• Actor, musician and author William Shatner originated the role of "Captain James T. Kirk" on Star Trek and can currently be seen on the ABC show Boston Legal. Though written off several times by critics as a "has-been," Shatner has had a lengthy, prolific career, with many popular and critically acclaimed projects under his belt.

  Shatner appeared on The Tonight Show on June 17, 2009, where he attempted to make the Vulcan gesture of goodwill to Conan O'Brien but couldn't get his fingers to cooperate. After being teased by O'Brien, Shatner gave him the finger.Huffington Post: William Shatner Flips Off Conan, Can't Do Vulcan Salute (June 19, 2009)

• 1. Born: March 22, 1931
  2. Birthplace: Montreal, Canada
  3. Starred in seven Star Trek films
  4. Hit shows: Star Trek, T.J. Hooker, Boston Legal
  5. Spokesman for Priceline.com
  6. 2008: Premiered his celebrity talk show Shatner's Raw Nerve on the Biography Channel

• Early Career and Star Trek

  By the time Shatner came to Star Trek, he already had a number of notable projects under his belt, including the films The Brothers Karamozov, Judgement at Nuremberg, and The Intruder. His performance as heroic starship captain James T. Kirk would eventually become a blessing, but for a time in the 1970s led to typecasting that nearly ended his career.

• T.J. Hooker

  Shatner had success on the small screen again with the wildly popular early 1980s police actioner T.J. Hooker, in which he played the title role of a heroic police sergeant. Much like his Star Trek role, Hooker combined action heroism with tongue-in-cheek humor, but the character was distinct enough to also become iconic, leading Shatner to host the police recreation show Rescue 911.

• Denny Crane

  In the final season of legal drama The Practice, Shatner was cast as eccentric Boston attorney Denny Crane, a lawyer who had never lost a case. His character caught attention, as did his chemistry with series star James Spader. The two were spun off into the dramedy Boston Legal, in which Shatner's performance as the aging lawyer possibly in the early stages of Alzheimer's Disease has won him two Emmy Awards.

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