Actor William Shatner was awarded membership in the Order of Canada, one of Canada’s highest civilian honors.
He is also a writer, director, producer, and recording artist. You’ll probably hear some of his Christmas songs from his album “Shatner Claus” on SCIFI.radio next month. He has stars on both the Hollywood Walk of Fame (1983) and Canada’s Walk of Fame in Toronto (2000).
Like many Canadian actors, Shatner was a classically trained Shakespearean actor who began his theatrical career in the Stratford Shakespeare Festival before moving on to television and cinema. His first television role was in the Canadian show Space Command, a children’s science fiction show. His first movie was The Butler’s Night Off in 1951. Since then, he moved on to Ranger Bob in The Canadian Howdy Doody Show, Twilight Zone, The Brothers Karamazov, Man from U.N.C.L.E. in the episode “The Strigas Affair” starring Leonard Nimoy, Gunsmoke, White Comanche, The Virginian, Barbary Coast, T. J. Hooker, The Practice, Boston Legal, Third Rock from the Sun,and many other roles.
There is a story, possibly apocryphal, that Shatner learned how to ride after being cast in a western, after claiming he already knew how to ride. He now raises horses and rides them in competitions and parades. 1994 he was Grand Marshal of the Tournament of Roses Parade and in 2014 a Grand Marshal of the Calgary Stampede.
Despite having lived and worked in the USA for decades, the Montreal-born actor retains his Canadian citizenship and is in the US on a green card. Shatner and 38 other Canadians were granted membership in the Order of Canada by former astronaut Governor-General Julie Payette, who like Shatner is a graduate of McGill University.
William Shatner and Governor-General Julie Payette {image via Toronto City News}. Madame Payette, CC is a former astronaut and a Companion of the Order of Canada. Mr. Shatner, CM, is an actor best known for portraying a starship captain, and as of today, a Member of the Order of Canada.
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Susan Macdonald is the author of the children’s book “R is for Renaissance Faire”, as well as 26 short stories, mostly fantasy in “Alternative Truths”, “Swords and Sorceress #30”, Swords &Sorceries Vols. 1, 2, & 5, “Cat Tails” “Under Western Stars”, and “Knee-High Drummond and the Durango Kid”. Her articles have appeared on SCIFI.radio’s web site, in The Inquisitr, and in The Millington Star. She enjoys Renaissance Faires (see book above), science fiction conventions, Highland Games, and Native American pow-wows.
