News broadcasting is the broadcasting of various news events and other information via television, radio or internet in the field of broadcast journalism. The content is usually either produced locally in a radio studio or television studio newsroom, or by a broadcast network. It may also include additional material such as sports coverage, weather forecasts, traffic reports, commentary and other material that the broadcaster feels is relevant to their audience.

Television news

Television news refers to disseminating current events via the medium of television. A "news bulletin" or a "newscast" are television programs lasting from seconds to hours that provide updates on world, national, regional or local news events. Television news is very image-based, showing video of many of the events that are reported. Television channels may provide news bulletins as part of a regularly scheduled news program. Less often, television shows may be interrupted or replaced by breaking news ("news flashes") to provide news updates on current events of great importance or sudden events of great importance.

Radio news

Radio news is the same as television news but is transmitted through the medium of the radio. It is more based on the audio aspect rather than the visual aspect. Sound bites are captured through various reporters and played back through the radio. News updates occur more often on the radio than on the television - usually about once or twice an hour.

Structure, content and style

Television

Newscasts, also known as bulletins or news programs, will differ in content, tone and presentation style depending on the format of the channel on which they appear, and their timeslot. In most parts of the world, national television networks will have network bulletins featuring national and international news. The top rating shows will often be in the evening at 'prime time', but there are also often breakfast time newscasts of two to three hours in length. Rolling news channels broadcast news 24 hours a day. Many video and audio news reports presented on the Internet are updated 24 hours a day. Local news may be presented by stand-alone local TV stations, local stations affiliated to national networks or by local studios which 'opt-out' of national network programming at specified points. Different news programming may be aimed at different audiences, depending on age, socio-economic group or those from particular sections of society. 'Magazine-style' television shows may mix news coverage with topical lifestyle issues, debates or entertainment content.

Newscasts consist of several a reporter being interviewed by an anchor, known as a 'two-way', or by a guest involved in or offering analysis on the story being interviewed by a reporter or anchor. There may also be breaking news stories which will present live rolling coverage.

Packages will usually be filmed at a relevant location and edited in an editing suite in a newsroom or a remote contribution edit suite in a location some distance from the newsroom. They may also be edited in mobile editing trucks, or satellite trucks, and transmitted back to the newsroom. Live coverage will be broadcast from a relevant location and sent back to the newsroom via fixed cable links, microwave radio, production truck, satellite truck or via online streaming. Roles associated with television news include a technical director, floor director audio technician and a television crew of operators running character graphics (CG), teleprompters and professional video cameras. Most news shows are broadcast live.

Radio

Radio station newscasts can range from as little as a minute to as much as the station's entire schedule, such as the case of all-news radio, or talk radio. Stations dedicated to news or talk will often feature newscasts, or bulletins, usually at the top of the hour, usually between 3 and 8 minutes in length. They can be a mix of local, national and international news, as well as sport, entertainment, weather and traffic, or they may be incorporated into separate bulletins. There may also be shorter bulletins at the bottom of the hour, or three at fifteen minute intervals, or two at twenty minute intervals. All-news radio stations exist in some countries, primarily located in major metropolitan areas such as New York City, Toronto and Chicago, which often broadcast local, national and international news and feature stories on a set time schedule.

News broadcasting by country

United States

Broadcast television

Local newscasts

Local TV stations in the United States normally broadcast local news 3-4 times a day: 4:30, 5 and 6 a.m. in the morning; noon; 5 and 6 p.m. in the early evening; and 10 or 11 p.m. at night. Some stations carry morning newscasts at 4, 4:30, 7, 8 or 9 a.m., midday newscasts at 11 or 11:30 a.m., late afternoon newscasts at 4 or 4:30 p.m., or early evening newscasts at 5:30 or 6:30 p.m. Many Fox affiliates, affiliates of minor networks (such as The CW and MyNetworkTV) and independent stations air newscasts in the final hour of primetime (i.e., 10 p.m. in the Eastern and Pacific time zones or 9 p.m. in the Mountain and Central time zones in the U.S.). Stations that produce local newscasts typically produce as little as one to as much as ten hours of local news on weekdays and as little as one hour on weekends; news programming on weekends are typically limited to morning and evening newscasts as the variable scheduling of network sports programming usually prevents most stations from carrying midday newscasts (however a few stations located in the Eastern and Pacific time zones do produce weekend midday newscasts).

Since the early 1990s, independent stations and stations affiliated with a non-Big Three network have entered into "news share agreements", in which news production is outsourced to a major network station (usually an affiliate of ABC, NBC or CBS), often to avoid shouldering the cost of starting a news department from scratch. These commonly involve Fox, CW and MyNetworkTV affiliates (and previously affiliated of the now-defunct predecessors of the latter two networks, The WB and UPN) and in some cases, independent stations; however such agreements exist in certain markets between two co-owned/co-managed Big Three affiliates. News share agreements are most common with stations co-owned with a larger network affiliate or whose operations are jointly managed through a shared service or local marketing agreement. In cases where a station with an existing news department enters into a news share agreement, it will result either the two departments merging or the outright conversion of newscast production from in-house to outsourced production. Minor network affiliates involved in news share agreements will often carry far fewer hours of local newscasts than would be conceivable with an in-house news department to avoid competition with the outsourcing partner's own newscasts, as a result, minor network affiliates involved in these NSAs often will carry a morning newscast from 7-9 a.m. (in competition with the national network newscasts instead of airing competing with the Big Three affiliates' newscasts) and/or a primetime newscast at 10 p.m. ET/PT or 9 p.m. CT/MT, with no midday, late afternoon or early evening newscasts.

Unlike international broadcast stations which tend to brand under uniform news titles based solely on network affiliation, U.S. television stations tend to use varying umbrella titles for their newscasts; some title their newscasts utilizing the station's on-air branding (such as combining the network affiliation and channel number with the word "News"), others use franchised brand names (like ''Eyewitness News'', ''Action News'' and ''NewsChannel'') for their news programming. Conversely, the naming conventions for a station's newscast are sometimes used as a universal on-air branding for the station itself, and may be used for general promotional purposes, even used in promoting syndicated and network programming. Many stations title their newscasts with catchy names like ''Daybreak'', ''Good Morning (insert city or region here)'', ''First at Four'', ''Live at Five'', ''Eleven @ 11:00'' or ''Nightcast''. These names are intended to set one station apart from the rest, especially for viewers who are chosen for audience measurement surveys. If the respondent was unable to provide a channel number or call letters, the newscast title is often enough for the appropriate station to receive Nielsen ratings credit.

Network news programming

The Big Three broadcast television networks produce morning and evening national newscasts (''America This Morning'', ''Good Morning America'' and ''ABC World News'' are broadcast by ABC, CBS broadcasts the ''CBS Morning News'', ''CBS This Morning'' and the ''CBS Evening News'', and NBC produces ''Early Today'', ''Today'' and ''NBC Nightly News'') as well as weekly newsmagazine series (NBC's ''Dateline'', ABC's ''20/20'' and ''CBS News Sunday Morning'', ''48 Hours'' and ''60 Minutes'' on CBS). Network morning newscasts usually air at 7 a.m. (English-language network morning shows are tape delayed for each time zone, while the Spanish-language morning shows are aired live in all time zones); network evening newscasts usually are broadcast live at 6:30 p.m. on the East coast and broadcast live in both the Eastern and Central time zones, with a secondary live broadcast at 6:30 p.m. Pacific time. ''Today'' was the first morning news program to be broadcast on American television and in the world, when it debuted on January 14, 1952; the earliest national evening news program was ''The Walter Compton News'', a short-lived 15-minute newscast that aired on the DuMont Television Network from 1947 to 1948.

All four major English networks and the two largest Spanish networks also carry political talk programs on Sunday mornings (NBC's ''Meet the Press'', ABC's ''This Week'', CBS' ''Face the Nation'', Fox's sole news program ''Fox News Sunday'', Univision's ''Al Punto'' and Telemundo's ''Enfoque''); of these programs, ''Meet the Press'' holds the distinction of being the longest-running American television program as it has aired since November 6, 1947. CBS and ABC are currently the only networks that produce overnight news programs on weeknights in the form of ''Up to the Minute'' and ''World News Now'', respectively; NBC previously produced overnight newscasts at different times, both of which have since been cancelled: ''NBC News Overnight'' from 1982 to 1983, and ''NBC Nightside'' from 1992 to 1999 (NBC currently does not offer a late night newscast, although the network currently airs the fourth hour of ''Today'', and sister network CNBC's ''Mad Money'' on weeknights).

Spanish-language news programs are provided by Univision (which produces early and late evening editions of its flagship evening news program ''Noticiero Univision'' seven nights a week, along with weekday afternoon newsmagazine ''Primer Impacto'' and weekday morning program ''Despierta America'') and Telemundo (whose flagship evening newscast is ''Noticiero Telemundo'', which unlike Univision and their English-language competitors' national evening news programs airs on weeknights only, along with weekday morning program ''¡Levántate!'' and weekday afternoon newsmagazine ''Al Rojo Vivo''). Fox, The CW and MyNetworkTV do not produce national morning and evening news programs (although Fox made a brief attempt at a morning program in the late 1990s with ''Fox After Breakfast'', and many CW and MyNetworkTV affiliates as well as independent stations air the syndicated news program ''The Daily Buzz'').

Cable television

24-hour news channels are devoted to current events 24-hours per day. They are often referred to as ''cable news'' channels. The originator of this format from which the name derives is CNN (as well as CNN International, CNN en Español and CNN-IBN), which originally stood for Cable News Network in reference to the then-new phenomenon of cable television. As satellite and other forms have evolved, the term ''cable news'' has become something of an anachronism but is still in common use; many other television channels have since been established, such as BBC World News, BBC News, Sky News, Al Jazeera, ABC News 24, France 24, STAR News, Fox News Channel, MSNBC, Press TV, Russia Today, teleSUR and ABC News Now. Some news channels specialize even further, such as ESPNews (sports from ESPN); The Weather Channel (weather); CNBC, Bloomberg Television and Fox Business Network (financial).

Conversely, several cable news channels exist that carry news information specifically geared toward a particular metropolitan area, state or region such as NY1 in New York City, Ohio News Network (which is based in Columbus, Ohio, but is carried throughout the state of Ohio), Bay News 9 in Tampa, Florida and NewsChannel 8 in Washington, D.C. These channels are usually owned by a local cable operator and are distributed solely through cable television and IPTV system operators. Some broadcast television stations also operate cable channels (some of which are repeated through digital multicasting) that air the station's local newscasts in the form of live simulcasts from the television station, with rebroadcasts of the newscasts airing in the time period between live broadcasts.

A term which has entered common parlance to differentiate cable news from traditional news broadcasts is network news, in reference to the traditional television networks on which such broadcasts air. A classic example is the cable news channel MSNBC, which overlaps with (and, in the case of breaking world-changing events, pre-empts) its network counterpart NBC News. Most U.S. cable news networks do not air news programming 24 hours a day, often filling late afternoon, primetime and late night hours with news-based talk programs, documentaries and other specialty programming.

Radio

More often, AM stations will air a 6½ minute newscast on the top of the hour, which can be either a local report, a national report from a radio network such as CBS Radio, CNN Radio, Fox News Radio or ABC Radio, or a mix of both local and national content, including weather and traffic reports. Some stations also air a two minute report at the bottom of the hour.

FM stations, unless they feature a talk radio format, usually only air minute-long news capsules featuring a quick review of events and an abbreviated weather forecast, and usually only in drive time periods or in critical emergencies, since FM stations usually focus more on playing music. Traffic reports also air on FM stations, depending on the market.

Canada

Terrestrial television

Unlike in United States, most Canadian television stations have license requirements to offer locally-produced newscasts in some form. Educational television station are exempt from these requirements; multicultural television stations are also not required to carry news programming, however some stations licensed as a multicultural station do produce local newscasts in varied languages (such as the Omni Television station group). Canadian television stations normally broadcast newscast between two and four times a day: usually at noon; 5, 5:30 and 6 p.m. in the evening, and 11 p.m. at night (there are some variations to this: stations affiliated with CTV usually air their late evening newscasts at 11:30 p.m., due to the scheduling of the network's national evening news program ''CTV National News'' at 11 p.m. in all time zones, while most CBC Television-owned stations carry a 10-minute newscast at 10:55 p.m., following ''The National''). Some stations carry morning newscasts (usually starting at 5:30 or 6 a.m., and ending at 9 a.m.). Unlike in the United States, a primetime newscast in the 10:00 p.m. timeslot is uncommon (Global owned-and-operated station CKND-DT in Winnipeg, Manitoba is currently the only television station in the country carrying a primetime newscast); conversely, pre-5 a.m. local newscasts are also uncommon in Canada, Hamilton, Ontario independent station CHCH-DT, whose weekdaily programming consists largely of local news, is currently the only station in the country that starts its weekday morning newscasts before 5:30 a.m. (the station's morning news block begins at 4 a.m. on weekdays).

Like with U.S. television, many stations use varied titles for their newscasts; this is particularly true with owned-and-operated stations of Global and Citytv (Global's stations use titles based on daypart such as ''News Hour'' for the noon and early evening newscasts and ''News Final'' for 11 p.m. newscasts, while all six Citytv-owned broadcast stations produce morning news/talk programs under the umbrella title ''Breakfast Television'' and its flagship station CITY-DT/Toronto's evening newscasts are titled ''CityNews''). Overall umbrella titles for news programming use the titling schemes "''(Network or system name) News''" for network-owned stations or "''(Callsign) News''" for affiliates not directly owned by a network or television system.

CBC Television, Global and CTV each produce national evening newscasts (''The National'', ''Global National'' and ''CTV National News'', respectively), which unlike the American network newscasts do not air against one another as they are scheduled in non-competitive time slots; while ''Global National'' airs at the same early evening time slot as the American evening network newscasts, ''The National'''s 10 p.m. ET slot competes against primetime entertainment programming on the private broadcast networks, while ''CTV National News'' airs against locally-produced 11 p.m. newscasts on other stations. ''The National'', which has aired on CBC Television since 1954, is the longest-running national network newscast in Canada. All three networks also produce weekly newsmagazines ''The Fifth Estate'' (aired since 1975), ''16:9'' (aired since 2008) and ''W5'' (aired since 1966 and currently the longest-running network newsmagazine in Canada).

CTV's ''Canada AM'', which has aired since 1975, is the sole national morning news program on broadcast television in Canada, although it has since been relegated to semi-national status as most CTV owned-and-operated stations west of the Ontario-Manitoba border dropped the program during the Summer and Fall of 2011 in favor of locally-produced morning newscasts. The Sunday morning talk show format is relatively uncommon on Canadian television, the closest program baring similarities to the format was CTV's news and interview series ''Question Period'', this changed when Global debuted the political affairs show ''The West Block'' in November 2011.

Cable television

Canada is host to several 24-hour cable news channels, consisting of domestically-operated, U.S.-based cable channels and news channels operated outside of North America. Domestic national news channels include CTV News Channel and Sun News Network, which offer general news programming, Business News Network, which carries business news and The Weather Network, which offers national and local forecasts. The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation operates two national news networks, English-language CBC News Network and French-language RDI. Other Canadian specialty news channels broadcasting in French include general news networks Argent and Le Canal Nouvelles, and MétéoMédia, a French-language sister to The Weather Network.

The Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission authorizes some cable channels from foreign countries to be carried on cable and satellite operators provided that they are linked to a Canadian network. Amongst news channels, all four major U.S. cable news networks: CNN, HLN, MSNBC and Fox News Channel are available on most providers, along with channels from outside North America such as Al Jazeera English from Qatar, BBC World News from the United Kingdom, Deutsche Welle from Germany and RT from Russia.

Regionally-based news channels are fairly uncommon in Canada in comparison to the United States, with only two 24-hour regional news channels currently in existence, which are based in the province of Ontario, CityNews Channel and CP24, which center on the Toronto area (terrestrial independent station CHCH-DT/Hamilton serves as a ''de facto'' regional news channel for the Golden Horseshoe region of Southern Ontario; since August 2009, the station airs rolling local news block on weekday mornings and afternoons (currently airing from 4 a.m.-5 p.m.), along with nightly hour-long newscasts at 6 and 11 p.m.; the remainder of the schedule consists of syndicated programming, movies, imported American network television series and infomercials).

See also

List of news channels

Television news music package

List of news presenters

United States cable news

United States television news

References

External links

Collection of news livestreams

Category:Broadcast journalism Category:Television terminology

ar:نشرة الأخبار ca:Informatiu de televisió de:Nachrichtensender es:Programa informativo eo:Informa televido fr:Bulletin de nouvelles id:Berita televisi it:Telegiornale nl:Journaal (televisie) ja:ニュース専門放送局 pl:Telewizja informacyjna pt:Telejornalismo si:ප්‍රවෘත්ති ප්‍රචාරය sh:Informativni TV-program wa:Noveles al tévé zh:新聞頻道

Birth name	Jorge Gestoso
Birth date	March 20, 1951
Birth place	Montevideo, Uruguay
Nationality	Uruguayan
Residence	Washington DC, United States
Spouse	Caroline Guichard
Occupation	Journalist
Website	Jorge Gestoso's Official Website }}

Jorge Gestoso is a Uruguayan journalist who was born in Montevideo. For 16 years, he was the Principal Anchor and symbol of CNN en Espanol, also Senior Washington Correspondent with that television network that reaches all the Americas and the Caribbean and is one of the networks of CNN, the Cable News Network with headquarters in Atlanta, Georgia.

In June 2004 he founded his own production company of television contents, called GTN (Gestoso Television News) holding the title of President, with headquarters in Washington DC, where he lives.

Gestoso hosts the program JGI “Jorge Gestoso Investiga” that investigates the most relevant subjects of our times and airs on V-me, with headquarters in New York, the Spanish Network in association with Public Television that reaches 40 cities and 80% of the Hispanic Market according to Nielsen.

Starting on 2004 from GTN Gestoso produces and hosts the program Jorge Gestoso" a weekly show interviewing the Hispanic newsmakers and distributed in Latin America, parts of Europe and Asia.

Gestoso has presented many TV programs through GTN, newsbriefs, interviews and reports in Spanish. He produced and hosted "Viva Voz con Jorge Gestoso" (Aloud with Jorge Gestoso) since March 2007 until April 2010. This program was broadcasted through V-me.

Also GTN has produced reports on the Environment and the key subjects of the reality of Central America for the Alliance of Communicators COM+, integrated, among others, by BBC, Reuters and the World Bank. His reports were broadcast in Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua and Panama.

Gestoso has been invited to act as Master of Ceremony in several International Events -among them - the World Congress on Communication for Development organized jointly by FAO, The World Bank and The Communication Initiative Network in Rome, Italy, and BUPA's Annual Convention in Bangkok, Thailand in April 2010. In August 2009 he gave the Seminar "Panorama of the Americas" hosted by the Managers Association of Guatemala. In March 2011 at George Washington University he gave the Seminar "The rol of Media on electoral campaigns"

Education

Gestoso attended his studies in the University of the Republic, in Montevideo, Uruguay. Later he attended graduate school at Willow Glen, San Jose, California. In addition to his native Spanish, he also speaks English and French.

Career

He has been declared one of the one hundred more influential Hispanic journalists in the United States. He has received several awards, like the historic DuPont's silver batton for excellence in investigative journalism, granted by the New Yorker University of Columbia for his work on “En busca de la doble desaparecida” on CNN en Espanol (In search of the double missing) and it was the first- language program abroad (other than English) in obtaining this award. This program also received INTE award and the International Emmy nominations for best documentary of the year. Also, he was distinguished as the best presenter of news by the three American organizations of Hispanic critics: ACE, ACC and ACRIN. He was also awarded as “the personality of news of the year” by the INTE (Industry of Television in Spanish). In addition, he was given the prizes “Jean Cartier” in Argentina and “Tabaré de Oro” in Uruguay. On the other hand, the Technological University of El Salvador named him “Professor Meritísimo”.

Personal life

Gestoso lives in Washington DC along with his wife Caroline Guichard – of French nationality. His parents and brother live in Montevideo, Uruguay.

Interviews

Gestoso has interviewed many political, cultural, artistic, among others figures. The most outstanding interviews throughout his career are:

Fidel Castro, President of Cuba

Hugo Chávez President of Venezuela

Antonio Saca, President of El Salvador

Elian Karp de Toledo, First Lady of Peru

Enrique Bolanos, President of Nicaragua

Gonzalo Sanchez de Lozada, Former President of Bolivia

José Miguel Insulza, General Secretary of OEA

Miguel Ángel Rodríguez, Former General Secretary of OEA

Vivian Fernández de Torrijos, First Lady of Panamá

Marcelo Tinelli, TV host, entrepreneur and Argentinian producer of Television and Radio

Cecilia Bolocco, Former Miss Universe

External links

Sitio oficial de Jorge Gestoso

Vme - Jorge Gestoso Investiga

Jorge Gestoso, la "cara" más visible de los noticieros de la cnn en español, después de dejar su trabajo para la cadena norteamericana

GTNNEWS.COM

Jorge gestoso renunció a CNN - lanaacion.com

Hugo Chávez, Entrevista con Jorge Gestoso. Tema: declaraciónn de la OEA - analítica.com

Category:Uruguayan journalists Category:People from Montevideo Category:Living people Category:1951 births

es:Jorge Gestoso

Name	Patricia Gras
Birth name	Patricia Elizabeth Gras
Birth date	August 12, 1960
Birth place	Houston, Texas,
Resting place coordinates
Residence	Houston, Texas,
Known for	''Living Smart with Patricia Gras'' on ''Houston PBS'' (2003-Present)|
Occupation	News AnchorTelevision Producer (1991 - present)
Years active	1988 - present
Height	5' 7" (1.70 m)
Awards	6 Regional Emmy16 National Telly Awards

Patricia Elizabeth Gras (born August 12, 1960) is a television anchor and senior producer working for the Public Broadcasting Service in Houston, Texas, Channel 8. Currently she is the senior producer and anchor of Houston’s local talk show ''Living Smart with Patricia Gras'', 200 PBS channels. She also co anchors Latina Voices: Smart Talk on HoustonPBS, an English language, internet streamed talk show with a Latina perspective.

Biography

Patricia Gras was born in Houston, Texas on August 12, 1960, of Argentinian parents, Hector Gras, an anesthesiologist, and Salome Gras, a biochemist. In 1962, they moved back to Mendoza, Argentina, where she grew up. In 1972, Patricia moved back to the United States with her parents. Resettled in Houston, she attended St. Agnes Academy in 1979 and went on to get a Bachelor's degree at Texas A&M University. Patricia received her first master degree from the Thunderbird School of Global Management. She also received two other master degrees, the first from the ESADE in Barcelona, Spain and later in 1990 she received her Master of Journalism from Columbia University in New York City. While in Spain Patricia learned yet another language, Catalan, making her fifth spoken language besides Spanish, English, French, and Italian. Before completely pursuing a career in television journalism she worked as a marketing executive for Ralston Purina in Spain and with Duquesne Purina in Paris as a market researcher. In 1987 she returned to Houston, and decided to change careers. Her first job in television was with Telemundo's Channel 48, which produced the first newscast in Spanish. And later in the early nineties after graduation from Columbia University she began working for Houston Public Television

Television

She has been the recipient of over 160 journalism awards including 6 Regional Emmy Awards. Gras has won 6 Regional Emmy Awards for Houston PBS: EMMY Lone Star : Non News Writing Fuel for Thought: High Gas Prices and How they Got that Way. (2009), "Romania’s children: The Power of Love" (2005). EMMY Suncoast: “Heroes” (1997). EMMY Suncoast: “Romania’s children: Rescued by love” (1998). EMMY Suncoast: “Living with Hope” and “Struggle makes you stronger.” (2000) In 2008, Gras was voted one of the most influential women by Houston Women Magazine.

Music

In 1994 Patricia Gras formed a Latin and international band, ''Barandua,'' where she was the lead singer and percussionist. ''Barandua'' produced two albums, ''Barandua Live'' and ''Barandua Our Songs'' which featured original songs by the band members. In 2004, Patricia formed a new band, ''Los Quartus.'' The band produced an album, which features the song for the television series "Living Smart with Patricia Gras."

Education

Bachelor of Arts in Economics -- Texas A&M University (1983)

Masters in International Management—Thunderbird School of Global Management(1984)

Masters in Business Administration -- ESADE Barcelona (1985)

Masters in Journalism -- Columbia University (1990)

References

HoustonPBS. (n.d.). Living Smart with Patricia Gras. Retrieved May 1, 2007 from http://www.houstonpbs.org/site/PageServer?pagename=PR_living_smart_home

Evans, C. (Dec. 12, 2002). Multi-talented producer seeks fifth Emmy award. Campus News, Office of Internal Communications, University of Houston. Retrieved April 30, 2007 from http://www.uh.edu/uhtoday/2002/12dec/gras121202.htm

HoustonPBS. (n.d.). Patricia Gras. Retrieved April 30, 2007 from http://www.houstonpbs.org/site/PageServer?pagename=PR_living_smart_patti_bio

Mental Health Association of Greater Houston. (Summer 2000). The Advocate. Vol. 21, No. 2. Retrieved April 30, 2007 from http://www.mhahouston.org/cmsFiles/Files/AdvocateSummer00.pdf

St. Agnes Academy. (Spring 2006). Veritas. p. 34. Retrieved April 30, 2007 from http://209.113.126.36/html/VeritasSpring2006.PDF

Kdesis.com (n.d.). Doctor Information – Hector Gras. Retrieved April 30, 2007 from http://www.kdesis.com/doctors/Anesthesiology/TX/Houston/Hector-Gras-TX-Houston-Anesthesiology.php

Office of the Governor Rick Perry. (n.d.). 2001 Barbara Jordan Media Award Winners. Retrieved April 30, 2007 from http://www.governor.state.tx.us/disabilities/awards/jordan/winners-2001#section2

Office of the Governor Rick Perry. (n.d.). 2004 Barbara Jordan Media Award Ceremony Photos. Retrieved April 30, 2007 from http://www.governor.state.tx.us/disabilities/awards/jordan/2004photos

University of Houston. (April 29, 2004). “the Connection” Wins HTLA First Amendment Award. Retrieved May 1, 2007 from http://www.uh.edu/uhtoday/2004/04apr/042904connctn.html

University of Houston. (August 2005). Of Note Archives. Retrieved May 1, 2007 from http://www.uh.edu/uhtoday/ofnote/2005/

“The Harris County Medical Society and the Houston Academy of Medicine presented its 2005 Francis C. Moore M.D. Medical Journalism Awards to KUHT-TV, Houston PBS. KUHT-TV staff members Patricia Gras and Fujio Watanabe received an excellence award for “Weight Loss Surgery.” Gras, Watanabe, Joe Brueggeman and Gordon Luce were honored with a merit award for “Miracle Coach” and an excellence award for “F.I.R.S.T. Psychiatric Response Team.” They also received a Crystal Award of Excellence at the 2004 Communicator Awards for “Miracle Coach.””

HoustonPBS. (n.d.) Recent Awards Bestowed upon HoustonPBS. Retrieved May 1, 2007 from http://www.houstonpbs.org/site/PageServer?pagename=abt_awards

External links

Living Smart website

Category:1960 births Category:Living people Category:People from Houston, Texas Category:American musicians Category:American television journalists Category:American reporters and correspondents Category:Texas A&M University alumni Category:Columbia University alumni Category:American television talk show hosts Category:Songwriters from Texas Category:ESADE alumni Category:Thunderbird School of Global Management alumni Category:Hispanic and Latino American female journalists

name	William Shatner
birth date	March 22, 1931
birth place	Montreal, Quebec, Canada
birth name	William Alan Shatner
nationality	Canadian
education	Baron Byng High School Westhill High School
alma mater	McGill University
home town	Westmount, Quebec, Canada
residence	Hollywood Hills, Los Angeles, California
religion	Judaism
othername	Bill Shatner
spouse	Gloria Rand (1956–1969) Marcy Lafferty Shatner (1973–1994) Nerine Kidd-Shatner (1997–1999; her death) Elizabeth Martin (2001–present)
children	3 (with Rand)
occupation	Actor, musician, novelist, spokesman, film director
yearsactive	1950–present
television	''Star Trek'',''T. J. Hooker'',''Boston Legal''
known for	James T. Kirk,Sergeant T. J. Hooker, Denny Crane, Priceline Negotiator
website	williamshatner.com }}

William Alan Shatner (born March 22, 1931) is a Canadian actor, musician, recording artist, author and film director. He gained worldwide fame and became a cultural icon for his portrayal of James T. Kirk, captain of the USS ''Enterprise'', in the science fiction television series ''Star Trek'' from 1966 to 1969, ''Star Trek: The Animated Series'' from 1973 to 1974, and in seven of the subsequent ''Star Trek'' feature films from 1979 to 1994. He has written a series of books chronicling his experiences playing Captain Kirk and being a part of ''Star Trek'', and has co-written several novels set in the ''Star Trek'' universe. He has also authored a series of science fiction novels called ''TekWar'' that were adapted for television.

Shatner also played the eponymous veteran police sergeant in ''T. J. Hooker'' from 1982 to 1986. Afterwards, he hosted the reality-based television series, ''Rescue 911'' from 1989 to 1996, which won a People's Choice Award for Favorite New TV Dramatic Series. He has since worked as a musician, author, producer, director and celebrity pitchman. From 2004 to 2008 he starred as attorney Denny Crane in the television dramas ''The Practice'' and its spin-off ''Boston Legal'' for which he won two Emmy Awards and a Golden Globe Award.

Early life, and education

Shatner was born on March 22, 1931, in the Côte Saint-Luc neighbourhood of Montreal, Quebec, the son of Anne (née Garmaise) and Joseph Shatner, a clothing manufacturer. He has two sisters, Joy and Farla. His paternal grandfather, Wolf Schattner, anglicized the family name to "Shatner". Shatner's grandparents were Jewish immigrants from Austria, Poland, Hungary, and Ukraine, and Shatner was raised in Conservative Judaism. He attended Willingdon Elementary School, in Notre-Dame-de-Grâce (NDG-Montreal) and Baron Byng High School, in Montreal, as well as West Hill High School in NDG. He is an alumnus of the Montreal Children's Theatre. He also attended McGill University in Montreal, where he studied economics and graduated with a Bachelor of Commerce degree. In June 2011, McGill awarded him with an honorary doctorate of letters. The Students' Society of McGill University building on McTavish Street is popularly (though not officially) named "Shatner".

Acting career

Early stage, film, and television work

Trained as a classical Shakespearean actor, Shatner performed at the Shakespearean Stratford Festival of Canada in Stratford, Ontario. He played a range of roles at the Stratford Festival in productions that included a minor role in the opening scene of a renowned and nationally televised production of Sophocles' ''Oedipus Rex'' directed by Tyrone Guthrie, Shakespeare's ''Henry V'', and Marlowe's ''Tamburlaine the Great''. Shatner made his Broadway debut in the latter, in 1956. In 1954, he was cast as Ranger Bob on ''The Canadian Howdy Doody Show''. Shatner was understudy to Christopher Plummer; the two would later star as adversaries in ''Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country''.

Though his official movie debut was in the 1951 Canadian film ''The Butler's Night Off'', Shatner's first feature role came in the 1958 MGM film ''The Brothers Karamazov'' with Yul Brynner, in which he starred as the youngest of the Karamazov brothers, Alexei. In December of the same year, he appeared opposite Ralph Bellamy playing Roman tax collectors in Bethlehem on the day of Jesus' birth in a vignette of a Hallmark Hall of Fame live television production entitled ''The Christmas Tree'' directed by Kirk Browning, which featured in other vignettes such stars as Jessica Tandy, Margaret Hamilton, Bernadette Peters, Richard Thomas, Cyril Ritchard and Carol Channing. Shatner had a leading role in an ''Alfred Hitchcock Presents'' third-season (1957–1958) episode titled "The Glass Eye", one of his first appearances on American television.

In 1959, he received decent reviews when he took on the role of Lomax in the Broadway production of ''The World of Suzie Wong''. In March 1959, while performing on stage in ''Suzie Wong,'' Shatner was also playing detective Archie Goodwin in what would have been television's first ''Nero Wolfe'' series had it not been aborted by CBS after shooting a pilot and a few episodes.

In 1960, he appeared twice as Wayne Gorham in NBC's ''The Outlaws'' Western series with Barton MacLane, and then in another ''Alfred Hitchcock Presents'' fifth-season episode titled "Mother, may I go out to swim?". In 1961, he starred in the Broadway play ''A Shot in the Dark'' with Julie Harris and directed by Harold Clurman. Walter Matthau (who won a Tony Award for his performance) and Gene Saks were also featured in this play. Shatner also starred in two episodes of the NBC television series ''Thriller'', "Grim Reaper" and "The Hungry Glass".

Guthrie had called the young Shatner the Stratford Festival's most promising actor, and he was seen as a peer to contemporaries like Steve McQueen, Paul Newman, and Robert Redford. Shatner was not as successful as the others, however, and during the 1960s he "became a working actor who showed up on time, knew his lines, worked cheap and always answered his phone." His motto was "Work equals work", but Shatner's willingness to take any role, no matter how "forgettable", likely hurt his career. In 1962, he starred in Roger Corman's movie ''The Intruder''. He also appeared in the Stanley Kramer film ''Judgment at Nuremberg'' and two episodes, "Nick of Time" and "Nightmare at 20,000 Feet", of the science fiction anthology series ''The Twilight Zone''. In the 1963–1964 season, he appeared in episodes of two ABC series, ''Channing'' and ''The Outer Limits'' ("Cold Hands, Warm Heart"). In 1963, he starred in the ''Family Theater'' production called "The Soldier" and received credits in other programs of ''The Psalms'' series. That same year he guest starred in ''Route 66'', in the episode, "Build Your Houses with Their Backs to the Sea". In 1964, he guest starred in the episode "He Stuck in His Thumb" of the CBS drama ''The Reporter''.

In 1965, Shatner guest-starred as Major Curt Brown in second season episode 9, "I Am The Enemy" of ''12 O-Clock High''. He guest-starred in ''The Man from U.N.C.L.E.'' in an episode that also featured Leonard Nimoy, with whom Shatner would soon be paired in ''Star Trek''. He also starred in the critically acclaimed drama ''For the People'' in 1965, as an assistant district attorney, costarring with Jessica Walter. The program lasted for only thirteen episodes. Shatner starred in the 1966 gothic horror film ''Incubus'', the second feature-length movie ever made with all dialogue spoken in Esperanto. He also starred in an episode of ''Gunsmoke'' in 1966 as the character Fred Bateman./

''Star Trek'', the TV series

Shatner was first cast as Captain James T. Kirk for the second pilot of ''Star Trek'', titled "Where No Man Has Gone Before". He was then contracted to play Kirk for the ''Star Trek'' series and held the role from 1966 to 1969. In 1973, he returned to the role of Captain Kirk, albeit only in voice, in the animated ''Star Trek'' series.

In his role as Kirk, Shatner famously kissed African American actress Nichelle Nichols (Lt. Uhura) in the November 22, 1968, ''Star Trek'' episode "Plato's Stepchildren". The episode is popularly cited as the first example of an interracial kiss on scripted television in the United States.

1970s

Shatner's wife Gloria Rand divorced him in March 1969. After ''Star Trek'' was cancelled that year, Shatner experienced difficulty in finding work in the early 1970s. With very little money and few acting prospects, he lived in a truck bed camper in the San Fernando Valley until small roles turned into higher-paying jobs. Shatner refers to this part of his life as "that period", a humbling one during which he would take any odd job, including small party appearances, to support his family.

Shatner again appeared in "schlock" films, such as the horror film ''The Devil's Rain'', Corman's ''Big Bad Mama'', and the TV movie ''The Horror at 37,000 Feet'', which many fans believe is his worst work. Shatner received good reviews as the lead prosecutor in a 1971 PBS adaptation of Saul Levitt's play ''The Andersonville Trial''. Other television appearances included a starring role in the western-themed secret agent series ''Barbary Coast'' during 1975 and 1976, and guest roles on many 1970s series such as ''The Six Million Dollar Man'', ''Columbo'', ''The Rookies'', ''Kung Fu'', and ''Mission: Impossible''.

Shatner was an occasional celebrity guest on ''The $10,000 Pyramid'' and ''The $20,000 Pyramid'' in the 1970s, once appearing opposite Nimoy in a week-long matchup billed as "Kirk vs. Spock". His appearances became far less frequent after a 1977 appearance in which, after giving an illegal clue ("the ''blessed''" for ''Things That Are Blessed'') at the top of the pyramid ($200) which deprived the contestant of a big money win, he threw his chair out of the Winner's Circle. Other shows included ''The Hollywood Squares'', ''Celebrity Bowling'', ''Beat the Clock'' and ''Match Game''.

Shatner did a number of television commercials for Ontario-based Loblaws and British Columbia-based SuperValu supermarket chains in the 1970s, and finished the Loblaws ad spots by saying, "At Loblaws, more than the price is right. But, by Gosh, the price is right." He also did a number of television commercials for General Motors, endorsing the Oldsmobile brand, and Promise margarine.

A return to Kirk, and to work

After its cancellation, ''Star Trek'' unexpectedly gained a cult following during the 1970s from syndicated reruns, and Captain Kirk became a cultural icon. Shatner began appearing at ''Star Trek'' conventions organized by Trekkies. In the mid-1970s Paramount began pre-production for a revised ''Star Trek'' television series, tentatively titled ''Star Trek: Phase II''. However, the phenomenal success of ''Star Wars'' led the studio to instead consider developing a ''Star Trek'' motion picture. Shatner and the other original ''Star Trek'' cast members returned to their roles when Paramount produced ''Star Trek: The Motion Picture'', released in 1979. It re-established Shatner as an actor, and he played Kirk in the next six ''Star Trek'' films, ending with the character's death in 1994's ''Star Trek Generations''. His final appearances in the role are in the movie sequences of the video game ''Starfleet Academy'' (1997), and briefly for a DirecTV advertisement using footage from ''Star Trek VI'' running from late summer 2006.

}}Although Trekkies had resurrected ''Star Trek'' after cancellation, in a 1986 ''Saturday Night Live'' skit about a ''Star Trek'' convention Shatner advised a room full of fans to "Get a life". The "much-discussed sketch" accurately portrayed his feelings about Trekkies, which the actor had previously discussed in interviews. Shatner had been the unwilling subject of adoration by them for decades; as early as April 1968, a group attempted to rip his clothes off as the actor left 30 Rockefeller Plaza, and he stopped attending conventions for more than a decade during the 1970s and 1980s. Shatner also appeared in the film ''Free Enterprise'' in 1998, in which he played himself and tried to dispel the Kirk image of himself from the view of the film's two lead characters. He also has found an outlet in spoofing the cavalier, almost superhuman, character persona of Captain Kirk in films such as ''Airplane II: The Sequel'' (1982) and ''National Lampoon's Loaded Weapon'' (1993).

Tim Allen's role in ''Galaxy Quest'' as Captain Peter Quincy Taggart / Jason Nesmith is an analogue of James T. Kirk / William Shatner as seen by the public at large. Taggart has a reputation for taking off his shirt at the flimsiest excuse, rolling on the ground during combat, and making pithy speeches, while Nesmith is an egomaniac who regards himself as the core of ''Galaxy Quest'' and tells fans to "get a life". Poking fun at himself, Shatner professed to have no idea whom Allen was parodying.

Besides the ''Star Trek'' films, Shatner gained a new starring role on television as a police officer in ''T. J. Hooker'', which ran from 1982 to 1986. He then hosted the popular dramatic reenactment series ''Rescue 911'' from 1989 to 1996. During the 1980s Shatner also began directing film and television, directing numerous episodes of ''T. J. Hooker'' and the feature film ''Star Trek V: The Final Frontier''.

Subsequent acting career

Shatner has appeared in advertisements for many companies and products, and for most of the 14 years ending in 2012, he has done a series of commercials for the travel web site Priceline, in which Shatner plays a pompous, fictionalized version of himself. Although he received stock options for the commercials, Shatner insists that reports that they are now worth hundreds of millions of dollars are exaggerated. Shatner was also the CEO of the Toronto, Ontario-based C.O.R.E. Digital Pictures, a special effects studio that operated from 1994 to 2010.

Shatner has enjoyed success with a series of science fiction novels published under his name, though most are widely believed to have been written by uncredited co-writers such as William T. Quick and Ron Goulart. The first, published in 1990, was ''TekWar''. This popular series of books led to a Marvel Comics series, to a number of television movies, in which Shatner played a role, and to a short-lived television series in which Shatner made several appearances; he also directed some episodes. In 1995, a first-person shooter game named ''William Shatner's TekWar'' was released, and was the first game to use the Build engine. He also played as a narrator in 1995 American documentary film ''Trinity and Beyond: The Atomic Bomb Movie'' directed by Peter Kuran.

In the television series ''3rd Rock from the Sun'', Shatner appeared in several episodes as the "Big Giant Head", a womanizing party-animal and high-ranking officer from the same alien planet as the Solomon family. The role earned Shatner a nomination for an Emmy.

In 2001, Shatner starred in the animated film ''Osmosis Jones'' as the character Mayor Phlegmming, the self-centered head of the "City of Frank", a community comprising all the cells and microorganisms of a man's body. In the movie, the pompous Phlegmming is constantly preoccupied with his reelection and his own convenience, even to the detriment of his "city" and constituents.

In 2003, Shatner appeared in Brad Paisley's "Celebrity" and "Online" music videos along with Little Jimmy Dickens, Jason Alexander, and Trista Rehn.

''Star Trek: Enterprise'' producer Manny Coto stated in ''Star Trek Communicator'' October 2004 issue that he was preparing a three-episode story arc for Shatner. Shortly thereafter, ''Enterprise'' was cancelled.

After David E. Kelley saw Shatner's commercials, he joined the final season of the legal drama ''The Practice''. His Emmy-award winning role, the eccentric but highly capable attorney Denny Crane, was essentially "William Shatner the man . . . playing William Shatner the character playing the character Denny Crane, who was playing the character William Shatner." Shatner took the Crane role to ''Boston Legal'', and won a Golden Globe, an Emmy in 2005, and was nominated again in 2006, 2007, 2008, and 2009 for his work. With the 2005 Emmy win, Shatner became one of the few actors (along with co-star James Spader as Alan Shore) to win an Emmy award while playing the same character in two different series. Even rarer, Shatner and Spader each won a second consecutive Emmy while playing the same character in two different series. Shatner remained with the series until its end in 2008.

Shatner made several guest appearances on ''The Tonight Show with Conan O'Brien'', including cameos reciting Sarah Palin's resignation speech, Twitter posts, and autobiography. He has also recited Twitter posts by Levi Johnston, father of Palin's grandson. He also appears in the opening graphics of the occasional feature "In the Year 3000", with his disembodied head floating through space, announcing, "And so we take a cosmic ride into that new millennium; that far off reality that is the year 3000," followed by the tag line, "It's the future, man."

Shatner also played the voice of Ozzie the opossum in DreamWorks' 2006 feature ''Over the Hedge''.

In January 2007, Shatner launched a series of daily vlogs on his life called ShatnerVision on the LiveUniverse.com website. In 2008, he launched his video blogs on YouTube in a project renamed "The Shatner Project". Shatner also starred as the voice of Don Salmonella Gavone on the 2009 YouTube animated series ''The Gavones''.

Shatner was not "offered or suggested" a role in the 2009 film ''Star Trek''. Director J.J. Abrams said in July 2007, that the production was "desperately trying to figure out a way to put him in" but that to "shove him in . . . would be a disaster." an opinion echoed by Shatner in several interviews. At a convention held in 2010, Shatner commented on the film by saying "I've seen that wonderful film." Shatner had invented his own idea about the beginning of ''Star Trek'' with his latest novel, ''Star Trek: Academy — Collision Course.''

Shatner's autobiography ''Up Till Now'' was released in 2008. He was assisted in writing it by David Fisher. Shatner has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame (for Television work) at 6901 Hollywood Boulevard. He also has a star on the Canadian Walk of Fame. Shatner was the first Canadian actor to star in three successful television series on three different major networks (NBC, CBS, and ABC).

Shatner starred in the CBS sitcom ''$#*! My Dad Says'', which is based on the Twitter feed Shit My Dad Says created by Justin Halpern. The series premiered in late 2010 and was canceled May 2011. Shatner is also the host of the interview show ''Shatner's Raw Nerve'' on The Biography Channel, and the Discovery Channel television series ''Weird or What?'' Also in 2011, Shatner appeared in the episode of ''Psych'' titled, "In For a Penny" on the USA Network as the estranged father of Junior Detective Juliet O'Hara (Maggie Lawson). He has signed on to continue the role into the 2012 season.

In 2011, Shatner starred in ''The Captains'', a feature length documentary which he also wrote and directed. The film follows Shatner as he interviews the other actors who have portrayed starship captains within the Star Trek franchise. Shatner's interviewees included Patrick Stewart, Avery Brooks, Kate Mulgrew, Scott Bakula, and Chris Pine. In the film, Shatner also interviews Christopher Plummer, who is an old friend and colleague from Shatner's days with the Stratford Shakespeare Festival in Stratford, Ontario.

In February 2012, Shatner performed in a new one-man show on Broadway, called "Shatner's World: We Just Live in It". After a 3-week run at the Music Box Theater, the show is currently touring throughout the United States.

Music and spoken-word work

Shatner began his musical career with the spoken-word 1968 album ''The Transformed Man'', delivering exaggerated, interpretive recitations of "Mr. Tambourine Man" and "Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds". He performed a reading of the Elton John song "Rocket Man" during the 1978 Science Fiction Film Awards that has been widely parodied. Ben Folds, who has worked with him several times, produced and co-wrote Shatner's well-received second studio album, ''Has Been'', in 2004. His third studio album, ''Seeking Major Tom'', was released October 11, 2011.

Space Shuttle ''Discovery''

Shatner recorded a wake-up call that was played for the crew of STS-133 in the Space Shuttle ''Discovery'' on March 7, 2011, its final day docked to the International Space Station. Backed by the musical theme from ''Star Trek'', it featured a voice-over based on his spoken introduction from the series' opening credits: "Space, the final frontier. These have been the voyages of the Space Shuttle Discovery. Her 30 year mission: To seek out new science. To build new outposts. To bring nations together on the final frontier. To boldly go, and do, what no spacecraft has done before."

Personal life

Shatner dislikes watching himself perform, and claims that he has "never watched Star Trek . . . not even any of the Star Trek movies"—except the dailies from ''Star Trek V: The Final Frontier'', which he directed—or ''Boston Legal''.

Family

Shatner has been married four times. His first marriage was to Gloria Rand, from 1956 to 1969. His second marriage lasted 21 years and was to Marcy Lafferty; the couple was married in 1973 and divorced in 1994.

His third marriage was to Nerine Kidd-Shatner, from 1997 until her death in 1999. On August 9, 1999, Shatner returned home around 10 pm to discover Nerine's body at the bottom of their back yard swimming pool. She was 40 years old. An autopsy detected alcohol and Valium in her blood, but the coroner ruled the cause of her death as an accidental drowning. The LAPD ruled out foul play and the case was closed. Speaking to the press shortly after his wife's death, a clearly shaken and emotional Shatner said that she "meant everything" to him and called her his "beautiful soulmate." Shatner urged the public to support Friendly House, a non-profit organization that helps women re-establish themselves in the community after suffering from alcoholism and drug addiction. He later told Larry King in an interview that ". . . my wife, whom I loved dearly and who loved me, was suffering with a disease that we don't like to talk about, alcoholism. And she met a tragic ending because of it." In his 2008 book ''Up Till Now: The Autobiography'', Shatner discusses how Leonard Nimoy helped take Nerine for treatment of her alcoholism. Shatner writes in an excerpt from his book:

In 2000, a Reuters story reported that Shatner was planning to write and direct ''The Shiva Club'', a dark comedy about the grieving process inspired by his wife's death. Shatner's 2004 album ''Has Been'' included a spoken word piece titled "What Have You Done" that describes his anguish upon discovering his wife's body in the pool. "What Have You Done" was also sampled in the Concord Dawn and Chris Su Drum and Bass track "Scream to the Stars".

Since 2001, Shatner has been married to Elizabeth Martin. In 2004, she co-wrote the song "Together" on Shatner's album ''Has Been''.

Relationships with other actors

Shatner first appeared on screen with Leonard Nimoy in 1964, when both actors guest-starred in an episode of ''The Man from U.N.C.L.E.'', entitled: "The Project Strigas Affair". However, Shatner states in his autobiography that he does not recall meeting Nimoy at that time. As co-stars on ''Star Trek'', they interacted socially both on and off the set. After ''Star Trek'' cancellation in 1969, Shatner and Nimoy reunited in the production of ''Star Trek: The Animated Series'', as well as ''The $20,000 Pyramid'', where "Kirk vs. Spock" appeared on two different tables. Nimoy also guest-starred on ''T. J. Hooker'' for a few episodes. Shatner starred in the title role of the show.

The 1999 death of Shatner's third wife, Nerine, served to strengthen the friendship of Shatner and Nimoy, as Nimoy had mourned over the loss of his best friend's wife. Nimoy also appeared alongside Shatner at the TV Land Awards (hosted by John Ritter) and was one of the many people to serve as a celebrity "roaster" of Shatner. Nimoy summarized his four decade friendship with Shatner by remarking, "Bill's energy was good for my performance, 'cause Spock could be the cool individual, our chemistry was successful, right from the start." Nimoy has spoken about their mutual rivalry during the ''Star Trek'' years: "Very competitive, sibling rivalry up to here. After the show had been on the air a few weeks and they started getting so much mail for Spock, then the dictum came down from NBC: 'Give us more of that guy, they love that guy, you know?' Well, that can be . . . that can be a problem for the leading man who was hired as the star of the show; and suddenly, here's this guy with ears – 'What's this, you know?'" said Nimoy. Shatner has similarly described their ''Star Trek'' relationship, stating that they only became close friends while attending fan conventions together. On an episode of the A&E Network series ''Biography'', Nimoy remarked, "Bill Shatner hogging the stage? No. Not the Bill Shatner I know."

Shatner has been friends with Heather Locklear since 1982, when Locklear began co-starring with him on ''T. J. Hooker'' as Officer Stacy Sheridan. Locklear was asked by ''Entertainment Tonight'' whether it was hard to work on two weekly TV shows at the same time. (During the four years Locklear was in ''Hooker'', she was also appearing in a semi-regular role in a fellow Aaron Spelling production, ''Dynasty''). She replied ". . . I'd get really nervous and want to be prepared . . ." for Shatner and for the experienced cast of ''Dynasty''. After ''Hooker'' ended Shatner helped Locklear get other roles. Locklear supported a grieving Shatner in 1999 when he was mourning the death of his wife, Nerine. In 2005, Locklear appeared in two episodes of Shatner's ''Boston Legal'' as Kelly Nolan, an attractive, youthful woman being tried for killing her much older, wealthy husband. Shatner plays Denny Crane, a founding partner of a large law firm, and a legendary litigator. Crane is attracted to Nolan and tries to insert himself into her defense. He is about the same age as Nolan's deceased husband, so Crane courts death by pursuing her. Locklear was asked how she came to appear on ''Boston Legal''. She explained "I love the show, it's my favorite show; and I sorta kind of said, 'Shouldn't I be William Shatner's illegitimate daughter, or his love interest?'"

For years, Shatner was accused of being difficult to work with by some of his ''Star Trek'' co-stars, most notably James Doohan and George Takei. In the 2004 ''Star Trek'' DVD sets, Shatner seemed to have made up with Takei, but their differences continue to resurface. In the 1990s, Shatner made numerous attempts to patch things up with Doohan, but was unsuccessful for some time; however, an Associated Press article published at the time of Doohan's final convention appearance in late August 2004 stated that Doohan had forgiven his fellow Canadian Shatner and they had mended their relationship.

Takei continues to speak negatively about Shatner. In a 2008 television interview, he stated "he has a big, shiny, demanding ego." Shatner, in turn, recorded videos for YouTube, saying that Takei had some sort of "psychosis".

Takei has repeatedly asserted (most recently on the December 26, 2009, episode of the NPR radio program ''Wait, Wait, Don't Tell Me'') that he invited Shatner (along with other Star Trek cast members) to his 2008 wedding to Brad Altman, but Shatner never responded to the invitation. Shatner has repeatedly counter-asserted (most recently in the January 2010 issue of ''GQ'') that he never received an invitation.

In 1995, when Shatner interviewed his ''Star Trek'' costars for his memoir ''Star Trek Movie Memories,'' Nichelle Nichols (who played Uhura on the show) told him, "Now let me tell you why I hate you," explaining that, despite the few lines she had in the show, he would sometimes argue with the director that an Uhura dialog line was unnecessary. She then "gave Shatner an earful about how she and the rest of the other four felt, which prompted Shatner to wake up and set about making things right with his former costars." He and Nichols patched up their differences sufficiently that she appeared on his August 20, 2006 Friars Club roast, telling the Comedy Central audience, "Bill Shatner would crap on the last piece of pizza just so no one else could enjoy it."

Health problems

Shatner suffers from tinnitus as a result of an accident on the set while shooting the ''Star Trek'' episode "Arena" and is involved in the American Tinnitus Association. His treatment for this condition involved wearing a small electronic device that generated a low-level, broadband sound (white noise) that "helped his brain put the tinnitus in the background".

Charity work

In 2006, Shatner sold his kidney stone for US$25,000 to GoldenPalace.com. In an appearance on ''The View'' on May 16, 2006, Shatner said the $25,000 and an additional $20,000 raised from the cast and crew of ''Boston Legal'' paid for the building of a house by Habitat for Humanity.

In his spare time, Shatner enjoys breeding and showing American Saddlebreds and Quarter Horses. Shatner has a 150 hectare (360 acre) farm near Versailles, Kentucky, named Belle Reve (from the French ''beau rève,'' "Beautiful Dream," -- Belle Reve was the name of Blanche Dubois and her sister Stella's family home in ''A Streetcar Named Desire''), where he raises American Saddlebreds. His champion American Saddlebreds include Call Me Ringo, Revival, and Sultan's Great Day. The farm's activities help benefit the Central Kentucky Riding for Hope "Horses For Heroes" program.

Shatner also plays on the World Poker Tour in the Hollywood Home Games, where celebrities play for their favorite charities. Since 1990, he has been a leading force behind the Hollywood Charity Horse Show, which raises money for children's charities.

Nominations and awards

In 2004, Shatner won his first Emmy Award for his role as "Denny Crane" on ''The Practice''. In 2005, he won his first Golden Globe award and a second Emmy Award for Best Supporting Actor in a Drama Series for his work on ''Boston Legal''. In 2009, Shatner won a Streamy Award in the category of Best Reality Web Series.

In May 2011, he was honoured with the Governor General of Canada's Performing Arts Award for Lifetime Artistic Achievement, recording a humorous short film ''William Shatner Sings O Canada '' for the occasion. On June 2, 2011, Shatner received an honorary Doctor of Letters from McGill University, his alma mater.

See also

Works by William Shatner

References

External links

William Shatner's verified Twitter account

William Shatner talks about 'Star Trek: The Tour' in Long Beach

William Shatner at the LA Art Show

William Shatner has made around 40 short interview films on Videojug "Ask the Expert – William Shatner"

Shatner at Amazon Reviews

William Shatner Interview at Slashdot

Shatner at Fame Tracker

''The Times'' (London), January 26, 2008. "Man of Enterprise. As a new series of Boston Legal begins, our critic salutes the many facets of its veteran star William Shatner" by Sophie Davies

Shatner turns down real offer to go into space "I do want to go up but I need guarantees I'll definitely come back.", accessed 2010-07-21

William Shatner Issues Urgent Plea in Animals' Behalf

William Shatner for animal rights

William Shatner interview at Archive of American Television January 22, 2009 and September 15, 1999

William Shatner In Conversation (video) with ''The Big Bang Theory'' creator and show runner Bill Prady at 2010 Banff World TV Festival

Category:1931 births Category:Actors from Montreal Category:Anglophone Quebec people Category:Audio book narrators Category:Best Supporting Actor Golden Globe (television) winners Category:Canadian bloggers Category:Canadian emigrants to the United States Category:Canadian expatriate actors in the United States Category:Canadian film actors Category:Canadian game show hosts Category:Canadian people of Austrian descent Category:Canadian people of Hungarian-Jewish descent Category:Canadian people of Polish-Jewish descent Category:Canadian science fiction writers Category:Canadian television actors Category:Canadian vegetarians Category:Canadian voice actors Category:Emmy Award winners Category:Governor General's Performing Arts Award for Lifetime Artistic Achievement winners Category:Jewish actors Category:Jewish Canadian writers Category:Living people Category:McGill University alumni Category:People from Côte Saint-Luc Category:Writers from Montreal Category:People from Westmount, Quebec Category:Saturn Award winners Category:Shakespearean actors

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name	Mark Burnett
birth date	17 July 1960
birth place	London, England, United Kingdom
occupation	Television producer & Executive producer
spouse	Dianne J. Burnett (nee Valentine)divorced 2003
children	James and Cameron Burnett; Reilly Anspaugh }}

Mark Burnett (born 17 July 1960) is a British television producer, based in Los Angeles. He is best known as the producer of Survivor and the creator of the Apprentice. Burnett is currently the executive producer of five network television series with seven hours of network programming. His current series are ''Survivor, Celebrity Apprentice, The Voice, Are You Smarter Than a Fifth Grader?, Shark Tank'', and ''The People's Choice Awards.'' Works with which Burnett is associated have won multiple awards and recognition. Burnett himself has also won four Emmy Awards and four People's Choice Awards.

Three new upcoming series for Burnett are ''Robogeddon'' on Discovery with film director, James Cameron, ''Stars Earn Stripes,'' a collaboration with Dick Wolf for NBC that features military and law enforcement personnel teamed with celebrities , and an Alaska themed docu-series for Discovery.

During his career, Burnett has worked closely with many influential producers and stars, including Steven Spielberg, Tom Cruise, Oprah Winfrey, Martha Stewart, Sarah Palin, and Jeff Foxworthy, among others.

Early life

Mark Burnett was born on 17 July 1960 in the east end of London, England, the only child of two Ford Motors factory workers. He was raised in Dagenham, Essex. At the age of seventeen, he enlisted in the British Army, and became a Section Commander in the Parachute Regiment. From 1978 to 1982 he served with the 3rd Battalion, the Parachute Regiment (3 PARA) and saw action during the Falklands War.

Early career

In October 1982, Burnett decided to leave Britain for the United States where he met up with a friend, Nick Hill, who had also immigrated from Britain a few years earlier and was working as a nanny and chauffeur. Hill knew of an open position for a live-in nanny position with the Jaeger family in Beverly Hills, the interview for which was that night. Though he had no experience in that field, Burnett took the opportunity, and because of his military background, the Jaegers, realizing the advantage of having a nanny and security at the same time, hired him. After a year of working for the Jaegers, he moved on to another family in Malibu, taking care of two boys for $250 a week. He was eventually given a position in the insurance office owned by Burt, the father of the two boys.

Two years later, he decided to rent a portion of a fence at Venice Beach and sell T-shirts for $18 each during weekends. Realizing he made more money selling t-shirts, Burnett left his insurance job.

In 1991, Burnett, along with four others, joined a French adventure competition called the Raid Gauloises. After competing, Burnett saw a business opportunity in holding similar competitions. He purchased the format rights and brought a similar competition, ''Eco Challenge'', to America. Eco Challenge launched Burnett's career as a television producer.

Productions

Mark Burnett is best known for producing the hit reality show, ''Survivor'', which premiered in the summer of 2000 and was the most watched summer series since ''Sonny and Cher.'' ''Survivor'' was also named the Number 1 reality series of all time by Entertainment Weekly in 2009.

Burnett has produced several other television franchises in addition to ''Survivor''. He is the creator of ''The Apprentice'' and serves as the executive producer of ''The Voice'', the reality singing competition series for NBC. Carson Daly hosts the show, while Christina Aguilera, Adam Levine, Cee-Lo Green and Blake Shelton serve as coaches. Other series produced by Burnett include; ''Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader?'', ''Shark Tank'', ''Oprah's All-Stars'', ''Martha Stewart'', ''Sarah Palin's Alaska'', ''The Contender'', ''On the Lot'' (a collaboration with Steven Spielberg), ''The Restaurant'', ''Rock Star'', ''Combat Missions'', ''My Dad Is Better Than Your Dad'', ''Bully Beatdown'', ''Starmaker'', ''Expedition Africa'', ''Toughest Cowboy'', ''Wedding Day'', ''How'd You Get So Rich?'', and ''Expedition Impossible''. Burnett has completed the milestone of having a renewed series on each of the four major broadcast networks.

Since 2007, Burnett has served as the executive producer for the ''MTV Movie Awards'' and has also executive produced the 2010, 2011, and 2012 ''People's Choice Awards''. In September 2011, Burnett produced the Emmy Awards for Fox.

New in 2012, Burnett is joining forces with film director, James Cameron, to produce a new series for Discovery Channel called ''Robogeddon.'' . Burnett is also working with ''Law & Order'' producer, Dick Wolf, for a new NBC reality series that partners military veterans, active-duty servicemen, and law enforcement personnel with celebrities to train and then compete alongside in missions adapted from real exercises.

Another upcoming project for Burnett is a documentary series about the state of Alaska. This untitled Alaska project will air on Discovery.

In addition to his ongoing productions, Mark Burnett and his wife, Roma Downey, are producing ''The Bible'', a 10 hour History Channel drama based upon stories of the Bible

Personal life

In January 2004, Mark began dating actress Roma Downey, and in November 2006, while the two were vacationing with their children in Zihuatanejo, Mexico, he proposed to her. They wed on 28 April 2007 in their Malibu home. The ceremony was officiated by Downey's former costar, Della Reese. They currently live in Malibu, California with their three children.

Mark's first marriage was to Dianne Burnett (née Valentine) and produced two sons, James and Cameron. During their marriage the two formed DJB as the rights holding company to ''Survivor''. The couple divorced in December 2003.

Awards and nominations

Personal recognition

''Time'' called Burnett one of the Most Influential People in the World Today. Burnett was also named “Philanthropist of the Year” by the Reality Cares Foundation. Furthermore, Burnett has won both Brandweeks’s Marketer of the Year Award, the prestigious Rose d’Or Frapa Format Award, the Brandon Tartikoff Legacy Award and the Norman Lear Award from the Producers Guild of America. He also served two years on the Board of Directors for the British Film and Television Academy.

In November 2007, Burnett was elected into the Broadcast and Cable Hall of Fame and in 2008, it was announced that he would be honored with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. On 8 July 2009 Burnett received a star at 6664 Hollywood Blvd.

In June 2011, Burnett was elected into the Producer's Guild of America Council Board of Delegates and currently serves on the Producers Council. He is also ambassador for Operation Smile.

2004: Reality Cares Foundation 'Philanthropist of the Year'

2004: ''Time Magazine'': 'Time 100: 100 Most Influential People in the World Today'

2009: Producers Guild of America 'Norman Lear Award' 2009: Hollywood Walk of Fame Star: 'Excellence in Television'

2010: Producers Guild of America 'Lifetime Achievement Award in Television'

Project recognition

Since 2001, projects with which Burnett is associated have been nominated for 69 shared Emmy Awards and have won 4. They have also won 4 shared People's Choice Awards, a Banff Rocky, and the prestigious Rose D'Or Frapa Format Award.

;Primetime Emmy Awards :

2001, won 'Outstanding Non-Fiction Programming', Special Class, for ''Survivor: The Australian Outback'';

2001, won 'Outstanding Sound Mixing for Non-Fiction Programming, for ''Survivor: The Australian Outback''

2002, 4 nominations, ''Survivor: Africa'' and ''Survivor: Marquesas'' (judged as one show)

2003, 4 nominations, ''Survivor: Thailand'' and ''Survivor: Amazon'' (judged as one show)

2004, 4 nominations, ''The Apprentice''

2005, nomination for 'Outstanding Reality Competition Show' for ''Survivor''

2005, 5 nominations, ''The Apprentice''

2006, nomination for 'Outstanding Reality Competition Show' for ''Survivor''

;Young Artist Award :

2008, won 'Best Family Television Reality Show, Game Show or Documentary for ''Are You Smarter Than A 5th Grader?''

;Teen Choice Awards :

2004, nomination 'Breakout TV Show' for ''The Apprentice''

2008, nominated 'Choice TV Game Show' for ''Are You Smarter Than A 5th Grader?''

;Peoples Choice Awards :

2001, won 'Favorite Reality Based Television Program' for ''Survivor''

2002, won 'Favorite Realty Based Television Program' for ''Survivor: The Australian Outback''

2003, won 'Favorite Reality Based Television Program' for ''Survivor: Thailand''

2004, won 'Favorite Reality Based Television Program' for ''Survivor''

2008, nomination 'Favorite Game Show' for ''Are You Smarter Than A 5th Grader?''

;Kids Choice Awards :

2008, nomination 'Favorite Reality Show' for ''Are You Smarter than a 5th Grader?''

;Daytime Emmy Awards :

2006, nomination 'Outstanding Service Show' for ''Martha''

2007, nomination 'Outstanding Lifestyle Program' for '' Martha''

2011, won 'Outstanding Lifestyle Program' for ''Martha''

;Family Television Awards : ::(given by the Family Friendly Programming Forum):

2001, won 'Reality/Alternative Programming' for ''Survivor: The Australian Outback''

;Producer's Guild of America:

2004, won 'Television Producer of the Year in Reality/Game/Informational Series' for ''Survivor''

;TV Critic's Association Awards:

2004, won 'Program of the Year' for ''The Apprentice''

;TV Week's Annual Critics Poll:

2003, won 'Number 1 Reality Show' for ''Survivor''

2003, won 'Number 7 Favorite Show' for ''Survivor''

;Diversity Awards:

2001, won 'Most Diverse Television Ensemble Cast' for ''Survivor: The Australian Outback''

;GLAAD Award:

2001, won 'Recognition Award' for ''Survivor''

;Reggie Awards:

2001, won 'Super Reggie' for 'Multi-Channel Integrated Promotion Involving Consumer and Trade Special' for ''Survivor''

;Publicists Guild of America:

2001, won 'Maxwell Weinberg Publicists Showmanship Award for Television' for ''Survivor''

;Sports Emmy Awards:

2000, won 'Best Program Achievement' for ''Eco-Challenge: Morocco''

;Cheeky Bastard Award:

2012, won 'Cheekiest of Cheeky Bastards Alive' from Ricky Gervais

References

External links

SWINDLE Magazine Interview with Mark Burnett

Category:1960 births Category:Living people Category:American television producers Category:American people of English descent Category:British Parachute Regiment soldiers Category:British Army personnel of the Falklands War Category:Emmy Award winners Category:English expatriates in the United States Category:English television producers Category:Naturalized citizens of the United States Category:People from London Category:People from the Greater Los Angeles Area Category:Survivor (TV series) Category:The Apprentice (TV series) Category:Television program creators

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