Soon, the discussion was underway, the host guiding Bill back to his childhood, inquiring what it was like for Bill growing up as a child in Montreal, Canada. Bill said his father was a "very hard worker" and helped instill in him a good work ethic, basic things like it's "disrespectful not to be o­n time, not to know your lines..." Bill said he believes that a strong work ethic "rubs off o­n all of us as actors." The effort and creativity involved in being an actor or a writer forges a strong work ethic, and good work practices help to further your efforts. By exercising your imagination, you develop your imagination. He firmly believes that "the more you create, the more you act, the more you write, the more you conceive of ideas, the more easily ideas come."

In 1952, Bill graduated from McGill University with what he described was a "ridiculous degree in Business." Not that it was a bad degree. It wasn't. He just didn't have an interest in the field. He approached Norma Springford, who he had worked for in summer theatre, and asked if he could join her theatre company. She didn't have any parts available and turned him down, but when he mentioned his degree in Business, she hired him to run the box office. Bill recalls, "I lost money. I couldn't find tickets, and they got so weary of me they hired me into the acting company." He soon joined the Canadian Repertory Theatre and went o­n to work under Sir Tyrone Guthrie at the Stratford Shakespeare Festival in O­ntario.

Bill's recall of people and events spanning his distinguished career, from his early years in Canada in the 30's through present day, was simply amazing. Granted, he sometimes struggled to bring to mind the names of some of the talented actors and directors that he worked with as he recounted story after story. But, thankfully, the audience came to the rescue time and time again supplying the names of people Bill hadn't worked with in decades. At first, Bill was surprised when the audience was able to come up with names from his past like Lorne Greene and Arch Oboler, and then he came to expect that the audience would have the elusive name that he was searching his memory for. The Guild members really seemed to appreciate the opportunity to participate. It was the ultimate in audience participation, and it continued throughout the entire evening.

In 1956, Bill was cast as Usumcasane in a lavish production of the stage play <em>Tamburlaine</em> that had a limited 12-week run at Winter Gardens in New York. "Somehow, what I did got some notification and some critics recognized me and I got an agent and I got offers," he said.

Live television followed. Bill said he worked hard and was the "most frequently employed actor around that time" in large part due to the fact that he had a tremendous amount of experience which was unusual for live television. "I was flexible. I learned my lines, I didn&#39;t blow them. I didn&#39;t get nervous." When asked if he had any thoughts about "this medium of television. Was it always just a job?" Bill said, "No, no. It was miraculous." He went o&shy;n to explain that Canada was about 10 years behind the United States in terms of the technology of television. "So, it was boom. There was television and the CBC. The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation in Toronto was suddenly broadcasting television shows" and radio actors began working in television. But he said some radio actors just couldn&#39;t make the transition. John Drainie for example, was o&shy;ne of the "greatest Canadian radio actors that ever lived," but he didn?t have the flexibility that was needed for television.

One funny live television story that Bill related involved Lon Chaney, Jr. He was cast to appear in a play involving a fight in a bar. Bill said the fight was choreographed and rehearsed for a week. Whenever they got to the fight scene, they would go through the motions of picking up the props and verbalizing what they would do with them. When it came time for the show to start, Bill said "ten million people turned o&shy;n their new sets and they saw Lon Chaney go, "And I take the table??" Chaney did it just like he did the rehearsals! Bill&#39;s recounting of the event drove the audience into hysterical laughter.

Bill said that eventually his name was placed over the title in a New York play he was starring in, and he was "sort of, making a name." He went o&shy;n to explain that making a name is "useful to making a living as an actor. It becomes part of your repertoire if you will." It&#39;s also useful to be able to say things like, "I was so and so in such and such." Many times people in charge of making casting decisions will hire you even though you might not be quite right for a part because you are "far safer" than someone who may appear right for the part but who is an unknown.

When it came time to take questions from the audience, Amorde inquired whether the creative process changed over the years, the amount of time that was allotted to complete a show. Bill mentioned that when he did Star Trek, it was a heavily technical. They would shoot 10 pages a day for six days. Now o&shy;n Boston Legal, they&#39;re shooting 5-6 pages a day over an eight day period. "It got faster, then it slowed down. I don&#39;t know why." Overall, he said, not much has changed, just some technicalities.

When asked about the experience of shooting the second Star Trek pilot, Bill said it was "a great experience." After all, it was a series for NBC, shot at Paramount Studios, actually Desilu for the first season of Star Trek before the wall separating Desilu and Paramount was taken down. Someone wanted to know Bill&#39;s impressions of Gene Roddenberry. Bill said that Gene "was a wonderful guy." He put together the Star Trek cast and came up with some of the story ideas. "His skill was in hiring the right people."

One question dealt with how Bill went about creating the character of the "evil" Kirk in the Star Trek episode The Enemy Within. Bill said, "our reptilian brain lurks not far from our ego, or is it super-ego? You can tap into your reptilian brain fairly easily if you&#39;re driving down Curson," he said amid laughter. Curson was the name of the cross street that the Screen Actors Guild building was located o&shy;n and Bill had gotten lost o&shy;n the way to the event, causing him to be a couple of minutes late. "Evil Kirk came out o&shy;n the drive here. Just go to road rage and you get evil Kirk. It&#39;s not that difficult."

When asked about the difference making the Star Trek series and the movies, Bill said that the obvious change was that they were all a decade older. Overall, he found the television show more exciting because "it was ten pages a day of dialog." He went o&shy;n to say that the big fear, of course, is losing your memory. When he started The Practice, he wondered whether he would able to memorize all of the speeches to the jury and the summations. But it&#39;s been fine. He said, "you just tie it into the writing the way you should anyway."

Someone inquired how Bill managed the role of both acting and directing Star Trek V: The Final Frontier. He said, "it&#39;s o&shy;ne of the most difficult things." As an actor, you have to have a perception of what the audience&#39;s reaction is, and as a director you need to be thinking about the whole performance. "It&#39;s difficult, but I love it."

When Bill was asked whether he would like to take a ride in the Space Shuttle, he said that he recently went up to see the launch of Space Ship o&shy;ne with his wife Elizabeth and he would entertain the idea of going in a similar craft. "It goes to the edge of space. It hovers there for a few seconds, comes back down and lands like a shuttlecraft." But, he&#39;s not interested in going up in the Space Shuttle. "Oh no. I need a guarantee I&#39;m coming back," he said.

He went o&shy;n to talk about his upcoming album, Has Been, due out o&shy;n October 5th. This is the album that Bill recorded with Ben Folds. He recounted how he was approached by the Foos Brothers to do another album literally at the same moment as a call was coming in from Ben Folds. He called Ben Folds "a genius." He&#39;s a "great performer. You see him with his piano, with his drums, and he does everything. He&#39;s wild and he&#39;s full of energy."

Amorde mentioned that Bill seemed to be having more fun in his career now than years ago. Bill agreed. "I am having fun. I&#39;ve been gifted by life, by my family and my wife?we met each other under the most extreme circumstances." He went o&shy;n to say that his upcoming album is to a large extent a homage.

Bill talked a little bit about his role o&shy;n the Practice spinoff series Boston Legal. He had spent the day o&shy;n the set and had three pages of dialog. "I&#39;m having so much fun. I don&#39;t know what he is," he said in reference to the character of Denny Crane. "But neither does anybody else." Bill said he suggested a line be cut in his dialog earlier in the day to keep the audience wondering whether Denny Crane is cognizant of what he is doing. "The mystery should be is he cognizant of it or&nbsp;is he not? Is he senile or is he cunning?" Bill said he&#39;d like to keep the question open as long as possible.

Near the end of the talk, Bill was asked some serious acting questions, o&shy;ne o&shy;n auditions. Did he remember his last audition? Could he offer any suggestions? Bill thought back, and although he said that he couldn&#39;t recall the last time he auditioned, he remembered "the sense of audition" and of being nervous during it. He said that with some exceptions, he feels that there&#39;s a likability factor in whether an actor is cast in a particular project. The casting people have to identify with the actor enough to say "I like this person playing this role." Surprisingly, he said that for an audition, "you don&#39;t have to memorize the lines, that&#39;s not of great importance. What is important is that you are within yourself and you are yourself and you bring to that role you yourself uniquely."

It was after 9pm when the moderator asked his final question of Bill: What makes a good actor? Bill answered thoughtfully, "First and foremost is a lack of self consciousness. You can&#39;t be self conscious and be an actor. Secondly, an emotional sense of identity. Thirdly, energy." He continued, "Probably health, it&#39;s very difficult if you&#39;re sick. You need an inner core of energy even if it&#39;s subdued lurking underneath there making everything work. There&#39;s got to be an energy." He continued to ponder, "Somewhere to some degree, is a sense of truthfulness. Then to really be an actor, you need some of the technical, flexibility in roles. Intelligence." And he concluded with, "and you need a hard heart to withstand the rejection."

It was clearly evident to all in attendance that Bill has a tremendous love for acting. It permeates his being and has defined his whole life. While he has fun with most of the roles that he&#39;s chosen for himself, he always takes the responsibility for entertaining seriously. "I love the history of our profession," he said.&nbsp; "I love the fact that we come from a long line of minstrels and at best we&#39;re playing them in scenes around the campfire and singing songs. These are people that worked in burlesque. It&#39;s a great tradition and I think we should always be conscious of that, revel in it."

&nbsp;