Star Trek legend
William Shatner will be inducted into the U.S. Academy of Television Arts & Sciences Hall of Fame later this year, the Academy has announced.
Joining the Canadian actor will be NBC anchor Tom Brokaw, game show host Regis Philbin, director James Burrows (
Will & Grace,
Cheers, Taxi,
Frasier,
Friends) and producer Leonard Goldberg (Charlie's Angels, Starsky and Hutch, Fantasy Island).
"This year's inductees have each helped shape our industry and serve as inspiration for everyone involved in our business," Dick Askin, chairman of the TV Academy, said in a statement. "It is an honour to recognise their careers and we are pleased to welcome them into our Hall of Fame."
There are just over 100 members of the Hall of Fame so far, including Walt Disney, Bob Hope, Mary Tyler Moore,
Angela Lansbury and
Oprah Winfrey.
Shatner shot to fame as Captain James T. Kirk of the U.S.S. Enterprise in the original Star Trek, playing the role on television from 1966 - 1969 and in seven subsequent movies.
He famously shared the first ever interracial kiss on US television in 1968, with Star Trek co-star
Nichelle Nichols, who played Lieutenant Uhura. The kiss caused outrage and protests, although the majority of viewers felt it was a positive move.
The episode with the kiss was not aired in Britain for another 25 years.
Shatner's career has not slowed down in the slightest despite his age - he has won two Emmy Awards for his role as Denny Crane on
The Practice and
Boston Legal and recently
sold his kidney stone for charity.
No date has yet been set for the Hall of Fame induction ceremony.