William Shatner: Difference between revisions
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[[File:William_Shatner_3617.jpg|frame]]
{{quote|''"'Has been' implies failure. Not so. 'Has been' is history. 'Has been' ''was.'' 'Has been'... ''might again''."''
|'''William Shatner'''|"Has Been" }}
{{quote|''Shatner made sure he did everything I didn’t do — stood up where I had sat down, lay down where I stood up ... he was original to the last. I knew then that the SOB was going to be a star.''|[[Christopher Plummer]], on Shatner being his understudy at Stratford}}
One of the [[Narm Charm|most charming]] [[Large Ham|largest hams]] of all time. Most well known for his portrayal of Captain James T. Kirk in ''[[Star Trek: The Original Series]]'', he has offered an assortment of [[Chewing the Scenery|impossibly intense, emotive performances]], [[Punctuated! For! Emphasis!|often ... including! oddly placed ... emphasis and ... pauses!]] His recitation of the Preamble to the US Constitution in the episode "The Omega Glory" is legendary: "[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3b56e0u0EgQ WEEEEE . . . the PEEEE-ple!]"<ref>Doubly amusing when you remember Shatner is [[Canada|Canadian]].</ref>
As if his broad over-acting weren't enough, he also saw fit to record an album of spoken-word readings of poetry and pop-song lyrics called ''The Transformed Man'' that has to be heard to be believed. His renditions of "Mr. Tambourine Man" and "Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds" are particularly legendary and inspired the ''Golden Throats'' compilations of bad celebrity music recordings. An equally [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lul-Y8vSr0I jaw-dropping video rendition] of "[[Elton John|Rocket Man]]" became a favorite bit of nonsense that was re-created years later by [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HJ1JmKW08vI Chris Elliott] on ''[[Late Night|Late Night With David Letterman]]'' and Stewie on ''[[Family Guy]]''.
An ego the size of his native [[Canada, Eh?]] also did not help his reputation among his co-stars. Details vary, but he has said that he was unaware of how arrogant he was on set. [[Leonard Nimoy]] helped him understand that just being nice to them personally doesn't mean that they respected him trying to take away what little screen time they had, and most of the other cast have in the past expressed dissatisfaction with what [[Walter Koenig]] referred to as "them and us", "them" being Shatner, Nimoy and [[DeForest Kelley]], "us" being Koenig, Takei, Nichols and Doohan. His most famous spat was with [[James Doohan]], who was one of the most distinguished character actors before his role on ''[[Star Trek]]''; Doohan once famously said "I like Captain Kirk, but I sure don't like Bill." He outright refused an interview with Shatner during the writing of the "Star Trek Memories" book, but showing genuine regret for alienating the cast allowed the two to reconcile before Doohan was incapacitated by Alzeheimer's Disease. ''Memories'' also allowed Shatner to settle affairs with [[Nichelle Nichols]], with Nichols shocking him by telling him "[["The Reason You Suck" Speech|how much I despise you]]," though after his willingness to listen to her critiques and offering his sincere apologies, they reconciled and have remained friends. He similarly mended fences with [[George Takei]], but apparently their relationship soured again when Shatner [[Snub By Omission|did not receive an invitation]] to Takei's wedding.
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In more recent years, Shatner has redeemed himself somewhat by developing a sense of humor, [[Adam Westing|mostly about himself]], and becoming a new model of [[Self-Deprecation]]. This has included playing a ludicrous version of himself in the film ''[[Free Enterprise]]'', and parodying his "musical" stylings in a series of commercials and a new, well-received recording with [[Ben Folds]] (''Has Been''). He also appears in the videos for the Brad Paisley songs "Online" ("What? I can't sing?"), and "Celebrity". ("I liked the end of the song. No, the end, when you stopped singing. I liked that part.")
Not to mention his famed "Get A Life" sketch on ''[[Saturday Night Live]]'', wherein he berated ''Trek'' fans for [[Basement Dweller|living in their parents'
Shatner has also developed a moderately successful reputation as a writer, starting with two autobiographies about his time with ''Star Trek'' that may have started his redemption; in the books, he faithfully recounts the brutal interviews he held with his former co-stars, who, one after another, lambasted him for being such an overbearing jerk, and admits to being humbled by the experience. His latest book is an autobiography titled ''Up Till Now'', which is actually really funny, partly because he spends a great deal of it mischievously poking fun at himself, but mostly because Shatner is actually an extremely good (and funny) non-fiction writer.
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Shatner has now created a new social networking site for arts patrons called [http://www.myouterspace.com myouterspace.com], which draws much influence from ''[[Star Trek]]'' and is laid out in a way not too different from a sci-fi RPG.
In 2010, there was a movement about to have him appointed the next Governor-General of [[Canada]]. For those who don't know, the Governor-General is the Queen's representative in Ottawa, and one of his/her most important jobs is to deliver the "Throne Speech," which is a speech outlining the government's intended plans for the next year. It'd be worth it just to hear him read it. Alas, the government chose a far more appropriate candidate
In May 2010, [https://web.archive.org/web/20110206111757/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/celebritynews/7683943/William-Shatner-earns-600m-from-Priceline-adverts.html The Daily Telegraph reported] that when Shatner began doing ads for travel website Priceline.com in 1997, he took payment partially in stock. Since the company was young and unproven (having been founded earlier that year), the stock wasn't worth much, and it bottomed out at $1.80/share during the dot-com bust in 2000. It recovered, however, and was eventually worth about US $600,000,000. However, in an April 2012 appearance on ''[[Conan (TV series)|Conan]]'', Shatner revealed he never made any money from the stock. Basically, everyone who took a stock payment had to sign a waiver agreeing not to sell the stock for 18 months, which was when its value soared. By the time the waiver expired, the stock was back down to almost nothing, and Shatner (along with most of the other shareholders) sold it. ''Then'' it went back up.
As of June 2, 2011, he is now ''Doctor'' William Shatner, having received an honourary doctorate from McGill University, his alma mater. In other words, [[I'm a Doctor, Not a Placeholder|he's a doctor, not a starship captain]]!
And as of November 21, 2019, he's an Officer of the Order of Canada - one step shy of as close to [[Knight Fever]] as a Canadian can get.
{{creatortropes}}
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* [[The Brothers Karamazov]]: One of his earliest roles was Alyosha (the ''nice'' brother) in the movie.
* [[Canada, Eh?]]
* [[Chewing the Scenery]]: Shatner's acting is actually a very good barometer for judging the quality of an episode of ''[[Star Trek]]''. It's no coincidence that in all the ''really'' good episodes, Kirk is either remarkably calm ("The Corbomite Maneuver", "The City on the Edge of Forever") or he has a double through whom Shatner can channel his urge to overact (see "The Enemy Within", or that one scene in "Mirror, Mirror"). Or it's a comedy episode, in which case ''Kirk'' is deliberately overacting ("A Piece of the Action"). Gotta give the guy credit...how many other actors can claim four hit series (''[[Star Trek]]'', ''[[T. J. Hooker]]'', ''
* [[Cool Old Guy]]
* [[Designated Villain]]: Many fans (and some of his fellow castmembers) have tended to portray him as the bad guy in pretty much anything related to ''Star Trek'' behind the scenes. His actual crimes seem to have been stalling production of some of the movies for a bigger salary, and occasionally trying to steal the limelight... hardly the most heinous (or original) of sins in Hollywood. It certainly doesn't measure up to, say, [[Nichelle Nichols|having an affair with the showrunner]], or as one of the other castmembers (whose name Shatner chose not to reveal) was doing, selling scraps snipped from a bolt of cloth in their garage as "pieces of my original uniform, worn on the show".
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* [[Montreal]]: His birthplace, and residence during his college years (he went to McGill).
* [[Of Corsets Funny]]: His infamous girdle.
* [[Older Than They Look]]: He
* [[Rage Quit]]: He did this on a celebrity episode of ''[[Wheel of Fortune]]'' in 1997.
* [[Say My Name]]: The trope formerly known as The Khan.
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[[Category:Actors]]
[[Category:William Shatner]]
[[Category:Canada's Walk of Fame inductee]]
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