Tag: 1950’s

CBC Theatre – “The Man Who Ran Away” (04/06/1954)

Let’s play catch-up!

As I warned you all in my post on Space Command, we’re entering a very hazy period of time regarding any concrete information on a lot of Shatner’s appearances. This “haze” doesn’t really start to clear until about 1960 or so, when things definitely get more pinned down. In the meantime, new information has come to light that forces me to deviate from my plan to talk about Shatner’s appearance in The Taming of the Shrew for Stratford, and backtrack just a few months to discuss a TV appearance instead.

While doing some research for my next few posts, I ran across an article and radio program about William Shatner for the CBC. The images shown were for a number of productions I had never heard of. I did some more digging, and found a bit more information on these shows on IMDB.

And then I noticed that there were about 8-10 other shows that were also appearing on IMDB that hadn’t been there when I was building my initial Shatner database. So, I spent several hours this morning slotting in all of the information that I could find regarding these appearances. And that information was really, really sparse, but I’ve done what I could. After this post, my next tasks will be to update some of the information in previous reviews, because even little changes can affect the whole of Shatner’s web.

So let’s dive into the CBC Theatre’s, “The Man Who Ran Away” from early April 1954, shall we?

Continue reading “CBC Theatre – “The Man Who Ran Away” (04/06/1954)”

Space Command (1954)

Shatner heads into outer space for the first time! Probably.

All right, folks…we’re about to enter a rather misty period as it relates to Mr. Shatner. For various productions over the next several years (really until about 1960 or so) I’m going to do my level best to present accurate information, with a whole heaping spoonful of informed guesswork on the side.

In doing my research, I’ve found a lot of conflicting information, wrong information, vague information and/or just plain no information regarding some of Shatner’s appearances, his life and the timeline of events in general surrounding Le Shat. When there is uncertainty in the information that I am providing, I will try and call that out as best I can during our journey together.

Case in point, Space Command, a show that I believe did actually exist but beyond that have very little information about other than tantalizing “facts” gleaned from the internet and Wikipedia. Hell, I’m not even sure if the picture above is from Space Command, because the site it was attached to was inaccessible while I was writing this.

Continue reading “Space Command (1954)”

1953 – Shatner Year in Review

Welcome to the 1953 edition of the “Shatner Year In Review.” At the end of each year covered in the review posts I will provide a summary as it relates to Shatner and his career, as well as display some key entertainment statistics.

1953 has the distinction of being, at least for this blog, the last relatively uneventful year in the life of Mr. William Shatner. Early in the year, he would have been performing with the Canadian National Repertory Theatre in Ottawa, and in the summer he was right back to the Mountain Playhouse…then back to the Canadian National Rep for their winter program. In other words, Shatner’s working world of 1953 was little different than what I related in my 1952 Shatner Year in Review post.

Meanwhile, about 350 miles southwest of Ottawa, something was happening that would soon prove to be of enormous consequence to young Bill’s life…

Continue reading “1953 – Shatner Year in Review”

1952 – Shatner Year In Review

Le Shat graduates!

Welcome to the 1952 edition of the “Shatner Year In Review.” At the end of each year covered in the review posts I will provide a summary as it relates to Shatner and his career, as well as display some key entertainment statistics.

In 1952, Shatner graduated from McGill University (although he missed his convocation due to failing one of his math classes) with a Commerce degree. That summer, he was hired to be the assistant manager of a summer theater, the Mountain Playhouse. This theater put on a number of plays that depended on little scenery or sets. This meant usually “light comedies featuring a young guy…”

According to Shatner’s autobiography Up Till Now:

I was a terrible assistant manager. A disgrace to my commerce degree. I kept losing tickets and mixing up reservations, which were basically the only responsibilities I had. Actors were easily replaceable, but the survival of the theater depended on getting the ticket sales right. Most actors get hired; to save the theater I was fired into the cast. I began playing all those happy young man roles.

Shatner credits acting in these light comedies with helping him learn “how to act.” In fact he credits the audience with teaching him timing and other mannerisms (he had to wait for laughter to subside, he would learn to repeat things the audience seemed to like, etc.) associated with acting. Since he never had any formal acting lessons, he used this time and these experiences to build up his acting chops instead.

Continue reading “1952 – Shatner Year In Review”

1951 – Shatner Year In Review

Welcome to the 1951 edition of the “Shatner Year In Review.” At the end of each year covered in the review posts I will provide a summary as it relates to Shatner and his career, as well as display some key entertainment statistics.

1951 was an understandably quiet year in the history of Shatner, as he continued his Junior year at McGill University, and then began his Senior year in the fall. He made no on-screen appearances during 1951 while attending school, but he has admitted that he ignored most of his actual schoolwork to focus on extracurricular theater and acting opportunities.

Shatner was president of McGill’s Radio Workshop, and acted in, directed and produced the Red and White Review/Revue for three of his four years at the university.

Shatner working and hamming it up!

There was, however, one very momentous event that happened in 1951…

Continue reading “1951 – Shatner Year In Review”

1950 – Shatner Year In Review

Welcome to the first edition of the “Shatner Year In Review.” At the end of each year covered in the review posts I will provide a summary of the year as it relates to Shatner and his career, as well as display some key entertainment statistics.

1950 was a momentous year in the history of Shatner, as he made his very first appearance in the subsequently unreleased film The Butler’s Night Off. At the time, he was most likely entering his Junior year at McGill University in his hometown of Montreal, Quebec. At the university, he was majoring in Business (Commerce) ostensibly to follow in his father’s footsteps in the clothing business. Go read my review of The Butler’s Night Off for a little bit more information on this.

Other than that performance, Shatner made no other on-screen appearance in 1950. But in just a few short years, his career would begin to take a remarkably prolific upturn…stay tuned.

Best Shatner Appearance of 1950: The Butler’s Night Off
Worst Shatner Appearance of 1950: The Butler’s Night Off

Continue reading “1950 – Shatner Year In Review”

The Butler’s Night Off (1950)

In the beginning, there was Le Shat

If there is one thing that I think we can all agree on, it is that William Shatner is the greatest actor who has ever lived, or will ever live.

We would then reasonably expect that the very first appearance of this god made flesh, this indomitable future titan of the stage, TV and silver screen would be in a role that showcased his incredible talent. Oh, we shouldn’t expect some huge leading man performance for a first timer, but something more along the lines of a small but essential part that clearly displayed his fiery range, that made him stand out above all the others in the production. A role that would make manifest to all watching that this actor, this almost otherworldly figure on the screen before them, had firmly claimed the throne that was so rightly his.

Continue reading “The Butler’s Night Off (1950)”