William Shatner (Role) : Denny Crane
Birthday : March-22-1931
Birthplace : Montreal, Quebec, Canada
Recent Role : Himself on Friday Night with Jonathan Ross
Gender : Male
William Shatner took birth in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. His mother was named Anna and his father Joseph Shatner was a clothing manufacturer. Initially, their family name was Schattner which was later on shortened by his grandfather to ‘Shatner’. His parents were Jewish immigrants from Poland and Hungary. William joined Willingdon Elementary School, in Notre-Dame-de-Grâce and Baron Byng High School in Montreal. In 1952, William received a Bachelor’s degree in commerce from Montreal’s McGill University. William is the first Canadian actor to star in three successful series on three different networks, ABC, NBC and CBS. This multi-talented (Jack of all trades) man has worked as a musician, bestselling author, producer, director and celebrity pitchman etc. With good knowledge of classical Shakespearean stuff, Shatner appeared at Shakespearean Stratford Festival of Canada in Ontario. His roles at the Stratford Festival include Shakespeare’s Henry V and Marlowe’s Tamburlaine the Great. In 1954, William Shatner joined the cast of Canadian version of ‘Howdy Doody Show’ as Ranger Bill. One of his biggest roles was on 1958 MGM movie ‘The Brothers Karamazo’. For his role on the Broadway production ‘The World of Suzie Wong’, as Robert Lomax, William Shatner received very decent reviews. During 1960, Shatner appeared as Wayne Gorham on ‘The Outlaws Western’, a NBC series. In 1961, he was seen in ‘A Shot in the Dark’, a Broadway play. On Boris Karloff’s ‘Thriller’, William Shatner made appearance on two episodes, namely ‘Grim Reaper’ and ‘The Hungry Glass’. In 1962, Shatner appeared on ‘The Intruder’, an award winning movie. His next appearances were on Stanley Kramer movie ‘Judgment at Nuremberg’ and ‘The Twilight Zone’. During 1963-64, he made appearance on two ABC series ‘Channing’ and ‘The Outer Limits’. William Shatner guest starred on the CBS drama ‘The Reporter’ and ‘The Man from U.N.C.L.E.’. During 1965, Shatner was seen in ‘For The People’, a critically acclaimed drama. In the same year, he made appearance on Gothic horror film ‘Incubus’. William Shatner joined ‘Star Trek’ as Captain James T. Kirk and continued playing the role from 1966 to 1969. In 1973, he reprised the same role in the animated Star Trek series. The period during 1979-1991 was Star Trek period for William and he appeared in first six Star Trek movies, also directed the fifth Star Trek movie. In 1994, he again appeared as Captain Kirk in Star Trek Generations. In 2008, Shatner became a part of Star Trek: the Tour. In the 1970s, William Shatner performed in several television commercials. The time between Star Trek series and first Star Trek movie was the most unproductive period for Shatner and it severely affected his relationship with his wife, Gloria Rand, who left him. While dealing with his financial crisis, William lived in a truck bed camper in San Fernando Valley and the man decided to do anything to support his family. During 1975-76, William appeared on ‘Barbary Coast’ as a western themed secret agent. He has a major role on the horror movie ‘The Devil’s Rain’. His next appearances were as a guest character on The Six Million Dollar Man, Columbo, The Rookies, Kung Fu and Mission: Impossible. His hard time came to an end in 1979 when Paramount produced ‘Star Trek: The Motion Picture’. Its success was Shatner’s success and he regained the same name and fame. He was next seen on ‘TJ Hooker’ series portraying a police officer. During 1989-1966, Shatner hosted the popular dramatic series ‘Rescue 911′. In 1998, Shatner portrayed an important character in the film ‘Free Enterprise’. A series of science fiction novels has been published under his name. Beginning it was the ‘TekWar’, published in 1990. In 1995, a first person shooter game William Shatner’s TekWar was released. During 1990s, Shatner also appeared in various plays on ‘National Public Radio’. Shatner appeared as a ‘Big Giant Head’, in the television series ‘3rd Rock from the Sun’ and it earned him a nomination for an Emmy Award. During 2003, Shatner was seen on Brad Paisley’s “Celebrity” country music video. In 2004, Shatner joined the finale season of a legal drama ‘The Practice’ as Denny Crane and reprised the same role in its spin-off ‘Boston Legal’. His performance on ‘The Practice’, won him an Emmy Award. For his brilliant performance on Boston Legal, Shatner won a Golden Globe, an Emmy Award in 2005 and received Emmy nomination in 2006. James Spader is among the very few actors who’ve won a second consecutive Emmy Award while playing the same role in two different series. In 2005, William executive produced and appeared on the Spike TV reality miniseries ‘Invasion Lowa’. He plays on the World Poker Tour in the Hollywood Home Games and plays for the Wells Fargo Hollywood Charity Horse show. He also serves as the CEO of the Toronto, Ontario based C.O.R.E Digital Pictures. In 2006, Shatner appeared on Comedy Central’s ‘Roast’. After the cancellation of ‘Barbary Coast’ in 1976, his second unsuccessful attempt was on ABC game show ‘Show Me The Money’. In January 2007, Shatner began a series of daily vlogs, ShatnerVision, on his life. William Shatner was also seen in ABC reality television series Fast Cars and Superstars: The Gillette Young Guns Celebrity Race. The man has been married four times. He first married Gloria Rand in 1956 and their relationship continued till 1969. His latter married Marcy Lafferty Shatner in 1973 and it is his longest marriage yet. It lasted 21 years and they divorced in 1994. He next married Marcy Lafferty Shatner in 1997 and they divorced in 1999. As of now, he’s married to Elizabeth Martin. He has three daughters Leslie Carol (b. 1958), Lisabeth Mary (b. 1960), and Melanie (b. 1964), from his marriage to Rand. William Shatner has 360 acre horse farm where he raises American Saddlebreds. Musical Career Along with acting, William Shatner is a very well known name in music world as well. In 1968, he released his first album ‘The Transformed Man’. He performed a reading of ‘Rocket Man’, in the Science Fiction Film Awards. He also has innumerous other music credits.
Role on ‘Boston Legal’
On ‘Boston Legal’, William Shatner portrays the character of Denny Crane. Denny Crane is a co-founder of Crane, Poole & Schmidt. The man himself insists that he’s the greatest lawyer in the history who has never lost a case. At times, the man is shown extremely unethical. He’s the public face of Crane, Poole & Schmidt, because of his expertise and skills in media manipulation. His role as Denny Crane on ‘Boston Legal’ and ‘The Practice’ is surely the best one throughout his career.
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