I love a good mystery. I love wondering and speculating and guessing. I love looking at the stars and imagining what’s out there. I love closing my eyes and trying to visualize a day three thousand years ago. Mysteries simply are a feast for an active mind. And while in my lifetime I’ve seen science make extraordinary inroads into solving the most complex questions of life, after all this time I admit that I am thrilled that there are some things that forever will remain a mystery.
For example, do I wear a toupee?
INDEX
ABC television network, 9–10, 105, 179, 207, 212, 254
Abdul-Jabbar, Kareem, 241
ad-libbing, 331
agents, 36
Ahead with Horses (charitable organization), 174
Airplane II:The Sequel (film), 241–42, 262
Alaska, 57–60
Albert, Eddie, 166
Alcoa Theatre (TV show), 92
Alcoholics Anonymous (AA), 127
alcoholism
Kidd, Nerine (wife), 264–78
Nimoy, Leonard, 125–27, 266–67
Alexander the Great (film), 57, 100, 173
Alexander the Great (TV show), 98–100, 113, 149
Alfred Hitchcock Presents (TV show), 43, 92
Alien Fire (TV movie), 240–41
Allen, Marty, 205
All Summer Long (TV show), 43
The Amazing World of Kreskin (TV show), 160
Amazon.com, 197
American Sportsman (TV show), 57
American Tinnitus Association, 229
Ames, Allyson, 90
The Andersonville Trial (play), 161
The Andersonville Trial (TV show), 161–63
An Evening at the Improv (TV show), 252–53
animal psychics, 303–5
animated film, 90–91, 170–71
Annie Get Your Gun (play), 61
anti-Semitism, 14
archery, 57–60
Aristotle, 98
Arrest and Trial (TV show), 92
Arsenic and Old Lace (play), 159–60
Associated Press (AP), 295
astronauts, 83
Atari, 185
athletics, 14
Attack of the Crab Monsters (film), 68
Auntie Mame (play), 36
awards, 68, 74, 291–92, 323–24, 332
awards shows, 188, 189–90, 196, 253
Ayer, David, 255
Bailey, F. Lee, 324
Band, Charles, 238–39
Barbary Coast (Cash & Cable) (TV show), 175–76, 178–79, 210
Barnaby Jones (TV show), 160
Barry, Gene, 162
Barton Fink (film), 178
Barty, Billy, 49
Basehart, Richard, 162
The Bastard (film), 174
Beach Babes from Beyond (film), 238
bear hunting, 57–60
Beaumont, Charles, 68
Behar, Joy, 317
Bellamy, Ralph, 49
Ben Casey (TV show), 92
Bennett, Harve, 227
Bergen, Candice, 326, 333, 334
Berman, Pandro S., 51
Berman, Rick, 286
Bernstein, Leonard, 36
Best Actor awards, 74
The Best of Us Awards Show (TV show), 253
Beverly Hills Cop (film), 222
Big Bad Mama (film), 108–10, 111
Billboard’s Top Heatseekers chart, 340
Billy Budd (Melville, TV play), 41–42
Bimbo Movie Bash (film), 238
Biography Channel, 51
B.J. and the Bear (TV show), 249
Blackboard Jungle (film), 51
Blair, Linda, 168
Blakeney, Percy, 43
Blankety Blanks (TV show), 203
Blood Sport (TV movie), 223
Bloom, Claire, 51, 190
blooper shows, 252–53
The Bold Ones (TV show), 160
Bolling, Tiffany, 107
Bonanza (TV show), 34, 97
Bonnie and Clyde (film), 108
Borgnine, Ernest, 166, 167
Boston Legal (TV show), 5–6, 9–11, 66, 207, 210, 241, 308, 324–36
Botswana, 279–80, 281–83
bow hunting, 57–60
Brando, Marlon, 64
Bridges, Lloyd, 119
Broadway shows. See also Shatner, William, stage career season of 1956, 35–36
A Shot in the Dark (play), 79–80, 84–86
Tamburlaine the Great (Marlowe), 35–36
The World of Suzie Wong (play), 56, 60–65, 66–68
Brodkin, Herb, 95, 96
Brooks, Mel, 291
Brooks, Richard, 51, 53
The Brothers Karamazov (Dostoyevsky), 51–55, 56, 69
brown bear hunting, 57–60
Brynner, Yul, 51–52, 54
Bullock, Sandra, 15, 292–93
Burke’s Law (TV show), 92
Burstyn, Ellen, 67
Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (film), 89
Caesar, Julius, 47
Cagney, James, 79
California, 33–34
camp counseling, 31, 186–87
Camp Max Straus (summer camp), 111
Canadian Broadcasting Company (CBC),17, 37, 39
Canadian National Repertory Theatre (Canadian Rep, Ottawa, Ontario), 20, 21, 22
Candide (play), 36
Cannes Film Festival, 83–84, 90–91
canoe trip, St. Lawrence River to New
York City, 31–33
carbon monoxide poisoning, 257
cardiopulmonary resuscitation, 257
Carell, Steve, 171
Carpenter, John, 151
Carson, Johnny, 139
Cassavetes, John, 98
Cassidy, Jack, 162
The Catered Affair (film), 51
Cat on a Hot Tin Roof (play), 36, 224, 262
CBS television network, 49, 96–97, 223, 253–54, 257
Celebrity Bowling (TV show), 203, 205
Chamberlain, Richard, 95
Chaney, Lon, Jr., 44–45
Channing, Carol, 67
Chapier, Henri, 91
Chariots of the Gods (von Däniken), 185, 199
charitable work, 2–3, 5, 110–11, 156, 229, 291, 308–9, 311–12
Checkmate (TV show), 92
Cherry, Don, 28
Chicago, Illinois, 222–23
Children Theater (Montreal), 15
cigarette smoking, 265
The Cincinnati Kid (film), 191
Cinémathèque Française, 91
Clark, Dick, 252–53
Clarke, Arthur C., 189
Clift, Montgomery, 76, 77, 78
Clooney, George, 336
Close Encounters of the Third Kind (film), 119, 200
Clurman, Harold, 80
CNN television network, 197
Cobb, Lee J., 47, 49, 50, 51, 52
cocaine, 266
Cocker, Joe, 41
Cole, Dennis, 178
Columbus, Christopher, 122
Combat! (TV show), 98, 147
comedy, 21–22, 154–55, 191–92, 241–43
Comedy Club (Los Angeles, California), 21
comic book series, 248
commercials, 49, 185, 190–91, 194–98
commodities trading, 34–35
Commodore Vic-20 (personal computer), 185, 249
Common People (ballet and album), 86, 339
Communism, 16–17, 32
computers, 184–85, 195, 249
concentration camps (German, World War II), 75–78
Connery, Sean, 295
Connors, Chuck, 168
conventions (Star Trek), 139–45, 192–93, 242
Coon, Gene, 129
Corman, Gene, 68, 69–70
Corman, Roger, 68, 69–70, 73, 74, 108, 109, 111, 239
Corwin, Norman, 113–14
Cosby, Bill, 195, 242
The Cosby Show (TV show), 242
costumes, 233–34
Cowher, Bill, 10
CPR (cardiopulmonary resuscitation), 257
Cravat, Nick, 94
Creature from the Haunted Sea (film), 68
crime, 213–14, 216–17
The Cross-Wits (TV show), 203
Cruise, Tom, 207
Culp, Robert, 205
Curtin, Jane, 290
Cyrano de Bergerac (Rostand), 138
Dallas (TV show), 213
Dancing with the Stars (TV show), 168
Dante Alighieri, 231
Darren, James, 214, 216
Da Silva, Howard, 95, 96, 190
Davis, Dorothy, 13, 15
Davis, Ossie, 49
Daytona racer (car), 70–72
Deal or No Deal (TV show), 207–8
death, 57
defying of, 156, 282–83
laughter and, 154–55
Death of a Salesman (play), 47
Decca Records, 138
de Cordova, Freddy, 139
The Defenders (TV show), 92, 95, 96
“The Defenders” (Studio One episode), 92, 95, 96
D’Elia, Bill, 326, 327
De Niro, Robert, 103
Desilu Studios, 121
The Devil’s Rain (film), 166–67
Dewhurst, Colleen, 161
Dickinson, Angie, 108–10, 111
Dietrich, Marlene, 76
Diller, Barry, 199
director role, 223–24, 225
Nimoy, Leonard, 225, 227–28
Shatner, William, 223–24, 230–41, 247, 262
Disaster on the Coastliner (TV movie), 105–7
documentaries, 86, 185–88, 340
Doohan, James, 121, 148, 149, 288
Dorothy Davis School for Actors, 13
Dostoyevsky, Fyodor, 51–52
Douglas, Kirk, 114
Dr. Kildare (TV show), 92, 95
Dreams (play), 39
DreamWorks, 90
Durschell, Rene, 255
Dylan, Bob, 138, 336
Dynasty (TV show), 215
Earnhardt, Dale, Jr., 10
East of Eden (film), 61
Eastwood, Clint, 173, 221–22
eBay, 308–9
Ebsen, Buddy, 162, 168
Ed Sullivan Show (TV show), 44
Eisenhower, Dwight D., 69
Eisner, Michael, 199
Ellison, Harlan, 199
emergency rescue shows, 253–60
Eminem, 336
Emmy Awards, 68, 291–92, 323–24, 332
The Encyclopedia Shatnerica (Schnakenberg), 280–81
Endangered Species Campaign, 2
Entertainment Tonight (TV show), 197
enthusiasm, 168–69
Esperanto, 66, 87, 88–91
Evans, Maurice, 67
An Evening at the Improv (TV show), 252–53
Evigan, Greg, 249
The Exorcist (film), 168
Family Man (TV show), 190
Fanny (play), 61
Fantasy Island (TV show), 223
Fast Cars and Superstars (TV show), 9–11
The F.B.I. (TV show), 160
Fear of Pop (album), 336
Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), 32, 230
Federal Communications Commission (FCC), 193
Federal Trade Commission (FTC), 198
Femalien (film), 238
Fight Club (film), 281
film career. See Shatner, William, film career film industry, 46
Firebird (Stravinsky), 189
Flower Drum Song (play), 61
Folds, Ben, 15, 336, 337–39
Food Network, 206
Foos brothers, 337
For the People (TV show), 92, 95–97, 98, 113, 149–50 48
HRS. (film), 222
Foul-Ups, Bleeps & Blunders (TV show), 252–53
Free Enterprise (film), 83–84, 104
The Fugitive (TV show), 92
Futurama (TV show), 190, 336
game shows, 202–9, 262
Gardner, Ava, 171
Garland, Judy, 77, 78
genre films
Band, Charles, 238
Corman, Roger, 68
Get a Life (Shatner), 144
Giradi, Danny, 177
Gold, Harry, 320
Goldberg, Leonard, 212
Golden Raspberry Awards (Razzies), 291
Golden Throats:The Great Celebrity Sing Off (album), 337
Goldfinger (film), 101
Gonzo Ballet (documentary), 86, 340
Good Morning America (TV show), 197
Goodson, Mark, 202, 205
Goodyear Television Playhouse (TV show), 43
Gordon, Leo, 70
Gore, Thomas, 43
Gorilla Foundation, 2–3
Goulart, Ron, 246
Grant, Cary, 79
Grant, Lee, 165
Great Depression, 97, 164
Greene, Lorne, 34–35, 97
Griffin, Merv, 159
Grimes, Tammy, 168
Gritz, Bo, 220–22
Groom Lake (film), 117–18, 237–41
Group Theater, 80
guest-star roles, 160
Guevara, Che, 165
Guiness, Alec, 22
Gunsmoke (TV show), 100–101
Guthrie, Tyrone, 22, 23–24, 26, 28, 34, 35
Habitat for Humanity, 5, 308
Hackman, Gene, 49
Hall, Conrad, 89
Hall, Monty, 207–8
Hallmark Hall of Fame (TV show), 67
Halloween (film), 151
Halsman, Philippe, 62
Hamilton, Margaret, 159
handicapped children, 110–11
Hard Rock Café (Cannes, France), 83–84
Harrelson, Woody, 291
Harris, Julie, 79, 80, 84
Hart, Bret “Hit Man,” 251
Harvey, Laurence, 190
Has Been (album), 86, 194, 278, 338–40
Hawaii Five-O (TV show), 119, 160
hearing, tinnitus, 228–29
Heimlich maneuver, 257
Henry V (Shakespeare), 24–27, 44
Herald-Tribune (newspaper), 74
Heroes and Sidekicks (TV show), 252
Hill, Arthur, 160
Hitchcock, Alfred, 49
hitchhiking, 33–34
Hoffman, Dustin, 49
Holden, William, 65
Hollywood Charity Horse Show, 110–11, 291
The Hollywood Squares (TV show), 160, 203, 205
home computers, 184–85, 195, 249
Home Shopping Network, 292
homosexuality, 164, 325–26
Hooker. See T. J. Hooker (TV show) Hoover, J. Edgar, 32
Hornsby, Nick, 338
The Horror at 37,000 Feet (TV movie), 165, 167–68
The Horror Film Awards (TV show), 253
horror film genre, 165, 166–68
Horrorvision (film), 238
horses, 110–11, 156, 172–77, 259, 263, 285, 301–3
Horseshow.org, 111
host role, 252–53
Houdini, Harry, 252
The Howard Stern Show (radio show), 193–94
Howdy Doody Show (TV show), 41
Hughes, Howard, 52
Human Genome Project, 310
humor, 21–22, 154–55, 191–92, 241–43
Hunter, Jeffrey, 119
hunting, 57–60
Husky, Rick, 212, 213, 215
The Hyphen (play), 113–14
Iacocca, Lee, 195
I Hate Your Guts (The Intruder) (film), 74
immigration, 117–18, 240
Impulse (Want a Ride, Little Girl?) (film), 101–2, 166, 167
Incubus (film), 66, 88–91, 191
Industrial Light and Magic, 235
Inferno (Dante), 231
Inherit the Wind (play), 36
Inner Space (TV documentary series), 185
Internet, 196
interracial kiss, 128, 291
The Intruder (film), 68–74
Invasion, Iowa (TV show), 144, 294–301
Iran, 116–17
Iron Chef USA (TV show), 206–7
Ironside (TV show), 160
Isamov, Isaac, 184
I Spy (TV show), 175
“It Was a Very Good Year” (song), 40–41
Jackson, Joe, 338, 339
Jakes, John, 174
Jarrett, Jeff “Double J,” 251
Jason, Hilliard, 14
Jeopardy (TV show), 197, 292
Jerry Maguire (film), 207
The Joe Schmo Show (TV show), 294
John, Elton, 40–41, 188
Johnston, Kristen, 290
Jolie, Angelina, 232–33
Jones, James Earl, 49
Jory, Victor, 165
Judd, Naomi, 290
Judgment at Nuremberg (film), 75–78, 192
Julius Caesar (Shakespeare), 28
Julius Caesar (TV play), 44
Junior Justice Correction Program, 174
Kafka, Franz, 14
Kaiser Aluminum Hour (TV show), 43
Kaplan, Rupert, 12
Karloff, Boris, 43
Katzenberg, Jeffrey, 90, 199
Kelley, David E., 5–6, 320–21, 325, 327, 329, 335
Kelley, DeForest, 121, 142, 148, 149, 201
Kellogg’s cereal company, 195
Kelly, Sean, 203–4
Kenley, John, 159–60
Kern, Jerome, 203
Kerr, Walter, 46
Key Largo (film), 191
kick in the pants, 54
Kidd, Nerine (wife), 3–4, 154–55, 263–78, 279, 281–83, 289, 301, 309, 313, 331
The Kidnapping of the President (film), 171
kidney stone, 5, 308–9
The King and I (film), 54
The King and I (play), 54
Kingdom of the Spiders (film), 107–8, 262
King of Kings (film), 119
Klugman, Jack, 49
Koch, Ken, 215
Koenig, Walter, 121, 148, 288
Koko the gorilla, 2–3
Kraft Television Theatre (TV show), 43
Kramer, Stanley, 75, 76
Kronenberger, Louis, 36
Ku Klux Klan, 68, 74, 176, 178
Kung Fu (TV show), 160, 263
Lafferty, Marcy (wife), 146–47, 163–64, 200, 224, 260–63
Lahr, Bert, 46
Lamp Unto My Feet (TV show), 43, 97
Lancaster, Burt, 76, 77, 78
Langham, Michael, 26
laryngitis, 73
Las Vegas Hilton (Las Vegas, Nevada), 149, 151
Laugh-In (TV show), 132
laughter, death and, 154–55. See also comedy LaVey, Anton, 166
La Via, Carmen, 311–12
Lavigne, Avril, 171
law enforcement, 211–25
Lawler, Jerry “The King,” 251, 252
LeMasters, Kim, 253–54
Lemon Jelly (band), 338
Leno, Jay, 197