Saturday, March 22, 2008

Happy birthday to the GREATEST...ACTOR...EVER!

Seventy-seven years ago on this day in the wilds of Canada the greatest actor ever to live was born. Star of stage and screen, William Shatner has redefined the art of the dramatic pause, the carefully enunciated delivery, the burly swagger and the skill of chewing scenery, pooping the scenery and then eating said poop-scenery again. Shatner can bring it dramatically or comedically (he's certainly not afraid of mocking his image...or shilling). But damn it all, Shatner is better than that, behold one of his finest moments as captain of the USS Enterprise NCC-1701, James Tiberius Kirk:

Glorious. Shatner is so much more than a great actor, he's worked as a musician (his Ben Fold's produced album Has Been is a genuine delight), writer, director and producer. Good stuff. People forget that he is a Shakespearean trained actor and appeared in dramatic work like The Brothers Karamazov, Oedipus Rex and Judgment at Nuremberg. I would also make the argument that he turns in sterling work on a weekly basis on the David E. Kelly series Boston Legal. If only I could remember the name of the character he plays, want to help me out there Mr. Shatner:

Thanks Bill. Happy Birthday, live long and prosper and most importantly, Denny Crane!

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