Actor, Director, Author, and Singer

William Shatner was born on March 22, 1931, in Montreal, Canada. Best known for his roles on Star Trek and Boston Legal, Shatner is one of the most recognizable people on the planet.
His distinctive voice and cadence have been the subject of many imitations, spoofs, and parodies. He is also an Emmy Award winning actor and he hasn’t slowed down yet.

Shatner started his career as a child performer in radio programs for the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. In 1956, Shatner made his Broadway debut in Tamburlaine the Great. He also appeared on several television shows including Goodyear Television Playhouse, Studio One, and Playhouse 90. Playing one of the title characters, Shatner made his film debut in 1958’s The Brothers Karamazov with Yul Brynner. That same year, he returned to Broadway for a two-year run in The Secret Life of Suzie Wong, for which he won the 1959 Theatre World Award.

In 1966, Shatner took on the role that made him famous around the world, as Captain James T. Kirk on Star Trek. The original series lasted for three seasons on NBC. During the run of Star Trek, Shatner made an unusual career move. He recorded the album, The Transformed Man (1968). The record featured spoken word versions of contemporary pop hits. Already known for his dramatic, but earnest delivery of his lines on Star Trek, Shatner recorded renditions of such songs as the Beatles’ “Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds.” After it’s prime-time run, Star Trek continued to live on in syndication and became more popular. As a result of it’s strength in reruns, Star Trek became a Saturday morning cartoon that ran during the mid-1970s.
Following the success of Star Wars, Paramount reunited the TV cast and created a live action film in 1979.
Following the film Shatner returned to TV as T. J. Hooker, playing a veteran police officer who turned in his detective’s badge to return to a street beat. The show was an instant hit. Shatner continued starring in the Star Trek film series and in 1989 becoming the host for Rescue 911 – a pioneering entry into the reality television genre, featuring reenactments of emergency situations. His most recent Star Trek movie was Star Trek Generations, where he handed the baton off to the Star Trek: The Next Generation cast.
He appeared as a beauty pageant host on Miss Congeniality (2000) and its sequel Miss Congeniality 2 (2005) with Sandra Bullock. In 2003, Shatner made a guest appearance as a talented, but eccentric lawyer on The Practice. His turn as Denny Crane brought him his first Emmy Award for Outstanding Guest Actor in a Drama Series in 2004. He had been previously nominated for his guest appearance on the science fiction sitcom 3rd Rock from the Sun in 1999.

During the writers’ strike of 1987, he transformed a screenplay idea into a novel. The result was Tek War (1989), a work of science fiction featuring a middle-aged private detective working in the twenty-second century. More Tek titles followed and were later adapted for television. Always busy, Shatner has worked with Judith and Garfield Reeves-Stevens to create a series of Star Trek novels.

More recently he starred in the TV series along with Henry Winkler titled “Better Late Than Never”. William Shatner is the very definition of A true Renaissance man.

Much of this information was provided by the biography.com website.

We were lucky enough to first have Mr. Shatner as a StarFest guest in 1985 and occasionally since. It is with great pleasure that we welcome him to Denver and StarFest 2019. Mr. Shatner will be appearing on the StarFest Main Events stage on Sunday for his Q&A. He will only be available for autographs and photo sessions on Sunday.