William Shatner's dedication to his craft knew no bounds

William Shatner has one heck of a reputation. At least that's the case when talking about his run on the Original Series. During his time as the original James T. Kirk, Shatner ruffled a lot of feathers. Particularly involving his old castmates in the series. It's well known that he has a long-standing feud with castmate George Takei, and he had a rather unfortunate falling out with long-time friend Leonard Nimoy shortly before Nimoy's passing.

His ability to rial people up seems to be well known at this point. Yet, beyond his issues with his castmates and his overall demeanor, Shatner does have something going for him that people may not realize. He's a consummate professional.

In a 2003 article from Star Trek.com, former series regular Eddie Paskey revealed a memory of working with Shatner that put the Canadian actor in a whole new light. While filming "The Devil in the Dark", Shatner left one day after filming, on what many assumed was a normal day for everyone involved. Except for Shatner.

As Paskey tells it, no one knew anything was different with the actor, until after he left. Which, people then found out Shatner had worked the entire day after having learned of his father's death.

""As soon as we wrapped with that show, Bill left. We came to find out that as he shot all day long, he was preparing to get on an airplane to go home — his father just passed away. No one knew until he was actually gone. And, y'know, that says a lot for the dedication of the man.""

While Shatner gets a bad rep, fair or not, about being hard to work with, this story of his dedication and ability to multitask is a bit of a different beat. It's hard to handle the loss of a loved one and by all accounts, Shatner did not make his grief anyone else's to bear. Sure, that should say something about how he bonded, or didn't bond, with his castmates, but many people these days can make the workday insufferable over minor inconveniences.

So to hear that Shatner spoken of so fondly is certainly a new one for us. Sure, the interview is over 20 years old, but this isn't a story that gets told often.