ‘If you give us money, you're investing in the company. You'll invest in the movie you want to invest in, and in our company. As a result of which, if we make money, you'll make money. If we don't make money, none of us get paid.’” That's their premise, and I was struck by it. That was one of the reasons I decided to do this documentary.

And perhaps a way to release your one man show. Just a thought.

What Is StoryFile, and Why Should Future 'Star Trek' Fans Care?

A number of years ago, we actually spoke and you told me you had spent days recording answers to tons of questions so that one day, when you're not here anymore, people could actually talk with you, or something along those lines. How did that project turn out? Is it done? Have you seen a beta version of it?

SHATNER: It's done, and it's called StoryFile . I did five days in front of a camera, 3D and AI. They've put it into a housing, which you can press a button, ask a question and the machine answers whatever the question is. Since I fed that AI computer five days worth of answers to questions that I was being asked, it's likely that one of the questions you asked me has been asked and the machine will spout it out. If you ask a question that hasn't been asked, that machine will collate what has been answered in other questions, and, in all likelihood, provide an answer. So, it's question/answer.

Is it in person or is it something that they're still working on?

SHATNER: No, no. You can buy it.

You Can Call Me Bill is now on VOD. Check it out on Amazon.

Screen Rant

William shatner's relationship with each of his star trek castmates explained.

William Shatner has been a presence in popular culture since Star Trek: TOS, but he rubbed several of his closest castmates the wrong way.

William Shatner’s iconic role as Captain Kirk in Star Trek: The Original Series solidified his fame, but not all of his Star Trek castmates had great relationships with the man behind the captain. Star Trek ’s devoted following means plenty of deep dives have been made into the history of Gene Roddenberry's  Star Trek: The Original Series and how it influenced the rest of the franchise. This means a lot of dirty laundry has been aired about how Shatner and his Star Trek castmates felt about each other.

Star Trek: The Original Series only ran for three seasons from 1966-1969. However, the stories of the USS Enterprise and its crew traveling through space in the distant future captured a huge following and defined the careers of the lead actors in the TV series. Star Trek ’s effect on popular culture cannot be overstated, and fans of the show at the time protested NBC’s repeated attempts to cancel the series with passionate letter-writing campaigns. It is perhaps not surprising that Star Trek: The Original Series developed a strong cult following as it aired during the height of the space race and the lead-up to Neil Armstrong’s first moonwalk in 1969. Since then, the series has spawned many books, movies, and other TV shows, both live-action and animated. In many of these, the  Captain Kirk that Shatner originated is an important part of the Star Trek mythos, even if he doesn’t actually appear in person.

Related: Why William Shatner's SNL "Get A Life" Sketch Was So Controversial To Star Trek Fans

While Shatner holds an important place in science fiction history, the man himself has had somewhat of a tumultuous relationship with his castmates, fans, and marginalized groups. Roddenberry's family voiced displeasure over Shatner’s 1986 appearance on Saturday Night Live in which he mocked cosplayers at a convention, and more recently he has provided unnecessary hot takes on the word “cis” and attacked the LGBTQ+ community over its use. Clearly, Shatner has always been a strong personality, so how did his  Star Trek: The Original Series castmates feel about the actor over the years?

Leonard Nimoy – Spock

Leonard Nimoy’s Spock was the Vulcan first officer of the USS Enterprise and second in command to Captain Kirk. Consequentially, Nimoy shared a lot of screen time with Shatner, and the two actors were the only cast members credited during the opening title sequence for the first season, while the rest of the cast was listed in the end credits. During the filming of Star Trek: The Original Series , Nimoy and Shatner had a sometimes strained relationship as Shatner became jealous of the love and attention Nimoy received from fans. This escalated to the point that Shatner would occasionally steal some of Spock’s lines (in the hopes of making his own character seem more intelligent) as well as perform petty acts around the set such as hiding Nimoy’s bike. In later life, Shatner acknowledged he had been jealous of Spock and did not handle the challenge to his ego well.

Despite their on-set rivalry, Shatner has made much of his relationship with Nimoy in the years after Star Trek: The Original Series . In 2016, a year after Nimoy’s death, Shatner published a book titled Leonard: My Fifty-Year Friendship With a Remarkable Man in which he referred to Nimoy as the only real friend he ever had. However, in the final years of Nimoy’s life, the two had a falling out potentially related to  Shatner using footage of Nimoy in his The Captains documentary against his wishes. The two did not speak for the last five years Nimoy was alive, but Shatner expressed his regrets he was unable to attend Nimoy’s funeral, with Shatner’s children going in his place.

DeForest Kelley – Leonard “Bones” McCoy

While Kirk and Spock might be the first to come to mind when thinking of Star Trek: The Original Series , Deforest Kelley’s chief medical officer, Leonard “Bones” McCoy, is never far behind. Famed for his “ he’s dead, Jim ,” line, Kelley received equal recognition alongside his co-stars in Star Trek: The Original Series season 2 and 3, with his name appearing in the opening credits along with Shatner and Nimoy’s. While Kelley did not have as close a relationship with Shatner as Nimoy, Kelley said he loved Shatner despite some occasional arguments and having to set the captain straight on points here and there.

Related: Star Trek: What Happened To Bones After TOS & Movies

George Takei – Hikaru Sulu

Star Trek: The Original Series saw the helmsman Hikaru Sulu brought to life by George Takei, who has gone on to become just as well known for his online presence and bringing greater acknowledgment to the internment of Japanese-Americans in the United States during World War II. While Nimoy and Kelley had largely close or amicable relationships with Shatner for most of their lives, the same cannot be said for Takei. The two have been outspoken about their struggles to get along, with both accusing the other of bringing up the controversy between them to garner attention for their careers.

Takei has criticized Shatner’s ego, both before and after his time as Hikaru Sulu, noting he is a hard man to work with as he is not a team player. At various points, the two have downplayed the seriousness of their feud, including during Comedy Central’s 2006 Roast of William Shatner , when they suggested past tensions were behind them. However, more recent events make it clear that is not the case. In 2021, the two argued after Takei criticized Shatner’s trip into space and mocked him, with Shatner speaking out against Takei in return. The poor relationship between Takei and Shatner is certainly the most enduring and well-publicized of the Star Trek: The Original Series feuds.

Nichelle Nichols – Nyota Uhura

Nichelle Nichols played the USS Enterprise’s communications officer, Lieutenant Uhura, a role that was ground-breaking for African American female characters on TV in the United States. Neither Nichols nor Shatner have spoken much about their relationship with each other, and there is no reason to think it is not amicable. The two made TV history together when they filmed the first interracial kiss on scripted U.S. television, and Nichols made a quip about the fact during Comedy Central’s Roast of William Shatner .

James Doohan – Montgomery “Scotty” Scott

Montgomery “Scotty” Scott was the USS Enterprise’s chief engineer and was portrayed by the Canadian James Doohan. A common theme in Shatner’s relationships with the other Star Trek: The Original Series cast members is a frustration aimed at Shatner’s ego and desire to hog the camera and the best lines. This was a key component of Shatner’s relationship with Doohan. While they worked together on the original series and many Star Trek movies, Doohan clearly didn’t care for Shatner and is quoted as having said “ I like Captain Kirk, but I sure don't like Bill. He's so insecure that all he can think about is himself. ” He refused to be interviewed by Shatner for either of his Star Trek Memories books. However, after their working relationship ended with Star Trek Generations in 1994, it seems the two were able to mend their relationship; they made a final convention appearance together in 2004 before Doohan’s death.

Related: Star Trek Generations: Kirk's Opening Scene "Death" Is A More Fitting End

Walter Koenig – Pavel Chekov

The navigational, tactical, and security officer Pavel Chekov, played by Walter Koenig, was introduced in Star Trek: The Original Series season 2. While Koenig has acknowledged the feuds and poor relationships some of the cast had with Shatner, he was never overly bothered by it himself. Koenig has suggested he simply expected the lead actor on a show to be somewhat self-absorbed. It is possible that Koenig’s laid-back attitude towards Shatner and the issues the others struggled with might be attributed to the fact he came to the series after other dynamics had already been established and was also the youngest member of the main cast.

More: Every Kirk Replacement In New Star Trek Shows