Up Till Now

The Autobiography

By: William Shatner, David Fisher

Narrated by: William Shatner

This is the story of William Shatner's half-century career and private life. The audio will take readers from the streets of Montreal to regional theatre, where Shatner was once called upon to replace Christopher Plummer as Henry V— in a role he had never rehearsed, with actors he had never met. It will describe his early TV work and movies, among them Roger Corman's The Intruder, a movie about racism filmed in the south in 1961; Kingdom of the Spiders, in which he costarred with 30,000 tarantulas; and Incubus, the only film ever made in the language of Esperanto.

It will include his private life, including the complete story of the drowning death of his third wife. It will include stories from three other series, T.J. Hooker, Rescue 911—which saved more than 240 lives—and Boston Legal, as well as his work on Third Rock from the Sun, for which he won his first Emmy for playing "the Big Giant Head."

And of course, it will include the story of Star Trek; how it came about and how it affected him—and fans—concluding with the story of a taxi driver who told Shatner he'd been a prisoner in Vietnam and that pretending they were the Star Trek crew kept him and his fellow inmates sane. And yes, it will include his singing and commercials and quiz show hosting and award show hosting and the greatest practical joke ever played, Invasion, Iowa, not to mention the story about Shatner being invited into a cage with Koko the Gorilla—who wanted to take him back to her bedcage.

After almost 60 years, William Shatner has become one of our most beloved entertainers. And as evidenced by Comedy Central's roast, "The Shat Hits the Fan," Shatner gets the joke. For the first time, William Shatner shares with listeners the remarkable, full story of his life.

©2008 William Shatner; (P)2008 Macmillan Audio

Critic reviews

“Listeners will enjoy Shatner's quirky speaking pattern…At other times, Shatner almost whispers into the microphone, creating an intimate connection between himself and the listener.” —<i>Publishers Weekly</i>

Very Entertaining

I've always found William Shatner interesting. It seemed like he didn't take himself too serious and in this audiobook he has many stories where he is the butt of the joke.

Has Been? Was and will be !!!

What a grand journey through Bill's life! Having interviewed him once for a horse magazine, I thought he was rather pompous....now I regret all the years I thought that and wish I had spent more time with this brilliant and unique American icon of nearly every venue available to the artist! A great trip!

Bill - Warts(?) and All!

I have always enjoyed William Shatner's work. Of course it took Star Trek to take me back to Judgement at Nuremburg and Twilight Zone.(I was 17 when Star Trek appeared.)

I knew his various credits when I began listening and it was entertaining to hear how he experienced his acting jobs, marriages, and writing career.

Bill is a natural born story teller and his self depreciation is an addition to this part of his art.
The book is funny, touching, sad, and inspiring. He reveals himself as a great jokester who became more concerned about others feelings as he grew as a person.

No one else could have narrated ths book. Only Bill is Bill. If we read it silently we would read it with his voice also.

A great read and a lot of fun - especially when he argues with two radio hosts over whether or not he is an a--h----.

Brilliant, poignant, hilarious, touching.

If you can, listen to the audio version. Listening to Bill narrate his own book truly gets across his wry humour and self deprecating stories.
One of the few audio books I've listened to multiple times. Brilliant.

Just okay

While I love William Shatner and his sense of humor, I found this audio book to be about an hour longer than necessary. He didn't delve far enough into the Star Trek backstory but went on way too long about his reality TV show. All in all, though, Bill is a great narrator and pretty funny in his own way.

entertaining

If you are a fan of William Shatner you will enjoy biography. It's his story and he is narrating so that made it even more of a treat. Listened on a road trip and will listen again this summer!

Very enjoyable

I found this audio book to be very interesting and funny.
William Shatner was very to listen to on a long commute.
I also was impressed that it was not a "tell all book" that made other people look bad. Shatner is also honest about his own mistakes. I did not realize how long a career he has had in entertaining.

Shatner at his best!

What a fun read! As a Star Trek fan and a huge fan of Boston Legal, I already liked William Shatner's dry sense of humor. He reads his book as he should, like he is telling a story, his story. It is fun to listen to and quite interesting. Perfect for a cross country plane trip!

Insightful, Funny, Profound, Absolute Treat

William Shatner proves that he is an insightful, intelligent, witty and warm human being. Loved Star Trek the series and most of the movies. Had no idea that he was an accomplished theater actor and gifted writer and story teller.

This book is interesting and funny from start to end. To have Mr. Shatner read his own writings is an absolute treat. A treasure of a book. Loved It.

Expectantly funny, surprisingly touching

I knew that listening to this book would make me laugh, especially since William Shatner is the narrator. He delivers his story with great humor as well as warmth and a sense that he is just chatting with you; while listening in the car I sometimes expected to see him sitting next to me in the passenger seat! The book was very funny, as expected, but also touching. Shatner is very poignant, and covers a lot of ground in this book. A very worthwhile listen!