Shatner as Captain James T. Kirk in Star Trek (1966–1969). By NBC Television — eBay itemphoto frontphoto back, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=20415215
I thought I knew William Shatner somewhat. I’m a movie and celebrity fan. I regularly ingest a lot of stuff about accomplished people in the arts.
But after reading his ghost-written (with Joshua Brandon) autobiography Boldly Go: Reflections on a Life of Awe and Wonder I realized I did not know my brilliant captain at all.
He is a lot more than the squat senior I keep seeing regularly in those Medicare supplemental plan commercials.
Did You Know…
Here are a few bullet points about the things that I didn’t know before about Shatner:
He grew up in Montreal (a honey of a city, except in winter).
He went to McGill University (a school I also wanted to go but for various reasons couldn’t).
He grew up in a lower-middle household where the only music played on the radio was opera.
Music has remained his real secret love all his life despite his mega success as Captain James T. Kirk in Star Trek.
He is very proud of the music albums he produced and the live concerts he gave — and I’m ashamed to admit I had no idea that Captain Kirk could sing.
The man is a true friend and lover of… animals. I don’t believe Bill Shatner has met a single dog or horse in his life that he didn’t love.
Currently a bachelor, he was married four times. Has three daughters. Once he refused a personal invitation from Rose Kennedy to join the clan at a Kennedy-compound party. Why? Because he was on his way to see his daughters and at that moment nothing could be more important for him.
His favorite actors: Marlon Brando, and Sir Laurence Olivier. Leonard Nimoy, who played Dr. Spock in Star Trek, was a close personal friend.
He could never make the split-finger Vulcan salute like Dr. Spock. In one scene where he had to give the Vulcan salute, they used rubber bands to keep his fingers apart.
Once he got on stage for a concert while he had diarrhea and ended up soiling himself on stage. He took a “technical break,” ran back to his dressing room, took a shower, changed clothes, got back on the stage and completed his act, nobody in the audience any wiser.
He took a lot of physical risks by trying dangerous things in life (swimming with sharks without a cage, hunting a Kodiak bear with bow and arrow, flying to space, running on top of a train moving at 40 mph, etc.) and miraculously never got hurt.
He is a “Commercial Astronaut.” He flew suborbital to space with the NS-18 mission of the Blue Origin rocket.
He is Jewish. (The reason I didn’t know this before is because I’m never curious about other people’s religion. I never ask or inquire about it just like I never ask their shoe size.)
Hungry for Knowledge
One thing that jumps at you about Bill Shatner from page one is his hunger for knowledge.
The very first sentence of his biography goes:
“Knowledge feeds me.”
This is half-true because it’s obvious that, at age 91, he is still hungry and not fully fed.
Towards the end of the book he shares the same sentiment in more stark terms:
“More…”
His Second Hunger
Shatner is a man in awe of the universe and the miracle that we all are.
There is hardly a single page in his autobiography where he doesn’t share his profound love affair with life.
In this, his love for animals definitely enjoys a top billing. He shares his great love especially for the horses and dogs that he (not “owned”) but lived with as members of his family.
That’s why his one abiding regret is the day when he killed a magnificent Kodiak bear in Alaska with bow and arrow. He took a single shot and killed the animal to his surprise. He never forgave himself for bringing down such a majestic creature for no other reason than to prove that he could do it.
Photo Ugur Akinci
Grief of Space
A surprising episode in more ways than one was his suborbital flight at the personal invitation of Jeff Bezos who owns not only the Amazon but the Blue Origin aerospace company as well.
Shatner’s flight made perfect marketing sense: “Captain Kirk in Space, Again!” What could be more sexy a headline than that?
After his initial reluctance and fear of space flight, he did what he usually ended up doing when challenged with fear: he accepted the offer (and in the process became good friends with Bezos).
The ten-minute suborbital flight had an unexpected effect on Shatner.
As he looked out in zero gravity from the porthole of the NS-18 capsule, the 90-year old Shatner marveled at the blue ball that’s our Earth but shuddered at the depth and nothingness of the deep black space engulfing it.
Everything he loved and cared for was down there on that blue beautiful ball and none of it was in the pitch black universe. He was scared and saddened at the fragility of life on earth.
“There is no us” out there, he wrote.
As an ardent environmentalist, he almost saw the end of life on earth should we continue on our current trajectory of pollution and environmental degradation.
He never lost his sense of sadness triggered unexpectedly by that flight.
“When I’m Gone”
The penultimate chapter where he faces his own mortality is probably the most touching chapter of the book.
He admits how he’s afraid of dying, not because of any physical pain but because he will have to leave this magnificent show that we call Life.
Even though he has lived longer than most people ever will, he still feels there is so much to learn, to discover, to experience, and to enjoy here on earth.
Last Words
His last words in the autobiography summarizes who he is better than I ever can:
“I have lived a thousand lives, I have journeyed far and wide… I have gone boldly, carried on by a river of fate, to a destination I cannot see, but to which each day I am brought one step closer. I have searched my whole life for meaning, for connection, and though I cannot touch its essence or unravel its vast mystery, I believe that in my soul, I have found what I have been looking for.”
All engines roaring with Love,
we are locked into our common fate,
warp speed ahead Captain!
Wow, I unexpectedly got so many positive vibes reading this one. Could relate to many of the points outlined here as also as myself.
Had to print-to-pdf this one for future reference!
Ugur, Thank you for sharing these wonderful insights on William Shatner. He has gone from someone I knew little of to someone to whom I can relate. D