William Shatner
William Shatner, OC (born March 22, 1931) is a Canadian actor. In a career spanning seven decades, he is best known for his portrayal of James T. Kirk in the Star Trek franchise, from his 1966 debut as the captain of the starship Enterprise in the second pilot of the first Star Trek television series to his final appearance as Captain Kirk in the seventh Star Trek feature film, Star Trek Generations (1994). Shatner began his screen acting career in Canadian films and television productions before moving into guest-starring roles in various American television shows. He appeared as James Kirk in all the episodes of Star Trek: The Original Series, 21 of the 22 episodes of Star Trek: The Animated Series, and the first seven Star Trek movies. He has written a series of books chronicling his experiences before, during and after his time in a Starfleet uniform. He has also co-written several novels set in the Star Trek universe and a series of science fiction novels, the TekWar sequence, that were adapted for television. Outside Star Trek, Shatner played the eponymous veteran police sergeant in T. J. Hooker (1982–1986), hosted the reality-based television series Rescue 911 (1989–1996), guest starred on the detective series Columbo, and acted in the comedy film Miss Congeniality (2000). After his last appearance as Captain Kirk, Shatner's television career has embraced comedy, drama and reality shows. In seasons 4 and 5 of the NBC series 3rd Rock from the Sun, he played the alien "Big Giant Head", to which the main characters reported. From 2004 until 2008, he starred as attorney Denny Crane in the final season of the legal show The Practice and in its spinoff Boston Legal, a role that earned him two Emmy Awards, one for his contribution to each series. In 2016, 2017 and 2018, he starred in both seasons of NBC's Better Late Than Never, a comical travel series in which a band of elderly celebrities toured East Asia and Europe. Aside from acting, Shatner has had a career as a recording artist, beginning in 1968 with his album The Transformed Man. His cover versions of songs are dramatic recitations of their lyrics rather than musical performances: the most notable are his versions of the Beatles' "Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds", Bob Dylan's "Mr. Tambourine Man", and Elton John's "Rocket Man". His most successful album was his third, Seeking Major Tom (2011), which includes covers of Pink Floyd's "Learning to Fly", David Bowie's "Space Oddity" and Queen's "Bohemian Rhapsody". In 2021, Shatner flew into space aboard Blue Origin NS-18, a Blue Origin sub-orbital capsule. At age 90, he became the oldest person to fly in space and one of the first 600 to do so. Minutes after the flight, he described experiencing the overview effect.
391 acting credits · 10 directing credits
Acting · 391
The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson
1962
The Daily Show
1996
The Late Show with Stephen Colbert
2015
Columbo
1971
Raw
1993
The Kelly Clarkson Show
2019
Saturday Night Live
1975
Late Show with David Letterman
1993
Real Time with Bill Maher
2003
Psych
2006
The Colbert Report
2005
Mannix
1967
The Big Bang Theory
2007
The Mike Douglas Show
1961
Star Trek
1966
Golden Globe Awards
1944
Star Trek: Deep Space Nine
1993
The Fugitive
1963
Futurama
1999
Ironside
1967
Boston Legal
2004
The View
1997
The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson
2005
The Practice
1997
Mission: Impossible
1966
Hawaii Five-O
1968
Jimmy Kimmel Live!
2003
My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic
2010
Murdoch Mysteries
2008
The Twilight Zone
1959
LIVE with Kelly and Mark
1988
Hell's Kitchen
2005
The Virginian
1962
Dr. Kildare
1961
T. J. Hooker
1982
Naked City
1958
3rd Rock from the Sun
1996
The Six Million Dollar Man
1974
Climax!
1954
The Merv Griffin Show
1962
The Ellen DeGeneres Show
2003
The F.B.I.
1965
Late Night with David Letterman
1982
Bob Hope Presents the Chrysler Theatre
1963
Last Week Tonight with John Oliver
2014
Burke's Law
1963
The Big Valley
1965
Late Night with Conan O'Brien
1993
Route 66
1960
Hot in Cleveland
2010
Hercules
1998
Have I Got News for You
1990
Police Woman
1974
The Tonight Show with Jay Leno
1992
Haven
2010
The Masked Singer
2019
The Outer Limits
1963
seaQuest DSV
1993
Studio One
1948
Barnaby Jones
1973
Rookie Blue
2010
Private Eyes
2016
The Rookies
1972
Click
2000
The Name of the Game
1968
The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air
1990
The Defenders
1961
The Larry Sanders Show
1992
Thriller
1960
Gunsmoke
1955
The Talk
2010
The Oscars
1953
Good Day Live
2001
The Tony Danza Show
2004
77 Sunset Strip
1958
The Ed Sullivan Show
1948
Omnibus
1952
The Reichen Show
2005
Alfred Hitchcock Presents
1955
Have I Got a Bit More News for You
—
One Step Beyond
1959
Miss USA
1963
Space Ghost Coast to Coast
1994
The Man from U.N.C.L.E.
1964
Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg
2022
Police Story
1973
Best Week Ever
2004
Kraft Television Theatre
1947
Dream On
1990
Comic Book Men
2012
My Life Is Murder
2019
The Shannara Chronicles
2016
The Ray Bradbury Theater
1985
Arrest and Trial
1963
Petrocelli
1974
Eek! The Cat
1992
How the West Was Won
1977
The UnXplained
2019
Outlaws
1960
Gotham Comedy Live
2012
Over the Hedge
2006
The Late Late Show with Craig Kilborn
1999
The Tonight Show with Conan O'Brien
2009
Comedy Central Roasts
2003
The Dick Powell Show
1961
The Magician
1973
Fridays
1980
Battle of the Network Stars
1976
Madame's Place
1982
Suspicion
1957
Rescue 911
1989
CBS Playhouse
1966
StarTalk with Neil deGrasse Tyson
2015
Masters of the Universe: Revolution
2024
Alcoa Premiere
1961
The D-Con Chamber
2024
The Sixth Sense
1972
Muppets Tonight
1996
Star Trek
1973
Atomic Betty
2004
Star Trek: Short Treks
2018
Miss Congeniality
2000
$#*! My Dad Says
2010
The Real History of Science Fiction
2014
Shatner's Raw Nerve
2008
Police Squad!
1982
Perversions of Science
1997
DodgeBall: A True Underdog Story
2004
The Wild
2006
Channing
1963
Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan
1982
Kodiak
1974
Barbary Coast
1975
The Oregon Trail
1977
TekWar
1994
Star Trek V: The Final Frontier
1989
Judgment at Nuremberg
1961
Miss Congeniality 2: Armed and Fabulous
2005
Airplane II: The Sequel
1982
Hallmark Hall of Fame
1951
Chilly Beach
2003
WWE Backstage
2019
Star Trek: The Motion Picture
1979
Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home
1986
Escape from Planet Earth
2013
National Lampoon's Loaded Weapon 1
1993
Virtuosity
1995
Flick Flack
1974
Star Trek III: The Search for Spock
1984
The Fran Drescher Show
2010
Osmosis Jones
2001
Star Trek: Generations
1994
Bob Patterson
2001
For the People
1965
Lamp Unto My Feet
1948
Fanboys
2009
Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country
1991
The Henry Rollins Show
2006
Police Surgeon
1960
Late Night with Conan O'Brien: 10th Anniversary Special
2003
The Pixar Story
2007
Showtime
2002
Stars on Mars
2023
Fireheart
2022
E! True Hollywood Story
1996
The UnXplained Special Presentation
2023
A Twist in the Tale
1999
Vanished
1971
The Captains Close Up
2013
The Brothers Karamazov
1958
The Bastard
1978
City Slickers II: The Legend of Curly's Gold
1994
Space Cadets
1997
On Camera
1954
American Psycho II: All American Girl
2002
Amy Prentiss
1974
Unlocked: The World of Games, Revealed
2016
William Shatner's Weird or What?
2010
Little Women
1978
Everest
2008
Night of 100 Stars
1982
Space Command
1953
Piers Morgan Uncensored
2022
After They Were Famous
2002
Night of 100 Stars II
1985
Batman vs. Two-Face
2017
TekWar
1994
The Annie Awards
2005
Saturday Night Live: The Best of Phil Hartman
1998
The UnXplained: Mysteries of the Universe
2024
Invasion Iowa
2005
Aftermath with William Shatner
2010
NBC 75th Anniversary Special
2002
The Indian Detective
2017
Testimony of Two Men
1977
Million Dollar Password
2008
Being Canadian
2015
The Star Trek Saga: From One Generation to the Next
1988
For the Love of Spock
2016
Quantum Quest: A Cassini Space Odyssey
2010
Better Late Than Never
2016
Trekkies
1997
To Your Last Death
2019
The Outrage
1964
Comedy Central Roast of William Shatner
2006
A Christmas Horror Story
2015
Corman's World
2011
Prime Times
1983
Kung Fu
1972
Sole Survivor
1970
Trinity and Beyond: The Atomic Bomb Movie
1995
Heroes Manufactured
2017
Reporter
1964
The Intruder
1962
Dick Van Dyke: 98 Years of Magic
2023
Go Ask Alice
1973
Off to See the Wizard
1967
Happy 100th Birthday, Hollywood
1987
Star Trek: Inside the Roddenberry Vault
2016
Star Trek: 30 Years and Beyond
1996
WWE: The Best of Raw 15th Anniversary
2007
A Sunday Horse
2016
Mars Rising
2007
Big Bad Mama
1974
Lil' Pimp
2005
Comedy Central Roast of Charlie Sheen
2011
Last Laugh '05
2005
Kingdom of the Spiders
1977
Just in Time for Christmas
2015
Koko: The Gorilla Who Talks to People
2016
Visiting Hours
1982
Kelly Clarkson's Cautionary Christmas Music Tale
2013
Disaster on the Coastliner
1979
Inner Space
—
Star Trek: The Original Series – The Roddenberry Vault
2016
Science Fiction Film Awards
—
One-Hit Wonders
2002
Baby, Baby, Baby
2015
To Be Takei
2014
Swing Out, Sweet Land
1970
Hollywood's Funniest All-Star Bloopers
1985
Pioneer Woman
1973
The Devil’s Rain
1975
Incubus
1966
Cosmic Odyssey
2002
Incident on a Dark Street
1973
Range 15
2016
Creators: The Past
2020
The Prisoner of Zenda, Inc.
1996
Not a War Story
2017
The People
1972
Get a Life!
2012
The Crash of Flight 401
1978
Senior Moment
2021
City Out of Time
1959
Extraordinary Animals
2008
Show Me the Money
2006
Star Trek: 25th Anniversary Special
1991
Tom Felton Meets the Superfans
2015
Riel
1979
Aliens Ate My Homework
2018
2021 and Done with Snoop Dogg & Kevin Hart
2021
Christopher Plummer: A Man For All Stages
2002
The Captains
2011
Voices That Care
1991
Christmas in Hollywood
2003
The Horror at 37,000 Feet
1973
Operation Bikini
1963
Classic TV Bloopers Uncensored
2011
Janek: The Silent Betrayal
1994
Star Wars vs. Star Trek: The Rivalry Continues
2002
Gotta Catch Santa Claus
2008
North Beach and Rawhide
1985
Family of Strangers
1993
Groom Lake
2002
T.J. Hooker: Blood Sport
1986
A Star Is Drawn: Rob Simone's Look Inside Comic-Con
2014
Land of the Free
1998
Impulse
1974
Keeper of the Cup
—
The Hound of the Baskervilles
1972
Mitzi & 100 Guys
1975
White Comanche
1968
The Tenth Level
1976
Horrorween
2012
Stalking Santa
2006
William Shatner's Star Trek Memories
1996
The Kidnapping of the President
1980
Pray for the Wildcats
1974
WWE Breaking Ground
2015
A Carol Christmas
2003
Secrets of a Married Man
1984
Alexander The Great
1968
Hollywood on Horses
1989
TekWar: TekJustice
1994
Charles Beaumont: The Short Life of Twilight Zone's Magic Man
2010
When Elephants Were Young
2016
Mind Meld: Secrets Behind the Voyage of a Lifetime
2001
Festival in Cannes
2001
Free Enterprise
1998
Gottschalk Late Night
1992
Oedipus Rex
1957
The Explosive Generation
1961
Land of No Return
1978
Last Laugh '04
2004
Perilous Voyage
1976
Merry F#%$in' Christmas
2005
40 Years of Star Trek
2006
Chaos on the Bridge
2014
Gahan Wilson's The Kid
2001
Broken Angel
1988
Star Trek: A Captain's Log
1994
The Truth Is in the Stars
2017
The Defender (Studio One)
1957
Devil's Revenge
2019
The Steam Engines of Oz
2018
Birth of a Timeless Legacy
2004
Star Trek Story
1996
The Andersonville Trial
1970
Indict and Convict
1974
The Christmas Tree
1958
The Canadian Conspiracy
1986
William Shatner: You Can Call Me Bill
2024
Kiss 'N' Tell: Romance in the 23rd Century
2004
A Tear in the Sky
2022
William Shatner in Concert
2006
William Shatner: Captain's Log
1994
Your Guide to Star Trek: Generations
1993
They Came from the Swamp: The Films of William Grefé
2016
Amazon: Land of the Flooded Forest
1990
The Rose Parade: A Pageant for the Ages
2004
Falcon Down
2001
Corwin
1996
How William Shatner Changed the World
2005
The Star Trek Dream
1975
Halloween: A Cut Above the Rest
2003
A Whale of a Tale
1976
Festival
1960
Super Duper Bloopers
1986
Star Trek: The Captain's Summit
2009
Shadow Game
1969
Atomic Journeys: Welcome to Ground Zero
2000
William Shatner's Gonzo Ballet
2009
TekWar: TekLords
1994
Science Fiction: A Journey Into the Unknown
1994
Return to the Forest
2013
Microworld
1976
Seasons
1987
765874: Unification
2024
Dead Man's Island
1996
The Colorful Montreal Expos
2016
The Captains: Still Kicking
2013
A Town Has Turned to Dust
1958
The Babysitter
1980
Way of Tomorrow: The Evolution of Science Fiction Movies
2022
Expedition Unknown: Shark Trek
2021
William Shatner's Spplat Attack II
2003
NASA: A Space Odyssey Vol. 2
2001
Whale Shark Hunters of the Philippines
2001
Billy Blackburn's Treasure Chest: Rare Home Movies and Special Memories
2011
Full Moon's Roadshow Revisited
2023
Shatner in Space
2021
TekWar: TekLab
1994
The Space Shuttle
2011
Hypnosis and Beyond
1980
Nukes in Space
1999
UFO Cover-Up Live with Larry King
1994
William Shatner Sings O Canada
2011
The Horror Hall of Fame II
1991
Mysteries of the Gods
1976
Shoot or Be Shot!
2002
Jefftowne
1997
Hollywood Ghost Stories
1998
Universe
1976
WWE Hall Of Fame 2020
2021
Vancouver 2010 Olympic Closing Ceremony
2010
The Butler's Night Off
1951
The Grim Reaper
1961
Sci-Fi Visionaries
2004
The Third Walker
1978
Spplat Attack
2002
NASA: A Space Odyssey Vol. 1
2001
Remembering 'The Intruder'
2001
The Eagle Obsession
2025
NASA: A Space Odyssey Vol. 3
2001
The Twenty-Five Year Mission Tour
1992
William Shatner's Mysteries of the Way We Feel
1986
Life Beyond Trek: William Shatner
2011
TV Guide Looks at Science Fiction
1997
Aliens Among Us with William Shatner
2024
The Atomic Bomb Collection
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