William Alan Shatner was born March 22, 1931, in Motreal, Quebec, Canada.  His father was Joseph Shatner and his mother Anna Garmaise. He has two sisters named Farla and Joy.  His grandparents were Jewish immigrants from Poland and Hungary. Shatner is an alumnus of the Montreal Children’s Theater but earned a Bachelor’s degree in commerce from McGill University and went on to become both an accomplished actor and novelist.

Being trained as a Shakespearean actor, in the classical sense, William Shatner performed at the Shakespearean Stratford Festival of Canada in Stratford, Ontario. He made his Broadway debut in the production of Marlowe’s Tamburlaine the Great. Then in 1954 he was cast in the Canadian version of the Howdy Doody Show as Ranger Bob.

When it comes to television icons, the persona of Captain James T.

Kirk of the Star Ship Enterprise is arguably one of the biggest. This is the role William Shatner is best known for, despite a very wide ranging acting career.  It wasn’t until after the Star Trek series was canceled that he gained world wide fame for his role as Captain Kirk, a role he played from 1966 to 1969.

Between 1979 and 1991 he returned to the character of Kirk in the Star Trek franchise feature films. He also direct the Star Trek feature film, The Last Frontier.  Ironically enough, it is the one movie of the franchise fans say they enjoyed least, although it still made millions of dollars at the box office. In 1994, he portrayed Captain Kirk on film for the last time in the film Star Trek Generations, the movie where the iconic character, Captain Kirk, died.

His accomplishments as a writer include a series of books chronicling his experiences in his role as Captain Kirk and his role in the whole Star Trek phenomena. Perhaps some of his most popular work is the science fiction series, Tek War that was later adapted for television.

One other television character that earned William Shatner big recognition was the title role in the police drama T.J. Hooker, which ran from 1982 to 1986, where he played a veteran police sergeant.  This was the first time he and fellow actor Leonard Nimoy had worked together in front of a camera since their Star Trek days.

From 2004 to 2008, Shatner starred as attorney Denny Cran on the critically acclaimed television drama Boston Legal. This role won him three Emmy Awards plus a Golden Globe Award.