Shatner living life to the fullest

William Shatner (BCom'52) has a very non-science fiction frame of mind about his future.

The 80-year-old former Star Trek captain clearly understands the finite nature of this mortal coil as he accepts a lifetime achievement award from Governor General David Johnston.

"I think what they think is I'm going to die soon and they better give it to me quickly before the guy kicks off!" Shatner said in an interview with The Canadian Press.

"But I'm in really good health so I'm going to tantalize them with my existence."

The octogenarian ain't dead yet - and in fact may be busier than ever.

Shatner's appearance at Rideau Hall on Friday night to be feted at the Governor General's Performing Arts Awards is just the latest whistlestop in his whirlwind life.

He hosts a TV reality series and two interview shows and anchored the sitcom $! My Dad Says that's been a hit this year with Canadian viewers. CBS cancelled the show last week.

He's editing a documentary he wrote and produced and he has just recorded an album.

Earlier this week he was in Los Angeles for a charity performance of Shakespeare with Tom Hanks, country singer Tim McGraw, classical actor Kenneth Branagh and comedian Martin Short, among others. Early next month he'll be at McGill University in Montreal to pick up an honorary doctorate from his alma mater.

He addressed the Olympic closing ceremonies in Vancouver last year and hosted the Gemini Awards this spring. The lifelong environmentalist has become an outspoken advocate of animal rights.

"There's not much time left, I've only got 20 years!" Shatner joked by way of explanation of his "peripatetic" work schedule.

But plumb a little deeper and Shatner is clearly enjoying his time in the sun after a lifetime inextricably linked to a 1960s sci-fi series that was cancelled after only three seasons and 79 episodes.

His documentary on Star Trek, which includes appearances by six of the key actors in the original series, is in the final editing stages. The Captains is set to air this fall.

"It's a challenge to make a good documentary so I wanted to see if I could answer that challenge," said Shatner.

"It's really giving me shivers. I think it's that good. It's exciting."

Final production is also underway for an album called Seeking Major Tom, in which Shatner recites songs in his unique and oh-so-imitable fashion.

"I'm just so excited by it all, and I don't want to miss it," says the actor, turning serious.

"And I'm also impelled by the fact that I think that time is short."

He insists he not exhibiting the sentimentality of the old: "I think I've always been sentimental. I'm trying to erase the sentimentality."

But he seems to be having something of an epiphany - or an autumn love affair - with his native land.

Shatner simply can't say enough good things about Canada these days, set off by an interviewer's Canadian pronunciation of the word "about."

It comes out "aboot" when Shatner tries to reprise the sound.

"That's it. That's the mother's milk of Canada," he said.

"Whether it's the accent, whether it's the diffidence, whether it's the shyness, whether it's the sense of - not inferiority - but of not being quite as good as other people in whatever those people's choice abilities are, Canada is actually the best country in the world."

"The present and certainly the future of Canada is so grand," he adds.

Shatner, however, doesn't think much of the treatment of former Liberal leader Michael Ignatieff in the election campaign just concluded, when the former Harvard intellectual was hounded by his political opponents for supposedly being out of touch and opportunistic.

Shatner believes the Page 6 mentality comes from the British tabloid press where "making fun of celebrities is like pig-sticking . . . a sport the pig doesn't mind. Well, the pig does mind. Celebrities do mind. It's cruel."

He's had his own scrapes with the press, and "there was a time when it really stung," said Shatner.

"If you do something bad and people criticize you for doing something really badly, I can understand sticking it to you. But if your efforts have been successful, why? It seems non-productive for Canadians to be pilloried by Canadians. I guess that's an old sore that I'm picking."

The Governor General's Performing Arts Awards, created in 1992, recognize the lifetime achievements of Canadians who have "contributed significantly to the enrichment of Canada's cultural life."

Read full article: The Chronicle Herald, May 22, 2011