William Shatner: Captain Kirk Named Calgary Stampede Marshal

William Shatner has boldly gone where no man had gone before as Captain James T. Kirk in the original Star Trek; he has given opposing attorneys and liberals of all stripes migraines while in the beginning stages of dementia as the quirky lawyer Denny Crane in Boston Legal, but this week the Canadian actor will take the helm of something a little more down to earth: The Calgary Stampede.

Shatner has had a busy year this year. In addition to being named the Grand Marshal of the Calgary Stampede, everybody’s favorite Captain Kirk has been awarded NASA’s highest civilian award, wrote a letter to the crew of the USS Zumwalt – captained by a real life Captain James Kirk – and toured extensively with his stand up routine.

Shatner will be joined by honorary marshals Denny Morrison and Gilmore Junio, both of who represented Team Canada in the Sochi Olympics according to a report on CBC News – Calgary. The same report indicates that William Shatner is an excellent horseman – a distinction his alter ego Captain Kirk probably never shared, as horses were in rare supply on the Enterprise.

A report in CTV Calgary quotes Calgary Stampere chairman of the board Bob Thompson saying:

“Shatner’s Hollywood credentials are just part of the reason we thought he would be a great choice as our 2014 Parade Marshal. He has an unparalleled passion for horses which we thought would be a great fit for us. I can’t wait to kick off the Calgary Stampede with him in the year of the horse.”

For his part, William Shatner had this to say about the honor of serving as Grand Marshal of the Calgary Stampede:

“I am looking forward to leading the Calgary Stampede Parade. I’ve been to Calgary before, but I have never been to the Calgary Stampede – leading the Parade will be quite a way to experience my first time.”

The Captain Kirk actor was born in Montreal, Quebec. Both of his deputy marshals, Gilmore Junio and Denny Morrison, are from the Calgary area.

Honorary Marshal Junio had this to say:

“When I received the call from Bob Thompson to see if we were available to help lead the Parade, I immediately texted Denny (Morrison) to let him know we were going to do this together. We didn’t have to give it much thought, especially when we found out we would be leading (the Calgary Stampede) with William Shatner!”