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Up Till Now – Last Words

I finally had time over the holidays to finish William Shatner's autobiography Up Till Now.  It's the first autobiography I have read in a while and it certainly won't be the last as I have thoroughly enjoyed it.

When I read an autobiography I always go into it with a certain philosophy in mind - learn from other's mistakes.  There is so much that we learn about ourselves when we make mistakes (if we are paying attention that is..) and an autobiography is someone putting all of their mistakes out there for us to learn from.  It's something that should not be passed up.

It was a lot of fun reading about all of the roles Bill has played throughout his life, including drama, comedy, documentaries, and he has even appeared on numerous game shows.  Bill's writing style is somewhat rough around the edges and you will find his book tends to ramble in some parts.  However, outside of the craziness and humor of his life there are some touching moments when you get a look at the Bill behind the macho-image.  You read about Bill the widow whose second wife died from drowning in their swimming pool (she was an alcoholic).  You also learn about Bill's love for horses and how much he respects their beauty and strength.  Reading between the lines of this book you watch Bill grow up in a sense from a struggling, strong minded actor living in his car AFTER Star Trek is canceled to the sensitive Bill who plays Denny Crane on Boston Legal and develops friendships that many of us would be jealous of.

William Shatner Signs Copies Of 'Up Till Now: The Autobiograpy' (www.life.com)

Ok, so after spending a lot of time with Bill reading about his mistakes (and of course his many successes...), what did I take away from it?  Bill's autobiography presents a challenge because of the sheer amount of detail and story lines but I paid close attention.

First of all, Bill was not afraid to try anything.  It seemed with almost every turn of the page Bill is doing something completely different.   He did a movie in a language no one had ever heard of (with subtitles), he published a singing album which to this very day is still talked about (somewhat lightly...), his roles as an actor were on both ends of the spectrum and every point in between, and he chased an elephant out of an encampment while shooting a documentary in Africa.  Bill is the poster child for "Carpi Diem - Seize the day!"

Secondly, Bill's "try anything" came with a price.  In the book Bill talks about how precious spending time with his daughters is to him and that he had missed a lot of that in his life due to his career.  His first marriage failed for a number of reasons but one of them was due to work.  Between the lines Bill illustrates to us that balance in your work and personal life is critical to happiness, and that if you don't have it, you will regret it later in life.

Lastly, the last chapter of the book is the most telling.  Shatner describes his time as Denny Crane on the show Boston Legal and the wonderful friendship he develops with James Spader.  He also touches on a number of other friendships and you see the evolution of Shatner almost complete.  He starts in the book focused on himself and his career and ends the book focused on others - his family and friends.  In his own, quirky and somewhat rambling way, he tells us how important it is to have people around you that care.  At one point he shows concern for his own mortality and fear of losing his faculties one day just as his character Denny Crane was.  The people around him propped him up, supported him, and loved him.  Yes, I am talking about Bill and Denny both.

Whether you are an avid Star Trek fan, Denny Crane admirer, or just looking for a good autobiography about quite a character, this book is a good read.  Nice job, Bill!