77 Reasons Why William Shatner Is Awesome

Today is William Shatner’s 77th birthday. The original Captain Kirk is still going strong both acting as well as with all his other myriad of activities (as pitchman, writer, philanthropist, entrepreneur, etc.). He is an endless source of inspiration and entertainment and so we thought we would honor him with a list of the 77 reasons why we think he is awesome.

TrekMovie.com’s 77 reasons why William Shatner is awesome

77. Sold kidney stone for charity

76. Co-wrote "Believe," a book about hypothetic match between Houdini vs. Arthur Conan Doyle

75. Inducted Jerry Lawler into the Wrestling Hall of Fame

74. Drives race cars and motorcycles

73. Has traveled the world

72. Swam with dolphins and a 50 foot whale shark

71. Favorite color: leaves changing

70. Played beauty pageant host in a movie, then in real life a year later

69. Para glided at 72

68. Has building named after him at Montreal’s McGill University

67. Punked an entire town

66. Reported seeing UFO in Mojave desert in 1967

65. Did live TV in 50s

64. Has great recipe for cappuccino muffins

63. Is friends with Henry Rollins, did a duet "I can’t get behind that"…recreated here by puppets

62. Was immortalized in Lego

61. Talked to Koko, the signing gorilla

60. In "Fight Club" when Brad Pitt asks Edward Norton what celeb he would fight, he replies "Shatner"

59. Breeds horses

58. Speaks French

57. Can sell anything from Law Offices, to Bran Cereal, to Computers

56. Nominated for Emmy for playing character named "The Big Giant Head"

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. On The Hollywood Walk of Fame and in the Broadcast & Cable Hall of Fame

51. Sang "My Way" to George Lucas

50. Shows his transformation and embrace of fandom in ironically titled memoire "Get a Life!"

49. Made movie about God in 1989, appeared as Satan on Comedy Central in 2005

48. Narrated the book of Exodus for CD

47. Plays paintball

46. Had his own customized limited edition Heinz ketchup bottle

45. King of 70s  celebrity guest game shows

44. Competes in the "World Poker Tour"

43. Is the CEO of a computer animation company

42.Willing to laugh at himself

41. Was guest photographer for Playboy

40. First film role, "Brothers Karamazov" 1958…with more to come still

39. Knows how to handle a woman

38. Starred in movie made entirely in Esperanto, "Incubus"

37. Is active in environmentalism

36. Studied with Tyrone Guthrie, and won the Tyrone Guthrie Award

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. Is a Vegetarian

28. Kingdom of the Spiders

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. Has his own video blog, ShatnerVision

23. Tek War

22. Michael Meyer’s mask from "Halloween" movies based on Shatner/Kirk mask

21. Set the standard for cops jumping on car hoods (+ boats, buses, planes, etc)

.

20. Inspired art show

19. Inspired a ballet

18. Inspired song "If William Shatner Can, I Can Too"

17. Took the term "Has Been" and turned it into a hit album

16. His 40+ year friendship with Leonard Nimoy

15. Appeared in 3 Broadway plays

14. Two words: Kirk-fu     (or is that one word?)

13. Worked with role model, Spencer Tracy.

12. Is an award-winning equestrian

11. Did two great Twilight Zone episodes

10. Won two Emmys (plus a Golden Globe and a Saturn)

9. Nickname at Montreal West Hills High School: ‘Toughie’

8. Was the first TV interracial kisser (with Nichelle Nichols)

7. Killed a 9 foot tall kodiak bear with bow and arrow on ABC "The
American Sportsman"

6. Rocket Man

 

5. Denny Crane!

4. Starred in groundbreaking civil rights movie, "The Intruder" in in
1962

3. Raises money for children’s charities through annual horse show

2. KHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAN

1. At 77 he is still active and entertaining the world

 

HAPPY BIRTHDAY BILL FROM TREKMOVIE.COM

 

Although a staff effort, this article would be impossible without John Tenuto, our resident Shatnologist

 

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Happy Birthday, Bill!

-Wow…happy birthay…Bill…!!!

Happy Birthday Bill!!!

Happy birthday!

And isn’t that clip with Nimoy just great :)

“Sto lat, sto lat, niech żyje, żyje nam!” from Polish trekkies ;)

The happiest of birthdays to you, Mr. Shatner!

Happy Birthday Bill.

You would think with all the great talent involved with this new movie project. There just has to be some small meaningful way to involve Bill in this movie without ruining it. JJ I just read 77 good reasons why you should at least perhaps try a little bit harder.

77 and still going strong, as a pitchman he’s entertaining and second to none. He does drama pretty well and the man flair for cokmedy. A fews back he did wonderful parody of the David Fincher film 7 and he was off the wall funny,then of course there was his laugh out loud role in the less then funny sequel Airplane which I believe had a Star Trek Sight gag in it. Lest we forget the Immortal words “Denny Crane” . Then there is that wonderful historical show that he narrated back in the 1970 called This was America. This man has done everything it seems except run for the white house, President Shatner HM, no I wont go there.Love him or hate him but he’s alway entertaining and the world would be the Poorer for not having known him. I hope he still doing these things on his 100th birthday

What? As if you could only find 77 reasons!

How about: “I’m Captain Kirk…I’m Captain Kirk”

It was FUN!

I’ve said it before and will do so here again… I hope to be as active and in as good health as Mr. Shatner is when I am 77 (I’ve only 27 years to go)!

Anthony, you left out that he was the co-star in the TV movie ‘The People’ with Kim Darby (also known to us TREK fans as ‘Miri’). it was a cool science fiction/fantasy film that no one seems to remember (but should).

Happy Birthday, Bill!!!!

Awesome list. Love #2.

Hadn’t heard about the bear hunt (real!). I just did a Google search on it, and found this posting from someone who remembered watching the episode:

“I remember William Shatner bow hunting brown bear in Alaska. He shot one, it ran into an alder thicket, and Captain Kirk goes running off through the thicket without his phaser. I thought that a bit stupid, but they found the bear dead.”

So not only did Shatner kill the bear with an arrow, he chased it into the brush *unarmed.*

Happy Birthday Bill !!!

What a great man! I love that he lives his life fully and just keeps on going. He’s not afraid to try anything–good example to live by.

Happy 77th birthday and here’s to many, many more.

That was great…and don’t forget, first actor to curse on TV – “Let’s get the hell out of here”.

Happy Birthday Bill! Many, many more!

Bill, have a really happy birthday an we hope you have many, MANY more! I may be a Picard guy, but you’re irreplaceble!

Happy Birthday Bill! I’m such a big fan, I make sure my daughter was born on your birthday!! Naaa, that was an accident, but a cool one!

Oh, and you forgot a 78th point.. Worked with Heather Locklear!

Happy Birthday Bill – And many more!

Have a great day – may the coming year be a healthy one and may you have every success in whatever you do!

Great work guys – a truly stirring, amusing, and inspiring list! :)

Oh, and that clip with Nimoy…is.utterly.wonderful.

Not meaning to get too emotional, but you GOTTAWATCHIT, folks!

You forgot to mention that he paintballs!! PAINTBALLS!! Which is a very intense sport, which he does at an “old” age!!

With the Enterprise’s delta badge on his paintball suit, no less!!

THE SHAT IS KING!! Thanks for making this entry. :D

I want to have bill’s kids if only i had a womb.

How about for reason 78 next year:

Appaering once again as Captain James T. Kirk.

There is still time!

Thank God we still have the Shat with us. May he live and contribute for many years to come. We would all be doing something else now but for him. Who else could have carried TOS?

Great list for a great guy. Happy Birthday Bill.

Hippy Birfff day Bill!

Long live the Shat! :D

#38 is incorrect – Incubus was the second:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Angoroj

Hooray for Shatner! =D

not related, but found some spy pics
http://www.aintitcool.com/node/36031

Happy Birthday Bill Live a bit longer and keep on prospering.

Happy Birthday Bill! You are incredible!

and of course…MANY HAPPY RETURNS TO THE SHATMAN

Happy Birthday Bill!

Does anyone know where I can get a high-res copy of the “CAPTAIN JAMES T. KIRK – I’m sorry… I can’t hear you over the sound of how awesome I am.” poster? I would love to print that out and hang it up… :)

Best I can find is 684X504…

Alternatively, a high-res copy of the picture from that poster? It’s the same picture as in the body of this article…

Thanks,
John

Happy Birthday, Shat-Man! And may you live long and prosper!

Happy birthday, Bill!

#28. number 3 — old news, lad :)

Happy Birthday from a fellow Canadian. I Met you in 1974 in St. Catharines Ontario when I was 8. You were advertising for Lowblaws groceries at that time and had an autograph signing in one of their stores. Star trek was just starting in reruns but that was my first time seeing them and I was an instant fan of the show and yours. You were full of energy that day and greeted me openly. We chatted briefly about school, girls and my home town of Niagara Falls. Your autograph still hangs on my wall. Happy Birthday!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Happy Birthday Mr Shatner!

Happy Birthday, Bill. Proud to be a fellow Montrealer!

That’s a hell of a list, but i can’t believe you guys left off the real reason Shatner is awesome: He played Captain Kirk in the hit show Star Trek.

That’s actually not on the list, and no, it’s not a given.

Best wishes to Bill

Happy Birthday, Bill. From your distant cousin, now in Toronto.

Without reading the list, I’ve always said he was awesome.
Happy Birthday Shat. I still find it hard to believe he’s a total vegetarian though.

14. Two words: Kirk-fu (or is that one word?)

And no, it’s two.

Happy Birthday Bill! And many more!

Happy birthday Bill, I want hair just like yours someday.

Go for another 77! Happy Birthday, Bill!

Long live Shatner!

Even at 77 he’s still more active then most people are at 40.
William Shatner and Leonard Nimoy will never die, it’s just impossible.

41. Was guest photographer for Playboy

And you get that gig, how exactly? Happy Birthday anyway.

Happy Birthday William Shatner!!

The most iconic TV actor of all time.

Happy… Birthday…. to… the Shat!

Happy 77th to The Shat!

Shat enriches every production he’s in & despite propaganda from some bitter former co-stars, there is no actor more generous to his fellow thespians than Bill.

Most importantly, Shat gave birth & in the artistic sense, is the true creator of Captain James T. Kirk.

Happy Birthday, Mr. Shatner—-I salute you, Captain!