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Shatner, William

(1931-    ) Canadian actor from 1952, and author, long resident in the USA, where he gained fame as Captain Kirk in the Star Trek television series, going on to star in all the film sequels; he also directed the disappointing Star Trek V: The Final Frontier (1989), about which he wrote, with Lisbeth Shatner, The Captain's Log: William Shatner's Personal Account of the Making of Star Trek V, the Final Frontier (1989). Other books incorporating public memories include Star Trek Memories (1993) with Chris Kreski and Star Trek Movie Memories (1994), also with Kreski. A memoir, Up Till Now: The Autobiography (2008) with David Fisher, adds some new material in a roguish voice. He has also written various "Shatnerverse" Ties to the Star Trek universe, beginning with The Ashes of Eden (1995) with Garfield Reeves-Stevens and Judith Reeves-Stevens, who were his collaborators on all the remaining titles [see Checklist]; the degree to which Shatner participated in this writing task is not known. Shatner's long connection with Star Trek universe was parodied in Galaxy Quest (1999), where Captain Kirk appears very lightly disguised as Captain Jason Nesmith.

In the preface to his first sf novel, TekWar (1989) – set in a twenty-second-century Los Angeles (see California) where crime is rife, and where a wise-mouth robot resignedly helps a lanky protagonist solve a mystery – Shatner acknowledges the assistance of Ron Goulart, who is otherwise uncredited as co-author. The TekLords sequence continued with Teklords (1991) and ended with Tek Net (1997), all also with Goulart (uncredited), all conspicuously in Goulart's style, and utilizing stock characters – including the pixillated Robot – he had made familiar. The Quest for Tomorrow sequence, beginning with Delta Search (1997) and ending with Shadow Planet: Delta Search (2002), was written in collaboration with W T Quick, who remained uncredited. Believe (1992) with Michael Tobias is associational, with tinges of the occult. [JC]

William Shatner

born Montreal, Quebec: 22 March 1931

works

series

TekLords

Star Trek Shatnerverse: Odyssey

Star Trek Shatnerverse: Mirror Universe

Star Trek Shatnerverse: Totality

Star Trek Academy

Quest for Tomorrow

Man O'War

Samuel Lord

individual titles

nonfiction

series

Star Trek

individual titles (selected)

nonfiction

links

Entry from The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction (2011-current) edited by John Clute and David Langford.
Accessed 13:41 pm on 3 December 2024.
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