William Shatner’s 5 Best Movies & TV Shows Outside Of Star Trek, Ranked

Canadian actor William Shatner began his professional career in the early 1950s, appearing in an obscure film called “The Butler’s Night Off.” He worked in theaters, both as a manager and as an actor, in Montreal and Ottawa, and acted in the Stratford Shakespeare Festival in the mid-1950s. He moved to the United States shortly thereafter to pursue a Broadway career, and made ends meet by appearing on an episode of the Canadian version of “The Howdy Doody Show.” Shatner racked up dozens of credits in film and on TV throughout the ’50s and ’60s, appearing in adaptations of “The Brother Karamazov” and “Judgment at Nuremberg” and on notable programs like “Alfred Hitchcock Presents” and “The Twilight Zone.” In 1965, Shatner starred in “Incubus,” the only feature film ever made in Esperanto. 

Then, in 1966, Shatner landed the lead role in a new science fiction series called “Star Trek.” The show wasn’t super successful, and when it was canceled in 1969, Shatner moved into episodes of “Ironside,” “Mission: Impossible,” and “Hawaii Five-O.” He was also in genre films like “Impulse,” and “The Devil’s Rain.” Shatner worked and worked and worked, eager to stay in front of cameras or on stage. It wouldn’t be until the mid-1970s that “Star Trek” started to become truly popular thanks to incessant reruns, and Shatner’s character, Captain James T. Kirk, began rising into pop-icon status. Indeed, “Star Trek” eventually became so popular, it began to overshadow the rest of Shatner’s work. Ironically, his latter-day success on “Star Trek” pigeonholed the actor after the fact. 

Shatner’s career, however, remains long and textured. In the 1980s, he led the cop show “T.J. Hooker,” proving that he was a versatile leading man. He released several records (one genuinely bad, the others ironically bad), and found his comedic voice in shows like “3rd Rock from the Sun.” The actor, now 93, is still pursuing variety and activity. 

Here are five of Shatner’s most notable roles that don’t have anything to do with “Star Trek.” 

In the “Columbo” episode “Fade in to Murder” (October 10, 1976), William Shatner played an actor named Wade Fowler who was being blackmailed by a studio executive played by Lola Albright. It seems that Wade was a soldier in the Korean War, but deserted. His military record is unknown to the public, and he feels that if anyone discovered it, his acting career would be ruined. Wade is known for playing the title role in a hit TV detective series called “Detective Lucerne,” a very Columbo-like character. Armed with passion, wit, and a deep knowledge of the way crime scripts work, Wade will seemingly be able to easily outwit the real Columbo (Peter Falk) when he arrives to investigate. 

Many of Shatner’s post-“Star Trek” roles riffed on the actor’s persona, mocking his own arrogance and rolling with the accusations that Shatner tends to overplay. Yes, Shatner could be “big,” but he was just as capable of being understated and staid. “Fade in to Murder,” however, doesn’t given Shatner any benefit of the doubt, using Wade as a means to examine the way actors’ egos can run rampant. 

The ironic thing is that Shatner is genuinely good in the role. He plays a subtle sociopath excellently, matching wits with Columbo with total aplomb. It takes a lot to feign confidence, and Shatner manages to pull it off. It’s one of the more notable episodes in a series full of them. However, the series ranks low because Shatner was only in two episodes: “Fade In” and “Butterfly Shades of Gray” in 1994, playing a different character. He was one of many “Star Trek” actors who made guest appearances on “Columbo.”

Also ranked low on this list is Rod Serling’s “The Twilight Zone,” one of the best sci-fi shows of all time. Once again, Shatner only appeared in two episodes — but, golly, he was great in both. He played one of the two leads in the 1960 episode “Nick of Time,” about a couple waiting in a local diner as their car is being repaired next door. The diner has a coin-operated fortune-dispensing machine, and Shatner’s character finds the fortunes are eerily accurate. He descends into paranoia when the machine dictates that they shouldn’t leave the diner until after 3 PM. Shatner gives a great performance as a man succumbing to suspicion. 

Of course, to see Shatner come totally unglued, one only needs to watch the classic episode “Nightmare at 20,000 Feet” wherein he plays a traveler called Robert Wilson, recently recovered from a nervous breakdown, finally getting on a plane again for the first time after his stint in a mental facility. While flying through the rain at night, Mr. Wilson glimpses a beastlike humanoid outside of the plane, standing on the wing. The creature begins ripping a hole in the wing, but no one believes Wilson when he tries to warn them. 

Serling wrote dozens and dozens of miniature morality plays for “The Twilight Zone,” making the series moving and terrifying to this day. But because Shatner was in two episodes, we can count it as one of the actor’s career highlights as well. 

This one may be a bit of a cheat, as in Robert Meyer Burnett’s excellent coming-of-adulthood drama “Free Enterprise,” Shatner plays a version of himself. Eric McCormack and Rafer Weigel play a pair of ambitious adult nerds in Los Angeles attempting to find dates and make a career out of their childhood obsession with “Star Trek.” The film was released in 1998, and was already predicting the rise of nerd culture to the mainstream, and the seeming immaturity that must inevitably come with it. When the two lead characters meet the real William Shatner in a bookstore, they are initially thrilled, but quickly become disillusioned. 

This version of Shatner is a lunatic with idiotic theatrical ambitions; he wants to make a 6-hour musical movie version of “Julius Caesar.” He doesn’t want to talk about “Star Trek,” and can’t keep up with the constant references McCormack and Weigel constantly throw out. They reluctantly agree to work with Shatner — what Trekkie wouldn’t? — but they have enormous misgivings that bleed into their relationships. 

“Free Enterprise” is a smart film with an excellent script, more reminiscent of 1996’s “Swingers” than anything Trek-adjacent. It examines the evolving state of gook culture as Gen-Xers passed into their 30s (and, yes, there is a “Logan’s Run” nightmare sequence). Shatner’s self-deprecating presence essentially provided the geek world’s king’s blessing. This Shatner was a buffoon, unaware of his silliness … until he isn’t. He actually does have a moment of clarity late in the film, speaking to the nature of ambition.

Then he raps Brutus’ speech from “Julius Caesar.”

One will not be able to recognize Shatner in Tyrone Guthrie’s 1957 film version of Sophocles’ immortal tragedy “Oedipus Rex.” He was merely a member of the masked chorus, chanting lamentations at the beleaguered King (Douglas Campbell) who is about to learn some very difficult things about his parents. This production was staged in a blank, open area, and recreated ancient Greek theater traditions by putting all the actors in masks. A great deal of the story is told physically, with many of the actors freezing and floating in mime-like movements. It’s a great, astonishing film, and one of the best Shatner was associated with.

For those unfamiliar with “Oedipus Rex,” I daren’t spoil the twist. Needless to say, the King feels his life is hunky-dory, his older wife loves him deeply, and his children are growing healthily. A visit from the soothsayer Tiresias (Donald Davis), however, casts a pall over his kingdom, when it’s revealed that he might have committed some unknown crimes in the past. To quote Tom Lehrer, “when he found what he had done, he tore his eyes out one by one.”

This film reminds viewers that Shatner, while not always a leading man, was still deeply devoted to acting and to classical theater. It might now be difficult to picture Shatner performing in a  Greek tragedy, but here is the evidence. I don’t know which Chorus member is him, but golly he fits in well. 

Shatner’s most acclaimed role is also his best. Denny Crane first appeared in the episode of “The Practice” called “War of the Roses” (March 21, 2004) as one of the named partners of the fictional law firm Crane, Poole & Schmidt. Denny has never lost a case, and claims that he never will. He is also a blowhard convinced of his own legendary status, often saying his whole name out loud like a Pokémon, just in case those around him need reminding. For his guest appearance, Shatner won his first Emmy. 

Denny Crane was such a hit, he was included in the “Practice” spinoff “Boston Legal” as one of the show’s main characters. Shatner and his co-star James Spader traded barbs incredibly well, and Denny expanded as a character. He was consistently convinced of his legend status, but was also suffering from the early stages of Alzheimer’s disease, making him forgetful and also kind of strange and kooky. Denny is also something of a maniac who often shoots clients, and sleeps with judge’s wives. Shatner was already a force of nature, and “Boston Legal” gave him as much actorly leeway as he needed.

Denny Crane was simultaneously comic and tragic, a great character that has the confidence and appetites of Falstaff, but the arrogance of Hal. Shatner won a second Emmy for playing Denny Crane in the first season of “Boston Legal.” It is arguably his finest role.