Everand Logo

Welcome to Everand!

  • Discover millions of ebooks, audiobooks, and so much more with a free trial

    Only $11.99/month after trial. Cancel anytime.

    Up Till Now: The Autobiography
    Up Till Now: The Autobiography
    Up Till Now: The Autobiography
    Audiobook (abridged)6 hours

    Up Till Now: The Autobiography

    Written by William Shatner and David Fisher

    Narrated by William Shatner

    4/5

    ()

    Switch to ebook

    About this audiobook

    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.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherMacmillan Audio
    Release dateMay 13, 2008
    ISBN9781427204165
    Author

    William Shatner

    William Shatner is the author of nine Star Trek ® novels, including the New York Times bestsellers The Ashes of Eden and The Return. He is also the author of several nonfiction books, including Get a Life! and I’m Working on That. In addition to his role as Captain James T. Kirk, he starred as Denny Crane in the hit television series from David E. Kelley, Boston Legal—a role for which he won two Emmy Awards and a Golden Globe. Find more information at WilliamShatner.com.

    More audiobooks from William Shatner

    Related to Up Till Now

    Related audiobooks

    Entertainers and the Rich & Famous For You

    View More
    View More

    Related podcast episodes

    Related articles

    Related categories

    Reviews for Up Till Now

    4/5

    140 ratings16 reviews

    What did you think?

    Tap to rate

    Review must be at least 10 words

    • 4/5
      I opted for the audiobook version of this, rather than reading it myself, because it's read by William Shatner himself. And nobody delivers a line like William Shatner. I think it was the right call.If you're looking for unexpected insights, deep introspection, or new revelations about Shatner's work, probably best to move along. But if you just want a fun read (or listen) tracing one of the most eclectic careers in Hollywood, I recommend this.The book is a lot like Shatner's persona: it maintains deadpan seriousness in the most ludicrous of situations. From the multiple opening scenes to the commercial interruptions in every chapter, Shatner maintains a playful, engaging tone as the narrative meanders through his life story. A life story which includes shooting a bear at close quarters, doing stunts on top of a fast-moving train without a safety harness, the Twilight Zone, Priceline commercials, a recording of Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds, James T. Kirk, T.J. Hooker, and Denny Crane.
    • 5/5
      Reason for Reading: I love William Shatner and there was no doubt I'd be reading his autobiography! Comments: William Shatner's autobiography covers his entire life from growing up in Montreal, Canada to virtually the present with his thoughts on not being invited to participate in the recent new Star Trek movie. His childhood is briefly summarized though his acting ventures as a child, in high school and university and then book focuses on his career as an actor starting with his days on the Canadian stage at the Stratford Festival and moving right along to his current role as Denny Crane. In between he has had a career with many ups and downs. Though never any really big downs as he is the type of actor who accepts work when he needs it. Thus he has done a lot of B-grade movies (and proud of it) and played character parts on hundreds of TV shows and every now and then he hits it big. So big in fact he has become an icon in the industry and love him or hate him, who doesn't know the name William Shatner?I love Shatner's sense of humour! He is dry, witty and most importantly doesn't take himself seriously and plays that up to the media, who often take him seriously; reporting him that way and creating a false persona, "Bill Shatner". It's very funny to watch in real life when people actually take the guy seriously when he's acting his famous Bill Shatner character. Maybe it's a Canadian humour thing. He talks about these "pranks" and how he first told the media an outrageous made up story back in the early Star Trek days, of how it just popped into his head during an interview, he thought he was telling a joke but everyone actually believed him and so it all began. His humour shines through in the book, with pompous statements, one-liners and segues into commercials for priceline or promos for the book. It's quite hilarious.There's also another side to Shatner though as he tells of his personal life. Such as his first two failed marriages and his faults as a husband that contributed to there demise; the tragic death of his third wife and the tumultuous marriage they had preceding that death; his thoughts and fears about growing old and realizing his own mortality is approaching; his thoughts on the negative opinions of his fellow Star Trek cast members (all except Leonard Nimoy and DeForest Kelley). The book is very satisfying covering everything you'd really expect to find in Shatner's biography. The one thing not present is long meanderings on Star Trek as that material is covered in his first memoir, Star Trek Memories, which I read when it came out and also enjoyed. He still has a few stories to tell, though, and talks about the conventions, movies and such. I felt as if he gave Star Trek just the right amount of space in this book seeing as he's already covered it in depth. I especially enjoyed his thoughts, and reminiscences on making Rescue 911, Invasion Iowa and Boston Legal. A very enjoyable read from an actor who is not-so-surprisingly a down to earth man at heart and a brilliant actor (and a bad singer, yes, he knows this!).
    • 4/5
      I loved this book. His story is fascinating and entertaining. After reading it last year, I Netflix'd the first season of Boston Legal and got hooked (no plan for T.J. Hooker, though). He's larger than life and quite candid, discussing his marriages, relationships with Star Trek costars, and his more than 50 year career.
    • 3/5
      I can't say I was disappointed, though I did hope for more. The first part of the book is the best, where he discusses his early days as a TV actor. This portion of the book offers the best insight into the hated status he has with Star Trek alumni. Shatner took any role he could get and worked with many stars, in fact he was seen as assembly line actor. So when he was the star of Star Trek he paid little attention to the rest of the cast. It was not a family, it was just another job i cut-throat business. I agree with him, that without the mass hysteria of the Trek fans there would be no voice for the feeling of minor actors towards their stars.Though he does poke fun at himself, he does cling to some strange ideas, like that his spoken word performances are not as bad as people say, just misunderstood. Even when he talks about his 90s resurgence, he misses the boat when hipsters ironically laugh and cheer for his albums, thinking "they get it." Shatner obviously loves attention and craves approval. He spends a massive amount of time explaining the details of a forgettable reality show he worked on, and even more reciting lines of dialogue from Boston Legal.But, the book is like Shatner the public figure, light hearted, self deprecating, just enough, to forgive the poor taste and egotism.
    • 4/5
      I'm surprised to admit this but I really enjoyed this book! "Up Till Now" is now my second favorite autobiography (after Keith Richards' "Life"). William Shattner is such a great storyteller and I could listen to him prattle on forever (not that he was rambling--he was often magical and anthralling).
    • 5/5
      I really enjoyed this autobiography, particularly on audibook. I find I've really gotten to know "Bill". *grin* He's quite entertaining and endearing. It was great to get his behind the scenes take on his various roles and endeavors, especially the way he describes the motivation behind things he's done, liked his "Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds" and the character in "Boston Legal" (which I've never seen, but now want to!) Worthwhile book for any Shatner fan. Highly recommend!
    • 4/5
      A totally off the wall biography by William Shatner. When you first start reading this book you are not quite sure whether Shatner has an over inflated ego, or his tongue is wedged firmly in his cheek. It soon becomes clear that self-deprecation is the name of the game. Whether poking fun at his own 'B' movies or his 'singing' ability, it is clear that Shatner does not take himself too seriously. There are some good behind the scenes references on Star Trek and Boston Legal, and some genuinely moving personal recollections, but mostly is a wonderful comedic ride and is great fun
    • 4/5
      I opted for the audiobook version of this, rather than reading it myself, because it's read by William Shatner himself. And nobody delivers a line like William Shatner. I think it was the right call.If you're looking for unexpected insights, deep introspection, or new revelations about Shatner's work, probably best to move along. But if you just want a fun read (or listen) tracing one of the most eclectic careers in Hollywood, I recommend this.The book is a lot like Shatner's persona: it maintains deadpan seriousness in the most ludicrous of situations. From the multiple opening scenes to the commercial interruptions in every chapter, Shatner maintains a playful, engaging tone as the narrative meanders through his life story. A life story which includes shooting a bear at close quarters, doing stunts on top of a fast-moving train without a safety harness, the Twilight Zone, Priceline commercials, a recording of Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds, James T. Kirk, T.J. Hooker, and Denny Crane.
    • 4/5
      I feel like I should be ashamed to admit that I enjoyed Up Till Now. The jokes are so obvious and the Shatner is so ubiquitous. But it was a lot of fun!I don't think I need to really explain what this book is about, since it's all in the title. I'm pretty sure this isn't Bill Shatner's first autobiography, although the previous ones may have focused on different things? Maybe they were ~~memoirs~~ instead? Anyway, this one mostly covers his career, from the beginning up to "Boston Legal." Thankfully it stops before we get to the Ultimate Bad Twitter-Fueled Idea of "Shit My Dad Says" . . . oh, I'm sorry, "Bleep My Dad Says."There are many, many rabbit trails in Up Till Now. The thread of the story hops and jumps along, but the little stop-offs are almost always entertaining, so it didn't really bother me too much, just enough that I noticed it.Every time I told someone what I was reading, they'd laugh and talk about how they heard Shatner was a jerk. That may be true, I don't know, but in here he comes off as sort of a blowhard but generally okay. Maybe he's mellowed? Whether he's a jerk or not, or maybe BECAUSE he's a jerk, I laughed out loud waaaay too many times reading this book, and that's a pretty big plus for me.
    • 5/5
      This was the funniest autobiography/biography I've ever read!--which really surprised me because William Shatner isn't one of my favorite actors. I picked up this audiobook at the library because 1) I have a lot of driving to do, and 2) I'm on a Star Trek kick ever since I saw the 2009 movie.I highly recommend people to try to get their hands on the audio so they can hear Shatner's delivery of his own words. The man had me laughing out loud in several spots, and weeping during another.Fabulous read :)
    • 5/5
      very funny. a good life story.
    • 5/5
      Absolutely loved listening to this in the car on my way home from work. Shatner is warm, humble, self-effacing and fully aware of his foibles and more arrogant personality traits. Stand-out parts include his arguments with other Star Trek actors and the painful yet touching description of his doomed second (I think) marriage that ended in such an appalling tragedy. Some people would consider Shatner to be a bit of a ham and a media whore but I hope I can have half the career sucess this guy's had. As an aside, I would also recommend getting a copy of Shatner's last musical album 'Has Been' as an accompaniment to this book. That CD is much better than I thought it was going to be as well!
    • 4/5
      I knew Shatner was a Canadian. I did not know he started his career as a theatre actor, nor that he was a Shakespearean actor at the famed Stratford Festival. I had some idea that he had a good sense of humour, but not that he has such an irrepressible wit. As an autobiography, I would have preferred more information about his family, but the book was still highly engaging and a very enjoyable read. Quick to read, to be sure, but worth the time.
    • 4/5
      William Shatner provided a surprisingly candid and detailed portrait of his life. He reveals his insatiable desire to continuously work as an actor, no matter how strange the parts may be. He freely admits that many of his stage, television, movie, and singing/talking recordings were, not only panned by the critics, but were actually awful. However, he recognizes that even these kept his work in the public eye (and ear) and resulted in other opportunities, some of which turned out to be very well-received and lucrative. He provides very interesting coverage of the Star Trek phenomenon and his relationships with Leonard Nimoy and the other actors, some who were not particularly friendly toward him. Likewise his coverage of his other television series hits, T.J. Hooker, Rescue 911, and Boston Legal is also interesting. In addition to his career, he provides much candid information about his personal life, including his four wives. He interjects many humorous stories and thoughts throughout the book. I believe this book reveals that Shatner is not the characters he has played over the years. However, perhaps his insecurity about the possibility of being unemployed has made him fearless about taking chances with his career, and his persistence and actual talent eventually made him very successful. I found it to be a very enjoyable and interesting look at a very unique person.
    • 4/5
      Best known for his work as Captain James T. Kirk in the original (and best) Star Trek, William Shatner has had a healthy career beyond the confines of the starship Enterprise. That career is detailed here in Shatner's latest autobiography that takes a look at his entire career, unlike his last two memoirs that focused on his time as Captain Kirk. Some of the stories about his time of Kirk repeat and overlap, but the rest of the book is a fascinating portrait of a man who is driven by an insatiable fear of failure, not only in his professional but also his personal life. Not just a "look at how great I am" piece, Shatner details his successes and failures for readers with his own brand of self-deprecating wit. If you're a fan of Shatner, this is a fun read that will provide some insight into the man behind the Starfleet uniform
    • 4/5
      Quite a bit of fun. I can't make up my mind if Bill Shatner is a great adventurer (likely), an arrogant egotistical ass (also likely), and/or a decent guy. What I do like is that the writing is engaging, his life story interesting and the cover photo is priceless. An enjoyable read.