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Iconic actor William Shatner (BCom'52) beamed down long enough Thursday to get an honorary doctorate from his alma mater, McGill University - and luckily no Klingons showed up to spoil the fun.

It seemed fitting that in a convocation ceremony filled with pomp, an actor best known for being lovably pompous was honoured as about 500 Faculty of Arts students cheered wildly.

True to form, Shatner then announced at a news conference he now wants to be addressed as "Dr. William Shatner."

He won the students over with his witty, tongue-in-cheek commencement address and charmed the Montreal media with his sharp, wise-cracking comments and warmth toward the city and university he clearly believes helped shape and build him into the success story he has become.

In fact, he said he's turned down offers of other honorary degrees, but this one meant something special.

"To be lauded by my alma mater is an entirely earthly, joyous experience," said Shatner, 80.

For at least one reporter in the room, discovering Shatner's repartee and likability was a shock.

You see, my mother dated Shatner, like, 60 years ago and he almost broke up my parents when, at a wedding one night, he asked my mother to dance and my father, livid, was halfway out the door before my mother stopped him in the nick of time.

So, growing up, my father only ever had one word to describe Capt. James T. Kirk: "Jerk."

Therefore, it was fair game to ask him at the news conference whether his wife knew of his storied past in Montreal (after all, he dated my mother-in-law, too, and countless others).

Was my mother proud of him now, he wanted to know? So-so, was the response. Was that a flash of disappointment crossing the face of the famous Hollywood actor?

But Shatner had fessed up to that promiscuous past in his speech, when he admitted that when he spent his days in the offices of the Red and White Revue at McGill, he made better use of the sofa than the desk.

"That's a whole other education I got at McGill," he quipped.

The Montreal-born actor - best known for his roles as Kirk, police officer T.J. Hooker and attorney Denny Crane on Boston Legal - told the graduating students that he managed to graduate with a Bachelor of Commerce degree, but quickly discovered his talent was in making people laugh and entertaining them, not in accounting.

He also advised students not to be scared of taking chances or failing.

"Don't be afraid of making an ass of yourself," he said. "I do it all the time and look what I got."

At the news conference, he answered questions about everything from being nominated as a Greatest McGillian (he was surprised he had more votes than James McGill and more surprised Leonard Cohen has more votes than him) to why he doesn't retire (retiring to do something you like makes no sense to him and is a terrible commentary on life) to his views as a philanthropist (people need to find a cause that's important to them and give something because governments can't meet all the needs in the world).

A charming man, indeed, and he proved he will carry his new title from McGill most proudly as he boldly goes into the future.

Still, there is no doubt in my mind that my mother absolutely made the right choice.

Read full article: , June 3, 2011

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