William Shatner made an appearance on May 12, 2008 on “Late Night with Conan O’Brien,” discussing his book, Up Till Now: The Autobiographywhich was released today, May 13 and surveys Shatner’s lengthy film, theater and television career. The early days of his career saw Shatner in movies such as “Judgment at Nuremberg” and television series such as “The Twilight Zone” in the years before the “Star Trek” — and now “Boston Legal” — roles for which he is most known.

In a recent interview, William Shatner discussed how and why he wrote the book.

“I wrote it because I had the opportunity to,” he says, speaking in his deliberate way by phone after a day on the set of “Boston Legal.” “And I chose to do it because I felt it was a way of explaining to my children and grandchildren who I was … in some minuscule form, like a book.

“So the last while I’ve been trying to do things that may explain who this creature was that they were looking at, and what was going on inside.”

In a way, he explains, one of the most recognizable faces in show business needed to write a book to help his own family recognize who he was and what his life had meant for all those years he’d spent in the spotlight. It was an experience, that Shatner says showed him things about himself he’d never before recognized.

Shatner told his stories into a recorder and sent them to co-author David Fisher, who worked them into rough drafts of chapters, which mapped the actor’s life in ways he’d never considered it before, he says.

“I saw my life laid out in a pattern, laid out in a sequential way that I’d never thought of it before, and then I went through the process of puzzling out what was the meaning of all this, where were the repetitions, the habits – why did I do the things that I did?

“And it was alarming! First of all, the time, the interval between the first story and the last story in my head is about seven weeks,” Shatner says. “But it turns out to be considerably longer than that. And it all happened so quickly and I had no idea that it was happening.”

William Shatner and Julie Harris in the Broadway play “A Shot In The Dark” in 1962

Seeing the passage of time in his life’s story, Shatner says, encouraged him not just to complete the book, but also to consider everything else that he wanted to accomplish in his life.

“It reinforces a feeling of anxiety of getting thing done, of doing the things you meant to do, or you have in mind to do,” he says. “There’s an urgency involved that wasn’t there before.”

And so he talked and talked, and Fisher sculpted the stories into chapters and a book that is filled with stories.

Many are funny – his encounter with Koko the famous gorilla, who decided to grab him by a most sensitive part of the anatomy, helps open the book.

William Shatner with Leonard Nimoy

Others poignant – after “Star Trek” ended, freshly divorced and completely broke, he was practically homeless, working in summer stock around the country, sleeping behind the theaters in his pickup truck to save money.

Source: William Shatner shares O.C. memories in new book

See also:

• In bed with Captain Kirk … William Shatner tells of his 40-year Star Trek
• William Shatner: ‘Mr Spock hated me’

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That’s the news and video: William Shatner on Conan O’Brien 5-12-08