William Shatner, Canadian actor
William Shatner (born March 22, 1931) is a Canadian actor. In a career spanning seven decades, he is best known for his portrayal of Captain James T. Kirk of the USS Enterprise in the Star Trek franchise; from the second pilot in 1965 to his final appearance as Kirk in Star Trek Generations (1994).

Shatner began his screen acting career in Canadian films and television productions before moving into guest-starring roles in various US television shows. He appeared as Captain 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. Shatner has written a series of books chronicling his experiences playing Captain Kirk, being a part of Star Trek, and life after Star Trek. He has also co-written several novels set in the Star Trek universe and a series of science fiction novels called TekWar that were adapted for television. Outside Star Trek, Shatner also played the eponymous veteran police sergeant in T. J. Hooker (1982–1986) and hosted the reality-based television series Rescue 911 (1989–1996), which won a People's Choice Award for Favorite New TV Dramatic Series. Shatner appeared in two episodes of the television detective series Columbo almost two decades apart amongst numerous guest star appearances on television from the 1970s until the 2010s.

After the release of Star Trek Generations (1994), Shatner continued his acting career. From 2004 until 2008, he starred as attorney Denny Crane both in the final season of the legal drama The Practice and in its spinoff series Boston Legal, a role that earned him two Emmy Awards, one on each series. He appeared in both seasons of the comical NBC real-life travelogue with other male companions "of a certain age" in Better Late Than Never, from 2016 to 2018. He appeared in seasons 4 and 5 of the NBC series 3rd Rock from the Sun as the alien "Big Giant Head" to which the main characters reported.

Aside from acting, Shatner has had a music career consisting of eight albums, which began with the release of his debut album The Transformed Man (1968). Shatner typically speaks lyrics in an interpretive reading style. His cover songs usually involve Shatner doing dramatic readings of the lyrics, most famously in his covers of "Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds" and "Mr. Tambourine Man". In 1978, Shatner hosted the 5th Saturn Awards where he performed Elton John's "Rocket Man", which became widely parodied. In 2011, Shatner released his third and most successful album Seeking Major Tom, which features covers of songs such as "Learning to Fly", "Space Oddity" and "Bohemian Rhapsody".In 2021, Shatner flew to space aboard a Blue Origin sub-orbital capsule. At age 90, he became the oldest person to fly to space and one of the first 600 to do so. Minutes after the flight Shatner articulated experiencing the overview effect.