“It is now Bill Shatner’s universe---we just live in it.”---New York Daily News
After almost sixty years as an actor, William Shatner has become one of the most beloved entertainers in the world. And it seems as if Shatner is everywhere. Winning an Emmy for his role on Boston Legal. Doing commercials for Priceline.com. In the movie theaters. Singing with Ben Folds. He’s sitting next to Jay Leno and Jimmy Kimmel, and he’s practically a regular on Howard Stern’s show. He was recently honored with election to the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences Hall of Fame. He was a target on a Comedy Central’s Celebrity Roast entitled “The Shat Hits the Fan.” In Up Till Now, Shatner sits down with readers and offers the remarkable, full story of his life and explains how he got to be, well, everywhere.
It was the original Star Trek series, and later its films, that made Shatner instantly recognizable, called by name---or at least by Captain Kirk’s name---across the globe. But Shatner neither began nor has ended his career with that role. From the very start, he took his skills as an actor and put them to use wherever he could. He straddled the classic world of the theater and the new world of television, whether stepping in for Christopher Plummer in Shakespeare’s Henry V or staring at “something on the wing” in a classic episode of The Twilight Zone. And since then, he’s gone on to star in numerous successful shows, such as T.J. Hooker,Rescue 911, and most recently Boston Legal.
William Shatner has always been willing to take risks for his art. What other actor would star in history’s first---and probably only---all-Esperanto-language film? Who else would share the screen with thousands of tarantulas, release an album called Has Been, or film a racially incendiary film in the Deep South during the height of the civil rights era? And who else would willingly paramotor into a field of waiting fans armed with paintball guns, all waiting for a chance to stun Captain…er, Shatner?
In this touching and very funny autobiography, William Shatner reveals the man behind these unforgettable moments, and how he’s become the worldwide star and experienced actor he is today.
Good reading Have only read a short few pages, but what I have read is very good.
A Fun Read on a Fun Character As memoirs or autobiographies go, this is one of the best. It is not because there is any great depth to to it but it takes the reader through many emotions from side splitting laugher to pathos and back again. Shatner and co-author David Fisher are great storytellers helped by the fact that the man famous for playing Captain Kirk provides a raft of great material.
Never a Trekkie, I started to appreciate William Shatner via his price line commercials initially and now his fabulous work in Boston Legal. The thing that makes this man so interesting is he is prepared to try and do almost anything for his art! Combine this with some very humorous writing on directors, actors and various personnel he has worked with and you have a truly enjoyable book. Shatner tells us about the director who took nineteen takes for the word `no.' The film where a different director `spared every expense,' how he found out Angie Dickenson was not a natural blonde!
For Star Trek fans, I am sure this book is a must. A series that was saved from being canned by a write-in campaign has become an international phenomenon. Shatner provides much insight into the program including Leonard Nimoy's battle with addiction and the fact that the author was not very popular amongst much of the cast.
Now on his fourth marriage, his account of marriage three to an alcoholic who drowned in their swimming pool is searing. While I am sure Shatner has a huge ego, one of the endearing things about the book is that he is not afraid to recount his personal and acting struggles. No matter what happens, the man just keeps going which I think is what you will do once you start reading this light, sometimes poignant, often humorous and genuinely enjoyable book.
Shatner Mumbles In listening to William Shatner narrating his audio biography, I was amaze with his storytelling ability. When he start and finish some of this true life adventures, you are amazed
However, most of the time in ths audio production, Shatner breaks one story into another and makes the first story seem uneven. I do not know if it is age of wisdom or the need to get more bang of the audio medium. Note, I have not read Mr. Shatner's book..why read it when you have him telling it to you, even in a six hour abridgement
Previously Shatner has narrated his own non fiction before, STAR TREK MEMORIES comes to mind. In that production, his voice was clear and on point. In this production, he tends to ramble lower and lower to an almost mumble. It does not happen all the time, just in spots
Note in this biography and I bet in his book, he state ad space may be for rent. However, he spot on mentions WilliamShatner.com six times. A shameless ad for himself.
Note to the story telling, when he does not try to tell a story with a story, he is a master. He takes frankly about his life. This audio biography is uneven as best, as Shatner is jumping time lines from 1970 to 1958 and interjecting his singing career with his love of horses intermixed between.
For the Star Trek fans, this is NOT just a Star Trek bio...Believe me, STAR TREK is MENTIONED A LOT! This is an interesting biography of a man who has done it all...Journeyman actor, Horseman, spokesman, etc and looks back and can laugh at his life
I would say it would be a wonderful and great audio book if he didnt mumble. HOWEVER, Listen to the Shat and wow in a man who has done it all!
Bennet Pomerantz AUDIOWORLD
Fast read.. no heavy thinking required This book was pretty much what I expected it to me. It is an easy, mostly fun, read. It certainly has the flavor of Shatner with all of it's off beat marketing comments, etc..
I did learn more about his career and relationship with Leonard Nimoy.
If you like Shatner, then I recommend it. It is more of a 3.5 star book but I could not take it to 4 stars.
Explore Bill Shatner's world William Shatner's UP TILL NOW is an appropriate summation of his 60 year career in entertainment. Shatner takes the high road throughout; often blaming himself for things gone wrong (marriages and personal relationships), and never responding harshly to the criticisms of others. His self-deprecating and tongue-in-cheek humor extends to several digressions for product placement and blatant commercialism: an acknowledgement that the late-career Bill Shatner is more than a highly successful actor-- he's a money-making institution.
This latest autobiography touches on all the familiar acting resume highlights: a famous Twilight Zone episode, 30 years as the most renowned character in sci-fi history, and lead roles in three other very successful TV series. There's no glossing over the missteps, either. Thus, such box office failures as "White Commanche," "The Horror at 37,000 Feet" and Roger Corman's controversial production, "The Intruder" are also covered. Shatner glories in a nude scene he played opposite an equally undressed Angie Dickenson in a typical Corman turkey, "Big Bad Mama" and unashamedly recalls that his recording of "Lucy in the Sky With Diamonds" is considered by some to be one of the worst cover songs ever made.
Shatner's personal life and family history are examined; he discusses current interests and projects with obvious relish. Often within the pages of UP TILL NOW, Bill Shatner *THE STAR* struts like a proud bantam rooster but does so gracefully and with justification. Fans of his many TV shows and movies will not be disappointed in this book.
William Shatner's other autobiographical works, STAR TREK MEMORIES and GET A LIFE! are equally as entertaining and informative.
Anything Goes Trivia
Trevor
Megaton Man
