One very special and rare clip was from the 1964 pilot episode Alexander the Great in which Bill was cast in the lead role. The 70?s highly acclaimed television production of The Andersonville Trial was spotlighted, and as well his portrayal of T.J. Hooker in the 80?s. There was an excerpt from Bill?s infamous Get a Life! sketch o­n Saturday Night Live and his guest appearance o­n Third Rock From the Sun. They even showed Bill?s latest Priceline commercial with Leonard Nimoy, to the delight of the audience. Of course, the evening would not be complete without reflecting o­n Bill's legendary portrayal of Captain James T. Kirk in Star Trek, host Ron Simon calling him "one of the most memorable characters in the history of American television."

When the house lights came back o­n, Ron Simon reintroduced Bill. He asked Bill when he decided he wanted to be an actor. Bill told of being six years old and portraying a child being forced to say goodbye to his dog during the Nazi holocaust in a play at summer camp. He said that when he took a curtain call after the play was over, he noticed that the audience was crying. He recalled thinking to himself, "My God, they?re crying?and they?re applauding me. This can?t be bad." His father picked him up and said, "That was really good, Billy" and lavished a lot of attention o­n him. And from that moment, he was hooked.

Simon asked Bill about his years at Stratford, and Bill spoke at some length about working with Tyrone Guthrie, who was a like a legend in the theatre. He said that "Stratford was a creative and formative period" in his life. He had spent three years in repertory theatre, and he?d been an actor in radio and theatre and film in Montreal and Ottawa, but his work at Stratford was defining for him.

Bill reflected how nice it was to see Ralph Bellamy in o­ne of the early clips, describing Bellamy as a "legendary guy, a wonderful actor?God he was good! He just looked at you and said the words and meant it." When asked about the differences between working o­n stage and o­n television, Bill explained that o­n stage, "if it?s spoken word and if you just continue to say the words in the same monotone?and there?s lots of words?it?s going to be boring. So you look for color and you look for tempo and you look for the things to differ it." In film, there are less words, so you tone it down, but it?s basically the same. "You do less, but with the same impulse of truth."

Bill said he loved his early work o­n live television, the immediacy lending excitement to the work. "You?re in front of 10, 20 million people," he said. "There?s a camera o­n you and there?s no going back. You?re live o­n camera. There is no tape. There is no delay. There is just you and this camera?which I liked." He went o­n to explain that live television was "fraught with danger and haphazard," recalling an amusing incident involving Basil Rathbone. He said that Rathbone came up to Canada to perform in a play with him called Billy Bud. Basil was "like a turn of the century leading man in England." The whole company wanted to make a good impression o­n him. That night, Basil walked o­n stage and made the mistake of planting o­ne of his feet into a bucket?and he couldn?t get it out. Bill demonstrated it o­n stage. It was hilarious! The funny thing is that right before the performance, Basil had said to Bill, "Thank God we?re up here in Canada, because if we were in America, you know 30, 40, 50 million people would be watching. Thank God, o­nly 10 million are watching."

When asked about what it was like to work with Spencer Tracy o­n Judgement at Nuremberg, Bill said he was mesmerized. He had seen Spencer Tracy in Adams Rib, and when he first saw him o­n stage during the production, he was star struck. When the cameras began rolling, Bill said, "Spence starts to deliver this peroration that goes o­n for ten minutes." Bill said that he didn?t realize that film actors did such long takes, that Spencer Tracy "had done a stage worthy performance." Bill hadn?t yet been introduced to Tracy, and he said "I wanted to say hello to him. He hadn?t said ?hello.? So, I go up to him, ?Hello, Mr. Tracy, I?m William Shatner. How are you? Wow, that was some speech. I didn?t know that screen actors did that.?" Bill said that Tracy just turned and went back to his dressing room and never talked to him. He said, Tracy died "before I could say, ?Spence, I love you.?"

When asked why he turned down leading roles in The Defender and Dr. Kildare, o­nly to take o­n a leading role in Star Trek, Bill responded that when he came to New York in the late 50?s and he was playing o­n Broadway, a series was "kind of looked down upon." But then when Steve McQueen took a starring role in Wanted Dead or Alive, "suddenly it was not o­nly all right, it was almost a necessity to get a series" in order to get the good roles. So, when Star Trek came along, he took the role.

When the floor was opened to questions, someone asked Bill how involved Rod Serling was with the <em>Twilight Zone</em> and&nbsp;which&nbsp;of the two episodes that he was in did he like the best. Bill said Rod was "very involved?it was his show, Twilight Zone. " In terms of a favorite episode, Bill said that he thought both episodes were pretty good, but he didn't know why Nightmare at 20,000 Feet has been so popular. He said that in retrospect, perhaps it "touches a chord. If God meant us to fly, he would have given us wings. Everybody who has seen the show gets o&shy;n a flight and sort of remembers it." Then he recalled an amusing story. "I had some fun with my kids o&shy;ne year. We were flying somewhere," he laughed as he remembered the incident, "and we planned ?the look.? ?Dad, would you do the look??" his kids wanted to know. Then, as the audience looked o&shy;n, Bill turned away, composed himself and then turned quickly back and reenacted "the look." The audience roared! He looked over to his family for verification. "It&#39;s true, isn&#39;t it?"

Bill spoke at some length about his decision to be in Generations and enact the death of Captain Kirk. He wondered about what it might be like to die. "What happens when in that marginal area before you lose consciousness, before you die. What are you thinking? Are you afraid? Are you resigned? Are you conscious, and is the mystery of life and death revealed?" He said that he thought Kirk would face death "the same way he faced all those aliens, with a mixture of awe and wonderment."

Someone asked about SPPLAT Attack, and Bill mentioned it?s o&shy;n again this year in Joliet, Illinois. He went o&shy;n to explain how the event benefits the Hollywood Charity Horse Show charities. He urged the audience to come to the show this year, mentioning it?s going to be held o&shy;n "the last Saturday in April, which turns out to be May 1st." He quickly added, "You may call it the first Saturday in May, but not me!" It was pretty funny. This year, the show benefits Ahead With Horses, Tilden?s Children and Camp Max Straus. Entertainment will be provided by Brad Paisley. If you?re interested in attending, or would like information o&shy;n how you can make a tax deductible donation to help the children, visit the horse show website at http://www.horseshow.org.

Lastly, Bill mentioned that he?s just started work o&shy;n the TV show, The Practice, portraying the head of a law firm by the name of Denny Crane. "He seems like a buffoon," Bill said, "but in the end, he?s always kind of smart. He can do anything he wants because he?s Denny Crane."

All in all, it was a very memorable evening. We wish all of you could have been present. If you ever have the opportunity to see Bill at a personal appearance, by all means, do so. Your next opportunity will be this weekend at Creation Entertainment?s Grand Slam in Pasadena. It?s not too late to get your tickets. For more information, visit Creation?s website at <font size="2">http://www.creationent.com</font><font size="2"></font>

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