Shatner on Shatner

William Shatner tends to leap before he thinks, which sometimes gets him into trouble.

As reported by Newsweek, Shatner tends to act first and think later. When asked why he engages in risky behavior, such as riding a motorcycle without a helmet, he said, "I keep thinking that I'm not going to get hurt. That somebody else is going to get hurt, not me. The stuntman can get hurt."

Shatner's impetuous behavior includes verbal as well as physical actions. "Things people say strike me as amusing, and I am prone to saying out loud what everybody's thinking," he admitted. When asked about self-parody, he said "It's not something I'm doing consciously."

In an article posted by The Globe and Mail, Shatner's recollection of a past event as recounted in his new autobiography doesn't square with what actually happened. "As long as I live, I will never forget Don Cherry." Don Cherry is a Canadian television personality who was a hockey player in his younger days. Shatner claimed to have performed in Henry V in Ontario with Cherry back in 1956.

At the time, Cherry was a hockey player with the Hershey Bears of the American Hockey League. And the only "Don" listed on the official playbill for Henry VI was a Don Davis. "Bill just got a little confused," said Ann Swerdfager, Stratford media manager, whose father Bruce was in the very same play that night portraying the Earl of Cambridge. But Shatner is sticking to his guns. "Bill is certain...that the name of the person is Don Cherry" said Peter Joseph, who is Shatner's editor; "a Don Cherry who is not the other Don Cherry." The only time that the two men's paths actually crossed was in 2006 when both voiced animated characters in the Disney film The Wild, where Shatner voiced a wildebeest and Cherry voiced a penguin.

Making the rounds to promote his autobiography, Shatner appeared on Fox & Friends as seen in the video located here. He described his autobiography as a "book about the incredible things that would happen and trying to rise above, it's my life."

Shatner also discussed his relationship with Leonard Nimoy. "Leonard and I are brothers now. It takes time. I was probably, this was so many years ago, they were giving it a lot more life and breath than it deserved, I probably was jealous of Leonard's popularity and it came out in quirky behavior on occasion. But for the most part, he's a great guy and I loved him then as I love him now."

To read the articles, head here and here.

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