Where No One Has Gone Before

Television: the final frontier. These are the voyages of the Starship Shatner, an actor who turned 80 this week, who became an icon, then an unemployed actor living in a truck for awhile, then an icon again.

There are many places online where you can read all about actor William Shatner. My observation in this post is to note where he’s been, connections he made then and how those connections return in the present. I am always impressed by people who survive in their chosen profession for decades and continue to make a living long after others have given up. They serve as great role models for the rest of us.

While digging for info and pictures, I learned a few things I did not know about Shatner and others he has worked with.

Before Star Trek, Shatner and future cast mate Leonard Nimoy both appeared together on an episode of the TV spy show The Man from U.N.C.L.E. Here they are with Robert Vaughn, one of the show’s two main stars.



Here is Shatner with the other U.N.C.L.E. star David McCallum.



Do you recognize McCallum? Yep, he’s Ducky (Dr. Mallard) on N.C.I.S. Still acting and in this case playing one of the main characters on TV’s current Number One show.




By the way, Robert Vaughn is still acting, appearing on some episodes of Law & Order a few years ago.

Boomer Bonus … an ad graphic from The Man from U.N.C.L.E. series.


Bonus Boomer Trivia: U.N.C.L.E. was a fictitious spy organization called United Network Command for Law and Enforcement. McCallum’s current ‘agency’ is based on a real one: Naval Criminal Investigative Service.

Back to Shatner for a minute.


His most notable current roles include Priceline commercials and a new TV show called $#*! My Dad Says. At age 80 he still makes a living on the journey he began more than sixty years ago, along with those other actors who are in his age universe (Nimoy turns 80 this weekend, Vaughn is 78 and McCallum is 77).

May they and their careers live long and prosper.

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