William Shatner debuted as Captain James T. Kirk in the first season of Star Trek: The Original Series, which premiered in 1966. Although the series only lasted three seasons, it had a long syndicated run, bolstering its popularity over the years and turning Shatner into an icon.
Despite the show’s popularity and Shatner’s meteoric rise to fame with it, the actor admitted that he did not receive any backend payments from it. As a result, Shatner had to find other methods to pay the bills, especially since he became typecast after the series ended in 1969. Here is what Shatner had to say about not receiving residuals from Star Trek.
William Shatner revealed why he does not receive residuals from Star Trek reruns
Actor William Shatner essayed the role of Captain James T. Kirk in Star Trek: The Original Series. The series ended after three seasons but experienced a resurgence in popularity thanks to its syndication run. Despite the show’s rise in popularity and syndicated viewership, Shatner admitted to not making any money from the reruns.
In his memoir exploring his relationship with his co-star Leonard Nimoy, the actor opened up about the lack of residuals from their work on arguably the biggest sci-fi show of all time. Shatner stated the following (via Inverse):
We didn’t get paid residuals, it’s possible no show has been run more in syndication than the original series, but we didn’t receive a penny from that.
Although Shatner might sound bitter from his words in the memoir, the actor later explained the real reason the cast wasn’t paid for the reruns.
In a tweet, Shatner revealed that the concept of residuals had not been introduced at the time he and his co-stars were contracted to work on the series in the late 1960s. As a result, it is understandable why Shatner wasn’t paid anything more than his acting fees for his most famous role.
William Shatner had to turn to acting in commercials to pay the bills despite his Star Trek fame
Following the conclusion of the original series, Shatner struggled to find steady work as an actor in the early 1970s, primarily because he was typecast as the captain/leader-type character. Therefore, Shatner turned to acting in commercials to pay the bills.
One such commercial that proved extremely controversial was the 1974 Promise Margarine ad that Shatner had shot. The commercial was criticized for sharing misleading information, leading to a lawsuit (via Chuckrowtaitchi). Despite facing some career setbacks in the 1970s, Shatner later returned to the Star Trek franchise to star in a series of motion pictures.
Over the years, Shatner has amassed a massive net worth of reportedly $100 million (via Celebrity Net Worth). At the same time, Shatner was also able to overcome the initial typecasting. While the now 94-year-old actor enjoyed a long-running and successful acting career even outside the Star Trek franchise, he is still fondly remembered as Captain Kirk by most fans.
The Star Trek movies and shows are streaming on Paramount+.
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