{"id":43949,"date":"2015-06-19T02:37:00","date_gmt":"2015-06-19T02:37:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/owegopennysaver.com\/?p=43949"},"modified":"2015-06-23T02:39:50","modified_gmt":"2015-06-23T02:39:50","slug":"tinseltown-talks-william-shatners-trek-through-fatherhood","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.owegopennysaver.com\/PS\/2015\/06\/19\/tinseltown-talks-william-shatners-trek-through-fatherhood\/","title":{"rendered":"Tinseltown Talks – William Shatner\u2019s Trek Through Fatherhood"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Tinseltown<\/a>

Melanie and Bill Shatner on the set of Star Trek V, The Final Frontier – Paramount Pictures.<\/p><\/div>\n

Her father commanded a spaceship in a popular \u201860s television series.<\/p>\n

Two decades later, in 1988, Melanie Shatner was featured alongside her dad in an Oldsmobile TV commercial revealing her own desire to zoom around in something \u201cspace age.\u201d But it wouldn\u2019t be the last time father and daughter acted together.<\/p>\n

The pair shared some on-screen time the following year when \u201cStar Trek V: The Final Frontier\u201d was released. Directed by her father, William Shatner, a.k.a. Star Trek\u2019s Captain Kirk, Melanie can be seen wandering the Enterprise\u2019s bridge throughout the film.<\/p>\n

\u201cI actually auditioned for another part, but was completely wrong for it,\u201d recalled Melanie \u2013 now Melanie Shatner Gretsch after marrying actor Joel Gretsch in 1999. \u201cMy dad called and said I didn\u2019t get the part but there was another small role for the captain\u2019s yeoman if I wanted it, and I said of course.\u201d<\/p>\n

It launched her somewhat short adult acting career, which included two-dozen movie and television roles over the next ten years.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut I didn\u2019t fully enjoy acting,\u201d she admitted. \u201cI made a living acting for a while, but wanted to be successful in other ways.\u201d<\/p>\n

That success was soon seen on Ventura Boulevard, in Studio City, Calif., in the form of Dari Boutique (see www.shopdari.com), which Melanie opened 16 years ago.\u00a0Stocked with cutting edge fashions, Dari quickly became a popular destination for trendy shoppers.<\/p>\n

Melanie says her dad wasn\u2019t too disappointed when she traded a career in entertainment for retail sales. \u201cHe was probably relieved because acting can be a brutal profession. But really, anything I wanted to do was okay by him. He even helped by loaning me the money to get the store started.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cShe was always the kid wearing smart clothes,\u201d recalls Bill Shatner, from his home in Studio City. \u201cShe just knew about style. Her sisters and all the other kids used to ask her for fashion advice.\u201d<\/p>\n

Although growing up with a busy, famous father had its drawbacks; Melanie gives her dad high marks as a parent.<\/p>\n

\u201cEver since I was born he\u2019s been on television and his office was a movie or television set. When we were younger, he\u2019d take one sister at a time away on location for a whole week. We all have such great memories of getting to hang out with him and watching him work.\u201d<\/p>\n

Shatner and his first wife were divorced in 1969, but Melanie says she and her two older sisters \u2013 Lisabeth and Leslie \u2013 remained close with their father.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe spent the weekdays with my mother and the weekends with him. He would do whatever it took to get home to see us, even if it meant driving all night. I think that illustrates what a wonderful, committed father he was and is.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cAll divorces are traumatic,\u201d added Shatner.\u00a0\u201cBut the girls have turned out to be wonderful, smart women. We get together often as a family.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Shatner clan expanded in 2005 when Andy Clement married Melanie\u2019s sister, Lisabeth. He was a little surprised when told who her father was.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut the first time I had dinner with them all, he welcomed me into the family even though Liz and I hadn\u2019t been dating long,\u201d recalled Clement, who founded Creative Character Engineering in Van Nuys (see www.creativecharacter.com). \u201cIt was incredible to see someone so attached to his kids.\u201d<\/p>\n

Clement, whose recent movie work includes special effects for \u201cInterstellar,\u201d says he is also amazed by his father-in-law\u2019s inventive, restless mind. \u201cHe really is a dynamo and his mind just never stops working. He always wants to get involved with a production to make it better.\u00a0 So many actors just turn it on when the cameras are rolling, but he\u2019s always cranking.\u201d<\/p>\n

Like most in the business, Shatner experienced his share of project clunkers over the years.\u00a0 But, says Melanie, \u201cworking is what keeps him young, excited, and creative. You\u2019ve got to give him points for always trying something new.\u201d<\/p>\n

And if there\u2019s a lesson Bill Shatner has learned in over 50 years as an actor, it\u2019s one he willingly shares as a father.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou can only pass on endurance,\u201d he advises. \u201cEverybody has to make their own mistakes and learn from them.\u201d<\/p>\n

Nick Thomas teaches at Auburn University at Montgomery, Ala., and has written features, columns, and interviews for over 600 magazines and newspapers.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Her father commanded a spaceship in a popular \u201860s television series. 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