In the early months of 1966 a handsome hardworking thirty-five-year-old Canadian-born actor
named William Shatner was cast as Captain Kirk in Star Trek a troubled low-budget
science-fiction television series set to premiere that fall on NBC. Star Trek struggled for
viewers and lasted only three seasons but it found a huge rabidly dedicated audience when it
premiered in syndication following its cancellation?turning Shatner into a pop-culture icon and
launching him on a career path he never could have imagined after graduating from McGill
University with an economics degree twenty years earlier. As he approaches his ninetieth year
he's still working at a furious pace as a man of boundless contradictions: by turns one of the
most dissected disliked revered respected mocked imitated and beloved stars in the show
business firmament. Shatner takes a comprehensive look at this singular performer using
archival sources and information culled from interviews with friends and colleagues to
transport readers through William Shatner's remarkably bumpy career: his spectacular failures
and triumphs tragedies including the shocking death of his third wife Nerine and
ultimately the resilience Shatner has shown time and again in the face of overwhelming odds.
Author Michael Seth Starr unravels the mystery of William Shatner stripping away the many
myths associated with his personal life and his relationships with fellow actors presenting a
no-holds-barred unvarnished look at the unique career of an inimitable performer.
