William Shatner portrays the heroic Captain James Tiberius Kirk. William Shatner is a Canadian-born actor, who attended McGill University where he was active in theater productions on campus. He performed in the Royal Mount Theater Company, during the summers. He graduated from university in 1952 with a B.A. and thus began his work at the National Repertory Theater of Ottawa. He won co-starring roles in plays such as "The Merchant Of Venice" and "Henry V", as well as the most promising actor award. His seven-year contract at 20th Century Fox came after he played a role in "Tamburlaine" and married a Canadian actress, Gloria Rand, where he honeymooned in Scotland. Shatner also had a role to fill in the Edinburgh Festival production of "Henry V", during his honeymoon. After the honeymoon, Shaner returned to the big apple where he guest starred on numerous television series such as "Goodyear Playhouse", "Circle Theater", "Philco Playhouse", "Studio One" and "The Defenders". His movie debut was in "The Brothers Karamazov" with Richard Basehart. Shatner learned to ride horses when he did not want to miss out in the many westerns that came he way. Shatner then landed the role of "The Secret Life Of Suzie Wong", which ran for two-years long. This was followed by "A Shot In The Dark" with Julie Harris and "L'Idiote" on Broadway. In 1961, Shatner landed two films, "The Intruder", and "Judgment At Nuremberg". "Intruders" was later released under the titles "I Hate Your Guts" and "Shame". Then came his role of the familiar Captain James T. Kirk, which he replaced Jeffery Hunter, after he opted not to reprise his role Captain Christopher Pike. Shatner lost his father whilst filming the episodes, and also got separated from his wife. Apart from appearing in the continuous "Star Trek" feature films, Shatner also appeared in "Sole Survivor", "Hound Of The Baskervilles" and guest starred on series like, "The Sixth Sense", "Barnaby Jones" and "Hawaii 5-0". Shatner portrayed a brilliant prosecutor in the 1970 film "The Andersonville Trail", which garnered him good reviews from critics and alike. He also met second wife Marcy Lafferty during the filming of that film and later married her, only to divorce again. Shatner also had the opportunity to direct with the onset of "Star Trek V: The Final Frontier", but his first directorial efforts will be laughed at by the fans and critics alike, after numerous script problems that plagued the film from its conception. In 1982, Shatner starred in the cop series, "T.J. Hooker" which lasted four years and following that went onto host "Rescue 911". He also made his author debut with the "Tek War" series, which also got made into a television series by Universal and has also writen biographies including "Star Trek Memories" and "Star Trek Movie Memories" that recounts the days spent on the "Star Trek" sets. Recently, Shatner grieves for his third wife, Nerrie Ladd, in a swimming pool accident.
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