Captain Kirk rocks on at 80

[Botany Bay]

A rare Trek related article in my local paper today :

On Tuesday next week William Shatner will turn 80. ''It's monstrous,'' the Canadian actor told The Diary. ''Horrible and terrible fall short of describing it. It's just monstrous.'' So, how will the Star Trek, Boston Legal and $#*! My Dad Says star be celebrating the milestone? He'll be working, recording a new album with Brian May, Peter Frampton and Zakk Wylde. (It will, of course, be a concept heavy metal album, detailing what happened to David Bowie's Major Tom after Space Oddity. You can take Shatner out of the Starship Enterprise, it seems, but you can't take him out of space.) He will also be collating material for a speaking tour to Australia, which brings him to the State Theatre on April 5. Still as sharp as a Klingon's bat'leth, Shatner - ''please, call me Bill'' - says the last time he travelled to Australia was long before anyone in the country was born. He vaguely remembers building a bridge across Sydney Harbour. ''I also hunted wallabies with a bow and arrows in Tasmania. When the sun went down, we got around a campfire and they taught me the song Waltzing Matilda and what a 'billy' was,'' Shatner says. When pressed, he insists the Tasmanian hunting episode did actually happen. Apart from appearing at the State Theatre for Kirk, Crane and Beyond, Shatner will be appearing at the Command and Conquer Star Trek convention at UNSW on April 2. ''I was first invited to a convention and I didn't think it was something that a serious actor, as I considered myself at the time, would be interested in doing. Hanging around with people wearing nothing but green paint? No thank you, sir. I agreed though, and when I got up on stage I had nothing to say, but from that point in my life, that's when I first learnt to improvise. It's been useful all through my career.'' But how does he feel about having to the skip past a career that's garnered Emmys and Golden Globes to concentrate on a short-lived TV show from the '60s and a few campy film spin-offs? ''Wonderful, absolutely wonderful. Why would I want to run from something as iconic and fantastic as Star Trek?''

 

[Winterwind]

The fact that Shatner (and Nimoy) will be 80... wow. I just feel older by the day.

And I have to admire his energy levels and love of life. I can only hope I'll have the energy at 60 that he has at 80.

 

[Gojira]

80!!! It just can't be true! He doesn't look a day over 60 that is for sure. I wish him well and hope he can be around for another 80 more years!

 

[RandyS]

80 is nothing. If Kelley and Doohan had lived, they'd both be 91 this year.

 

[CaptainStoner]

He'll be working, recording a new album with Brian May, Peter Frampton and Zakk Wylde. (It will, of course, be a concept heavy metal album, detailing what happened to David Bowie's Major Tom after Space Oddity.

This is epically good news. I hope his version of "Bohemian Rhapsody" he said he recorded last year is on the album.

 

[timelord1010]

If Mr. Shatner would lose a little weight maybe we could get him back on the bridge of the Enterprise. Happy Birthday Mr. Shatner, I hope I get to not only make it to 80 but also to look as good at that age. I'm a little over halfway there.

 

[Gojira]

80 is nothing. If Kelley and Doohan had lived, they'd both be 91 this year.

Don't discount reaching 80 that is a good milestone. Kelley made it to 79 and Doohan reached 85 which are both good ages.

 

[RandyS]

80 is nothing. If Kelley and Doohan had lived, they'd both be 91 this year.

Don't discount reaching 80 that is a good milestone. Kelley made it to 79 and Doohan reached 85 which are both good ages.

I wasn't discounting it. The tone of the board has been "He's 80?! My God, he old!!".

I was just trying to offer some perspective. That's all.

 

[Gary7]

He definitely has the energy of someone quite a bit younger... maybe in their mid 60's. I too wish he'd lose that chubbiness. It would do his heart a good service. His face has become so bloated recently, it's just sad.

Nimoy is looking more frail. And he's obviously taking it quite a bit easier than the Shat. I don't blame him... At that age I'd be lounging by my pool with a nice cold drink tapping away on my iPad rather than globe trotting.

 

[BlobVanDam]

What a funny guy. I didn't realize he was going to be working with Brian May and Zakk Wylde. That should turn out fantastically amusing.

 

[Captrek]

He should go back to the original Kirk toupee style:

http://shatnerstoupee.blogspot.com/2010/08/amazing-lace.html

Should have used it for the movies, too.

 

[TeaKirk]

He should go back to the original Kirk toupee style:

http://shatnerstoupee.blogspot.com/2010/08/amazing-lace.html

Should have used it for the movies, too.

 

[buckeyenation]

I thought Shatner had been banned from making any more albums by international treaty!

 

[Anji]

If Mr. Shatner would lose a little weight maybe we could get him back on the bridge of the Enterprise.

Agreed. But I'm a little more concerned about his health more than his looks. Being his age, at that weight, is not good at all.

But he must be doing something right, he's 80 years old and still the same Wild Bill we've known all along.

Happy Birthday, Bill, and many, many more!

 

[Potemkin_Prod]

I hope I'm as healthy as he is at 80.

 

[CaptainStoner]

I thought Shatner had been banned from making any more albums by international treaty!

We do not recognize your Federation treaties.