William Shatner is a Canadian actor best known for his portrayal of the iconic science fiction character James T. Kirk in the Star Trek franchise. A classically trained Shakespearean actor, Shatner’s first feature film role came as Alexey Karamazov in the 1958 movie The Brothers Karamazov.

Among the many roles Shatner took during his early career was the part of Jim Whitely, a man who discovers a strange glass eye in a 1957 episode of Alfred Hitchcock Presents, for which he prepares, above, and an episode from The Man from U.N.C.L.E. that would also feature his future acting partner Leonard Nimoy.

In 1966, Shatner was cast in the sci-fi television show Star Trek as Captain James T. Kirk. He would play the leader of the USS Enterprise until 1969, when the show was cancelled at the end of its third season. Little did he know that those three years would cement his status as a cultural icon.

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