William Shatner
Known for Acting · 396 credits
- Born
- 1931-03-22 (age 95)
- Place of birth
- Montreal, Quebec, Canada
- Also known as
- ویلیام شاتنر
Biography
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.
Known For
TV Shows (184)
The Late Show with Stephen Colbert
2015
as Self - Guest
The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson
1962
as Self
The Daily Show
1996
as Narrator
Late Show with David Letterman
1993
as Self - Guest
The Kelly Clarkson Show
2019
as Self
The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson
2005
as Self
Raw
1993
as Self / William Shatner
The Fugitive
1963
as Tony Burrell
The Colbert Report
2005
as Self - Guest
The Mike Douglas Show
1961
as Self
Columbo
1971
as Ward Fowler / Fielding Chase
Real Time with Bill Maher
2003
as Self
Saturday Night Live
1975
as Self - Host / Self - Cameo (uncredited)
Futurama
1999
as William Shatner (voice)
Psych
2006
as Frank O'Hara
Golden Globe Awards
1944
as Self - Presenter / Self - Nominee / Self - Host
Star Trek
1966
as James T. Kirk
The View
1997
as Self / Self - Guest
Jimmy Kimmel Live!
2003
as Self - Guest
Star Trek: Deep Space Nine
1993
as Captain James T. Kirk
The Big Bang Theory
2007
as William Shatner
Boston Legal
2004
as Denny Crane
LIVE with Kelly and Mark
1988
as Self
Murdoch Mysteries
2008
as Mark Twain
My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic
2010
as Grand Pear (voice)
Hawaii Five-O
1968
as Sam Tolliver
Late Night with Conan O'Brien
1993
as Self - Guest / Self - Musical Guest
Last Week Tonight with John Oliver
2014
as Self - Guest
Ironside
1967
as Bill Parkins / Marty Jessup
The Merv Griffin Show
1962
as Self
The Practice
1997
as Denny Crane
Bob Hope Presents the Chrysler Theatre
1963
Late Night with David Letterman
1982
as Self - Guest
Mannix
1967
as Adam Langer
The Tonight Show with Jay Leno
1992
The Virginian
1962
as Luke Milford
Haven
2010
as Croatoan
Good Day Live
2001
as Self
Mission: Impossible
1966
as Joseph Conrad / Thomas 'Tommy' Kroll
The Reichen Show
2005
as Self - Guest
The Talk
2010
as Self
The Ellen DeGeneres Show
2003
as Self
The Twilight Zone
1959
as Bob Wilson / Don Carter
Hell's Kitchen
2005
as Self
Climax!
1954
as Ben Tate
Have I Got News for You
1990
as Self - Host
The Six Million Dollar Man
1974
as Josh Lang
T. J. Hooker
1982
as Sgt TJ Hooker
Hot in Cleveland
2010
as Sally
3rd Rock from the Sun
1996
as Big Giant Head
Dr. Kildare
1961
as Dr. Toby Cunningham / Dr. Carl Noyes
Burke's Law
1963
as Arthur Reynolds
Private Eyes
2016
as Norm Glinski
Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg
2022
as Self
The Masked Singer
2019
as Knight / Knight (archive footage)
The F.B.I.
1965
as Arthur Majors
Naked City
1958
as Roger Barmer / Maung Tun
Studio One
1948
as Dr. David Coleman / Dr. Franck / Kenneth Preston
Route 66
1960
Thriller
1960
as Gil Thrasher / Paul Graves
Movies (212)
Over the Hedge
2006
as Ozzie (voice)
DodgeBall: A True Underdog Story
2004
as Dodgeball Chancellor
Miss Congeniality
2000
as Stan Fields
Star Trek: The Motion Picture
1979
as Admiral James T. Kirk
Airplane II: The Sequel
1982
as Cdr. Buck Murdock
Escape from Planet Earth
2013
as General Shanker (voice)
Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home
1986
as Admiral James T. Kirk
Fanboys
2009
as Himself
Osmosis Jones
2001
as Mayor Phlegmming (voice)
Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan
1982
as Admiral James T. Kirk
Judgment at Nuremberg
1961
as Harrison Byers
The Wild
2006
as Kazar (voice)
Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country
1991
as Captain James T. Kirk
Miss Congeniality 2: Armed and Fabulous
2005
as Stan Fields
Star Trek V: The Final Frontier
1989
as Captain James T. Kirk
TekWar: TekJustice
1994
as Walter H. Bascom
Virtuosity
1995
as Captain James T. Kirk (archive footage) (uncredited)
The Captains
2011
as Self
Impulse
1974
as Matt Stone
Fireheart
2022
as Mayor of New York (voice)
Star Trek III: The Search for Spock
1984
as Admiral James T. Kirk
White Comanche
1968
as Johnny Moon / Notah
Star Trek: Generations
1994
as Captain James T. Kirk
Showtime
2002
as William Shatner
Batman vs. Two-Face
2017
as Harvey Dent / Two-Face (voice)
The Pixar Story
2007
as James T. Kirk (archive footage)
American Psycho II: All American Girl
2002
as Starkman
Visiting Hours
1982
as Gary Baylor
Big Bad Mama
1974
as William J. Baxter
Kingdom of the Spiders
1977
as Dr. Robert 'Rack' Hansen
Mitzi & 100 Guys
1975
as Self
Corman's World
2011
as Self - Actor
TekWar
1994
as Walter H. Bascom
For the Love of Spock
2016
as Self
765874: Unification
2024
as Kirk
Heroes Manufactured
2017
as Self (archive footage)
The Brothers Karamazov
1958
as Alexi Karamazov
Night of 100 Stars II
1985
as Self
The Intruder
1962
as Adam Cramer
TekWar: TekLab
1994
as Walter H. Bascom
Night of 100 Stars
1982
as Self
Incubus
1966
as Marc
The Truth Is in the Stars
2017
as Self
National Lampoon's Loaded Weapon 1
1993
as General Mortars
NASA: A Space Odyssey Vol. 3
2001
as Narrator
Last Laugh '05
2005
as Lucifer
Devil's Revenge
2019
as Hayes
Trekkies
1997
as Self
Dead Man's Island
1996
as Chase Prescott
Baby, Baby, Baby
2015
as Actor
The Outrage
1964
as Preacher
Aliens Ate My Homework
2018
as Phillogenus esk Piemondum (Phil) (voice)
Star Trek Story
1996
as Self (archive footage)
Go Ask Alice
1973
as Sam
A Christmas Horror Story
2015
as Dangerous Dan
The Eagle Obsession
2025
as Self
The Horror Hall of Fame II
1991
as Self - Presenter
Being Canadian
2015
as Self
A Sunday Horse
2016
as Kenneth Roubidoux
The Defender (Studio One)
1957
as Kenneth Preston
Range 15
2016
as Richard Chindler
Vancouver 2010 Olympic Closing Ceremony
2010
as Himself
T.J. Hooker: Blood Sport
1986
as Sgt. T.J. Hooker
The Devil’s Rain
1975
as Mark Preston
Voices That Care
1991
as Self - Choir Member
Lil' Pimp
2005
as Tony Gold (voice)
TekWar: TekLords
1994
as Walter H. Bascom
The Canadian Conspiracy
1986
as Self
Last Laugh '04
2004
as Self
Trinity and Beyond: The Atomic Bomb Movie
1995
as Narrator
Gotta Catch Santa Claus
2008
as Santa Claus (voice)
To Your Last Death
2019
as The Overseer (voice)
Way of Tomorrow: The Evolution of Science Fiction Movies
2022
as Self - (archive footage)
Christmas in Hollywood
2003
as Self (archive footage)
NBC 75th Anniversary Special
2002
as Self
Happy Birthday, Bugs! 50 Looney Years
1990
as Self
Dick Van Dyke: 98 Years of Magic
2023
as Self
Senior Moment
2021
as Victor Martin
To Be Takei
2014
as Self
NASA: A Space Odyssey Vol. 1
2001
as Narrator
The Steam Engines of Oz
2018
as Oscar 'Oz' Diggs (voice)
The Grim Reaper
1961
as Paul Graves
Horrorween
2012
as Self
The Andersonville Trial
1970
as Col. Chipman
The Explosive Generation
1961
as Peter Gifford
Just in Time for Christmas
2015
as Coachman Nick
Shadow Game
1969
as Peter Hoyt
Family of Strangers
1993
as Earl
City Slickers II: The Legend of Curly's Gold
1994
as Adam Harland (uncredited)
Late Night with Conan O'Brien: 10th Anniversary Special
2003
as Self
The Crash of Flight 401
1978
as Carl Tobias
Disaster on the Coastliner
1979
as Stuart Peters
Remembering 'The Intruder'
2001
as Self
North Beach and Rawhide
1985
as Rawhide MacGregor
40 Years of Star Trek
2006
as Self
Pray for the Wildcats
1974
as Warren Summerfield
Happy 100th Birthday, Hollywood
1987
as Self
Keeper of the Cup
Festival in Cannes
2001
as Self
Merry F#%$in' Christmas
2005
as Self
Super Duper Bloopers
1986
as Self
Quantum Quest: A Cassini Space Odyssey
2010
as Core (voice)
Alexander The Great
1968
as Alexander
Indict and Convict
1974
as Sam Belden
Secrets of a Married Man
1984
as Chris Jordan
The Kidnapping of the President
1980
as Jerry O'Connor
The Star Trek Saga: From One Generation to the Next
1988
as Self
Sole Survivor
1970
as Lt. Col. Josef Gronke
Shoot or Be Shot!
2002
as Harvey Wilkes
The Prisoner of Zenda, Inc.
1996
as Michael Gatewick
Chaos on the Bridge
2014
as Self
Star Trek: The Captain's Summit
2009
as Self
Saturday Night Live: The Best of Phil Hartman
1998
as James T. Kirk
Incident on a Dark Street
1973
as Deaver G. Wallace
Not a War Story
2017
Swing Out, Sweet Land
1970
as John Adams
A Carol Christmas
2003
as Dr. Bob / Ghost of Christmas Present
Comedy Central Roast of Charlie Sheen
2011
as Self - Roaster
Gahan Wilson's The Kid
2001
as Professor
The Babysitter
1980
as Dr. Jeff Benedict
About 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 Ame… With 396 credits spanning from 1944 to 2026, William Shatner has appeared in 212 films and 184 TV shows.
Fans searching for William Shatner movies, William Shatner filmography, or the latest projects starring William Shatner can stream many of these titles on Bowood.TV, free and in HD, with no subscription required.
Most Popular William Shatner Movies
- Over the Hedge (2006) — as Ozzie (voice)
- DodgeBall: A True Underdog Story (2004) — as Dodgeball Chancellor
- Miss Congeniality (2000) — as Stan Fields
- Star Trek: The Motion Picture (1979) — as Admiral James T. Kirk
- Airplane II: The Sequel (1982) — as Cdr. Buck Murdock
Where to Watch William Shatner Films
Most William Shatner movies and series are available to stream on Bowood.TV in full HD, completely free and without signup. Browse the complete filmography above to jump directly to any title. For more films and the latest web series featuring William Shatner, check our movies catalogue and browse page.