Whether you loved him as Captain Kirk, T.J. Hooker or Denny Crane, one thing is clear: The Shat has staying power.Today my favorite Trek actor turns 80 and in celebration I've stolen these 80 Reasons Why William Shatner Is Awesome from TrekMovie.com.
TrekMovie.com’s 80 reasons why William Shatner is awesome
80. Travelled by war canoe as a teenager from Canada to the United States
79. Sold kidney stone for charity
78. Co-wrote "Believe," a book about hypothetic match between Houdini vs. Arthur Conan Doyle
77. Drives race cars and motorcycles – inspiring viral dance video
76. Inducted Jerry Lawler into the Wrestling Hall of Fame
75. Was Ranger Bob on the Canadian version of The Howdy Doody Show
74. Swam with dolphins and a 50 foot whale shark
73. Rerecorded Star Trek ‘final frontier’ narration for Shuttle Discovery final wake up call
71. Favorite color: leaves changing
70. Played beauty pageant host in a movie, then in real life a year later
69. Has building named after him at Montreal’s McGill University
68. Led Canada’s 2010 Winter Olympics Closing Ceremonies
67. Reported seeing UFO in Mojave desert in 1967
(but later denied it)
66. Has great recipe for cappuccino muffins
65. Is friends with Henry Rollins pair did a duet "I can’t get behind that"
64. Punked an entire town
63. Was immortalized in Lego
62. Talked to Koko, the signing gorilla
61. In "Fight Club" when Brad Pitt asks Edward Norton what celeb he would fight, he replies "Shatner"
60. Did live TV in 50s
59. Breeds horses
58. Speaks French
57. Nominated for Emmy for playing character named "The Big Giant Head"
56. Can sell anything from Law Offices, to Bran Cereal, to Computers
55. Appeared as himself in cult hit "Free Enterprise"
54.Was portrayed by John Belushi…and many since
53. Has his own fan club and a podcast dedicated to him called "Look At His Butt!"
52. In 1962 worked with George Lucas, cameraman for "The Psalms" – later sang "My Way" to Lucas at AFI
51. On The Hollywood Walk of Fame and in the Broadcast & Cable Hall of Fame
50. Narrated the book of Exodus for CD
49. Made movie about God in 1989, appeared as Satan on Comedy Central in 2005, and as Santa Claus in 2009
48. Poked some fun at fans with famous SNL skit – later showed transformation and embrace of fandom in ironically titled memoire "Get a Life!"
47. Plays paintball
46. Had his own customized limited edition Heinz ketchup bottle
45. Competed in the "World Poker Tour"
44. King of 70s celebrity guest game shows
43. Started his own social networking site
42. Was guest photographer for Playboy
41. First film role, "Brothers Karamazov" 1958…with more to come still
40.Willing to laugh at himself
39. Knows how to handle a woman
38. Is active in environmentalism
37. Studied with Tyrone Guthrie, and won the Tyrone Guthrie Award
36. Starred in movie made entirely in Esperanto, "Incubus"
35. Name can easily be converted to adjective (Shatnerific, Shatastic, etc)
34. Has a degree in business
33. Was fired by a theater as business manager, then hired that same day as an actor
32. The Negotiator
31. Is Canadian
30. Is Jewish
29. Has his own talk show
27. Appeared on both "Circus of the Stars" and "Battle of the Network Stars"
26. Never appeared on either "Love Boat" or "Fantasy Island"
25. Brought Kirk back from the dead in his own "Shatnervese" books
24. Tek War
23. Friends with Leonard Nimoy for 45 years
22. Michael Meyer’s mask from "Halloween" movies based on Shatner/Kirk mask
21. Took the term "Has Been" and turned it into a hit album
20. Set the standard for cops jumping on car hoods (+ boats, buses, planes, etc)
19. Inspired art show
18. Inspired a ballet
17. Inspired song "If William Shatner Can, I Can Too"
16. Has over half million followers on Twitter, stars in sitcom inspired by Twitter, turned reading tweets into beat poetry
15. Appeared in 3 Broadway plays
14. Two words: Kirk-fu (or is that one word?)
13. Worked with role model, Spencer Tracy.
12. Did two great Twilight Zone episodes including Nightmare at 20,000 feet – later parodied with Miss Piggy
11. Won two Emmys, two Saturns, a Golden Globe…and a Razzie
10. Was the first TV interracial kisser (with Nichelle Nichols)
9. Nickname at Montreal West Hills High School: ‘Toughie’
8. Is an award-winning equestrian
7. Killed a 9 foot tall kodiak bear with bow and arrow on ABC "The
American Sportsman" – which he later regretted
6. Denny Crane!
5. Rocket Man
4. Starred in groundbreaking civil rights movie, "The Intruder" in in
1962
3. Raises money for children’s charities through annual horse show
1. At 80 he is still active and entertaining the world
Happy Birthday Mr. Shatner!
