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Shatner still chasing the magic
CP FILE PHOTO
Canadian Astronaut Chris Hadfield (left) speaks live from the International Space Station with legendary Canadian actor, author and Star Trek star William Shatner on Feb. 7, 2013, at the Canadian Space Agency headquarters in Longueuil, Quebec.
mI was a storyteller when I was a counsellor at a welfare camp north of Montreal while I was going to McGill University.
I was in great demand at the bunks because I could tell Edgar Allan Poe stories... (No) matter how esoterically you want to put it, the actor is always telling a story and that's the magic.
— William Shatner
Frank PEEBLES Citizen staff fpeebles@pgcitizen.ca
I guess it has to be done. But does William Shatner really need an introduction?
His characters hardly need an explanation, and they aren’t even real people.
Even... his... manner of speech... has a... reputation.
Shatner was already an acting star when he made his Hollywood entrance. He came off the Shakespearean stage of the famed Stratford Festival where he had won rave reviews as a youthful gust of Canadian talent. He wasn’t an instant hit in the California film industry, but he got work and one of the jobs he took was the role of James T. Kirk, captain of the USS Enterprise, whose five-year mission was to explore strange new worlds, to seek out new life and new civilizations, to boldly go where no man has gone before.
In truth, it was only supposed to be a 13-episode mission. But under the direction of creator Gene Roddenberry, his serial story Star Trek discovered a new gear television had never seen before, warp speed, and a quirky sci-fi show exploded into a decades-old and still healthy franchise with Shatner at the helm.
But there was more. If you read Shatner’s list of credits, there was a lot more. His reputation took a hit as a result, but he insisted on being a working actor, passing up lottery-sized fortunes in exchange for dependable, long-lasting fortunes. And some of those many roles were hits as well, like the cliched cop show T.J. Hooker in the title role, as host of the reality-based series Rescue 911, the comedically egomaniacal lawyer Denny Crane in both The Practice and Boston Legal, and the cult-loved, short-lived sitcom $#*! My Dad Says.
When he isn’t acting, he’s writing (he has penned dozens of novels, including the entire TekWars series and many in the Star Trek book series). When he isn’t acting or writing, he’s riding horses and pursuing charity work or being a celebrity pitch-man for various products.
He does love a good fan convention, though. It was Star Trek that invented the things - Trekkies love company - and he is still doing them for all sorts of projects that audiences have embraced over the years. He’s the inaugural headliner at Northern FanCon this weekend at CN Centre.
“What happens at a comicon or fancon - the kick the audience has, seeing some of their favourites, intermingling and seeing each other, all the costumes, the question-
and-answer periods, the intermingling of fans and celebrities - I still do it because I want them to know what I’m doing, so the word gets out,” he told The Citizen this week just prior to his arrival.
At the age of 84, the fact he is busy with marketable products of page and screen is itself a point of interest. He has a new book out, for example, a how-to guide for those in the twilight of their life to navigate the scary waters of new employment at an old age. It’s
called Catch Me Up.
He is also the narrator of the North American version of an animated show for small children called Clangers that has already won prestige in England. Shatner said this work was like going back to his youth.
“What an interesting challenge that was, to get the right attitude to tell a young child a short story,” he said. “I’d been doing that for years with my own kids and grandchildren. I took a different tack than apparently the English version does.
“That’s part of the interesting growth an actor can make,” he continued, revealing some of his craftwork.
“In the beginning you do it because that’s the way you’d do it, then you do it because that’s the way the character would do it, then you analyze the audience to see what they like best, so you bring in a variety of things. You write the song according to the
audience is I guess the best equivalent I can think of.”
Ultimately, the Clangers project is a microcosm of why he is an actor in the first place, and one who deliberately avoids blockbuster movies because of the hours and days and even weeks spent twiddling one’s thumbs waiting for the cinematic conditions to be right for delivering a few lines over and over again.
“This is what I’ve had success at in real life,” he said. “I was a storyteller when I was a counsellor at a welfare camp north of Montreal while I was going to McGill University. I was in great demand at the bunks because I could tell Edgar Allan Poe stories in the night. The Tell-tale Heart was my big moment. That’s what I’m doing on Clangers and no matter how esoterically you want to put it, the actor is always telling a story and that’s the magic. It’s what I’ve found intriguing over the years.” — see SHATNER, page 3
Fire guts downtown businesses Blood clinic carries on, despite impending closure
Citizen staff
Investigators are still working to discover the cause of a Wednesday night fire that destroyed two downtown businesses.
Prince George Fire Rescue crews from all four halls responded to the 1200 block of Third Avenue at around 9:45 p.m. where heavy smoke and flames were coming from the back of the structure, affecting fashion and home decor store Homework, the former Flip Side secondhand store and Nancy O’s restaurant.
According to a press release from assistant chief John Law, firefighting was “hampered by the close proximity of neighbouring buildings and the intensity of the blaze.”
It took two hours for the fire to be put out and when the smoke
cleared, the buildings housing Homework and Flip Side, which Nancy O’s proprietors have said they were turning into a new restaurant, were destroyed.
Homework co-owners Anthony Voitik and Louise Fonda moved their business from its former home on the corner of Third Avenue and Quebec Street to the new location barely two months ago.
There were no injuries reported, with Nancy O’s - which was occupied at the time of the blaze - safely evacuated.
Nancy O’s staff were back inside the restaurant Thursday afternoon to begin clean up.
According to a post on their Facebook page, the business may reopen next week.
No estimated dollar loss has been determined.
—For photos of the fire, see page 17
Samantha WRIGHT ALLEN
Citizen staff sallen@pgcitizen.ca
A sign greets blood donors at the entrance of the Prince George clinic thanking them for 17 years of support. Over the next month, dozens of donors will walk through those doors for the last time.
Inside, the mood was resigned Thursday as volunteers, staff and donors met for the first time since last week’s announcement that Canadian Blood Services would close the clinic by the end of May.
Nicole Newton has worked as a phlebotomist at the clinic for the last 15 years, and said she loved the work.
“(It) was really emotional,” said Newton of the first day back.
“I was in tears. I think the last day is going to be the hardest.”
Behind her bright orange flow-
CITIZEN PHOTO BY JAMES DOYLE
Longtime Canadian Blood Services Clinic volunteers Ruth Seeman, Algidia Astorino and Marie Carter will be affected by the clinic closure by the end of the month.
ers sat on a desk as a thank you to staff like Newton, who has worked at the clinic for 15 years.
There’s been a lot of that, said
clinic coordinator Holly Broderick, a lot of kind words, flowers and gifts.
— see ‘THERE’S BEEN’, page 3
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