William Shatner is 90! – IOTW Report

William Shatner is 90!

Monday, 22 March 2021, 20:45 MJA Uncategorized 45

Mental Floss:

Born March 22, 1931 in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, William Shatner has been an indelible part of popular culture for a good portion of a century. Though he’s most recognizable as Captain James T. Kirk in the Star Trek film and television franchise, Shatner’s career has encompassed everything from the earliest days of television to spoken-word recordings to his own sci-fi book series (TekWar).

The nonagenarian will have a birthday celebration the weekend of July 23, 2021, in Ticonderoga, New York, when he attends a gathering at a replica Enterprise set. In the meantime, we’ve compiled 90 of the more compelling facts and details of the actor’s life and career, from his painful encounter with Koko the gorilla to a failed attempt to get Captain Kirk some robot action. Happy birthday, Bill. MORE

45 Comments on William Shatner is 90!

  1. Wow, our bunker is so close to the Enterprise set. We were going to visit a few years ago after driving by it but going to the Fort won the coin toss. We will definitely try and check it out this summer. We are psyched.

    Beam me up Scotty!

    God Bless us all!

    18

  9. Epilogue:
    The flight of Mr. Robert Wilson has ended now, a flight not only from point A to point B, but also from the fear of recurring mental breakdown. Mr. Wilson has that fear no longer… though, for the moment, he is, as he has said, alone in this assurance.
    Happily, his conviction will not remain isolated too much longer, for happily, tangible manifestation is very often left as evidence of trespass, even from so intangible a quarter as the Twilight Zone.

    13

  10. I’m watching original Star Trek now. An episode here and there every week. The one with the Miri and the “grumps” is still creepy after all these years.

    If my BFF’s family made spaghetti, I had an open invitation to stay for dinner. Yum! We’d watch Star Trek on her mom’s small kitchen TV. After Star Trek, Monty Python then I had to go home. LOL!

    16

  12. He was a horseman. American Saddlebreds. Rode his own horse in that one Star Trek movie. I’m sure he’s given up riding and driving, might still own some though. I had to give it up almost 5 years ago, at 55.

    12

  15. I admit to liking the original series. There were three different types of episodes.

    Kirk F*cks his way out of a situation.

    Kirk fights his way out of a situation.

    Kirk comes up with a convincing line of B.S. to stall the situation until the rest of the fleet arrives.

    Or a delightful combination of all three.

    Yes, like all nerds I liked spock….. but unlike most nerds I played sports…so Kirk wins. He had a lot more fun than spock, sulu and checkov combined. Scotty was cool too. I would have smacked Bones around before we ever left space dock.

    Uhuru. Hott. Basically I liked those who radiated confidence and competency.

    Like Harcourt Fenton Mudd.

    15

  22. Oh yeeeeaaahhh…. just remembered why the actor (Bill Shatner) is cool.

    He’s the horse guy. He does horse rescue and horse centers and his favorite charity is anything Arabian horse related.

    I respect that.

    9

  23. Was a huge fan of the original Star Trek, but my favorite character was Bones (Dr. McCoy), not Kirk.
    Met Mr. Shatner at some show, maybe an auto show, years ago. It was kinda lame. He was handing out photocopies of his picture and autograph. Mine went into the trash. His appearance on SNL was one of the funniest things I’ve ever seen.

    4

  26. So……you like em’ skinny, overly dramatic, and watery eyed.

    Yes, I know, a terrible joke. I was simply trying to find a reason to use the Oxford comma. It’s super satisfying. My apologies.

    So satisfying……

    6

  28. @Loco Yep! Watched Black Sheep Squadron every week. It motivated me to read about the real Pappy Boyington and the Flying Tigers and the war in the Pacific. Not exactly the usual middle school girl reading fare. 😆

    4

  30. @Burr – why ‘admit’ to liking Star Trek…

    Only happens to BE one of the greatest TV shows EVER made via Gene Rodenberry…

    Admit??

    To WHAT?

    5

  34. I went to a presentation by Gene Roddenberry in Houston back in the 80’s where he talked about the show, played some humorous outtakes, and screened the first pilot for Star Trek (“The Cage” in B&W), starring Jeffrey Hunter as Captain Christopher Pike. It was rejected by NBC as being “too cerebral” among other reasons. The second pilot, with Shatner as Captain Kirk was more successful.

    7

  35. Wow, William Shatner is 90. I feel old – LOL. He’s my favorite Star Trek captain. The original Star Trek is still the best of them all.
    BTW, Shatner was one of my early teen crushes, along with Burt Lancaster and Sidney Poitier.

    4

  37. My youngest grew up watching Shatner reruns. He became a fam of both the star and the show. For about 30 years every year for Christmas we give him a Star Trek ornament for his tree.

    His oldest made a LEGO MODEL of the Enterprise about 10 years ago. Grandson is OK with Bill but not a fan like his dad, my son.

    BTW. Bill is still mentally sharp! Not like Dominion!

    5

  38. Original Star Trek was the best.
    I also lived Wild, Wild West w/ Robert Conrad.
    He was some handsome. Even as an older man.
    Probably the best thing about Pluto tv is the old shows.
    They run W,W West , Star Trek, Mission Impossible, all the old shows before agenda driven drivel.

    3

  39. Loco, Illustr8r, and beachmom: Conrad’s two daughters went to my grade school, Joan was in my class, her sister was a year behind us. Two good looking blonds. One or maybe both were on Black Sheep as nurses. Then there was the time I gave Michael Landon’s daughter Cheryl a kiss, but that’s a story for another time.

    2

  40. Illustr8r — Robert Conrad was my second (and greater) celebrity crush! I think he’s the reason I joined the AF. Black Sheep Squadron every week!

    Yes, we should do a thread on celebrity/Hollywood crushes! My very first one was Sajid Khan from the tee vee series “Maya”. Remember that one? That was that, until Robert Conrad, who was replaced by Mark Spitz (my girlfriends surprised and embarrassed me by giving me a life sized poster of Spitz, which they unrolled, in the commons of our busy high school).

    2

  41. Out of all the characters he played, my favorite is Denny Crane – I suspect his personality is pretty close to his own.
    You can catch DeForest Kelley in a bunch of westerns and gangster movies as a bad guy pre-Star Trek..

    4

  43. Another Shatner series was “T.J. Hooker” with Heather Locklear, who was married to Richie Sambora and Tommy Lee.
    The show was a little corny and a Shatner vehicle, but it was entertaining.

  45. Captain, I’m a surgeon not a brick mason!
    I’ve been followed and stopped by women who think I’m Bill but not recently. I still have 18 years to look as good as him. If he’d lose a few pounds he’ll be around a long time.
    Happy Birthday Captain.

    1

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