by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. >> pleased to welcome william shatner to this program. for seven decades, award winning actor, producer, recording artist, you know him from captain kirk from star trek, and recently, the priceline pitch man, at 86. >> no, that has to be a misprint. >> 36. >> at 36, creates horses for keeping him young and mind, body and spirit. the new book is called "the spirit of the horse." in fact and fable. >> good to have you on. i was teasing you about that misprint in the prompter there, 86, thing. you have been at this for a while now. >> if you said i have been at it 70 years. i am 36. i must have been a spirit. yes, when i hear the number, i just, well, what? how did that happen? then, they are all dying around me. every time i look around, a friend is dead of old age. >> i won't put your business out, you came from another taping today to do this, you are busy, still working out there. >> i started very early in the day. to do publicity. my book has come out, "spirit of the horse" has come out. as you know, then the author goes out, i have a book, thousands of books are printed, this one, you should read. because it has five stars, i buy a lot of books on my phone, i travel a lot. i am reading all the time. i see a book for three times, three and a half, four, four and a half stars, i am buying it. this is five stars, i will buy it like now. in fact, i bought two copies because it had five stars. >> that means people love william shatner or they love horses? >> probably a combination of both. what i was going to go to was in order to ride at the level that i do, i ride competitively in three disciplines, reigners, which are horsers that do a pattern based on cowboy moves so the horse may gallop into the stadium, slide to a stop, slide, to a stop, back up. do four turns to the right, four turns to the left. fast circles, change, slow circles. come to a stop. that is one pattern. now, you practice and practice and practice. you have to be in good shape. i love the competition, i love to get on these horses, olympic athletics remember trained by danny girardi, a genius. and i love the promise, the potential of the horse, and not getting in his or her way. i have to be physically adept at that. i have to have stamina, balance in order to do that i have to work out, keep trim, be careful. that may well be a reason why i am as healthy as i am. >> the horses kept you young? >> yes. >> the description of that activity alone could wear somebody out. nonetheless sitting on a horse while that is going on. >> i have broken legs three times, after 30 years of hard riding, any profession -- >> [ laughing ] >> my back is garly. i maybe you shouldn't ride? . i have got to ride, act, be a performer. i have to be in love. i have got to work. i have got to play. i have got to love dogs and horses and children, and i have got to feel that i have done something good. which brings me to "horhorses a horse show on june 3rd here in los angeles. >> you do it every year. >> every year for 30 years. i have raised a nice sum of money every year. not the millionings that these big campaigns do. it is a small charity. several hundred thousand dollars over a 30-year period, amounts to millions that go to children. now, late to veterans as well. whose ills are similar. socially and physically and emotionally, the horses, this riding therapeutic programs, aide all of those ills. now, i find myself with children autistic children who talk to me. and i am able to say to, as i did three days ago. look at you, talking to me in front of thousands of people. are you talking to me. ru telling me you are autistic. you are communicating. the kid is like, i am. doing something good is part of my life force. >> who knew that horses could heal that way. >> who knew. ions of people knew. the horse has been domesticated 10,000 years, the magic that humans have to horses, has been forever. in arabbia, where the gray horse started, they take them into their tents, treat them as family. those arabbian horses are like children to them. the arabbian horse with the beautiful face, and gorgeous body, trained and bred for enduration their look makes them more lovable. they are bred for that from there to all the different types of horses. war horses, knights of yore, would get on with 500 pounds of armor, this horse is bred. now that knights don't get on with armor, they use as them draft horses. they were the war horses. you keep telling me to buy a horse. >> buy a horse and run alongside it. >> i stayed with you for the entire list. what i want to come back to is your acting y for 70 years, have you had to act? >> well, i started when i was about six years old. i have never done requesting else. this is what i do. what i have discovered, it is part of this book. as i evolved to understand the mystical, spiritual nature of horses with human beings, so, i too, have increasing clouds by awareness of the unity of everything. all life. you can see the relationship in plants to humans. all life is one. as that knowledge, i have become a better spirituality, and a better actor, and a better horseman. all because i am becoming more and more awayir what horses teach you. things are lurking in the bushes to eat a horse. yesterday, when the tomorrow when the wolves come. they have to stay in the now. that is one of the lessons that teach us. stay in the now. >> what did you hope to communicate to us through your acting all these years? you played many different characters, what has it been all about for you in relationship to us? >> what occurs to me as you ask me the question, i don't think of it in those terms. in a serious role, with some import, there is humor. in a comedy, there is always importance. if you can balance something funny and serious, that is what human beings are. >> what was captain kirk, a serious role? >> captain circ was serious with a sense of humor. which is different than the actor, trying to be funny. >> the difference is? >> conferenceness. >> i am going to tell a joke now. >> what do you make, i am sure you have been asked, what do you make of the impact that that role, ru playing that role has had in a series that lasted a few seasons? three season, gone. first years later, we are talking about it. >> what is your question. what do you make of the impact? >> it is extraordinary. first years later, we are saying, it is embarrassing. >> i have done children's shows, they know me from the voice of the children's show. come on, i will show you, this is captain kirk. the kids see the shows. >> what is captain kirk. that is not captain kirk. >> yes that is me you little monster. you are known by different generations from different roles. >> i have had an interesting series occur every decade. evensome that went by unnoticed. rescue 911, that lasted five years, it was one of perhaps the original reality show that brought you what the e.m.t.s were doing, we consciously had an 80% success rate, it is not that in real life. that was something i was happy to be part of. rescue 911. there was an earlier one. called "for the people." it was good. it was up against the popular show, 13 and out. there has been a series like every several years. something rather nice happens. >> i mentioned in the introduction of the show that you started out as a shakespearean actor back in the day. is this what you hoped, dreamed of. >> i assume are you okay for us forever knowing you as captain kirk, versus your shakespearean work. >> it doesn't matter to me. the captain kirk thing, i am here with you. you are serious, and funny, and examine people, it is a privilege to be with you. i am here because of captain kirk, which started the only thing. i am fr happy with the character, and the references to it. as for shakespeare, i learned poetry, the usage of words, the way you color words. the way you phrase them, so the long speeches were broken down into moments. that has been my training. that is what i bring to the role. shax and captain kirk are linked. shakespeare and captain kirk are linked. i evolved. i become a better actor every time i performed. i get better. i keep saying to myself, that is how you do it. i finished it. and i did a good job. there were times, of course, i am line playing on a solo. >> vugotten good yet? >> i mean that. >> what do you make of the fact that you have been so, i don't know if there is anybody, i have who would have been charactered, and copies. the way you does it funny to you? >> well, it is so strang. i remember saying to somebody, does jimmy stewart knows he goes, blah blah blah. ? does he know he does that? they normally do that? i worked with mr. robinson years ago. i wish i had the hudspa to say, you know -- >> well, i don't know. he would say, what are you talking about, kid, get out of my way. >> >> i don't do that. have i done that? >> you don't do that, we all have a way of speaking. and what is funny about this is. what funny about this is, that is you. i want to get into your flow. if you are loud and crazy, like robin williams was, there is a chance i will be loud and crazy with you. i take my time to figure out the pace at which the guests speak. >> i know you have this halting way. >> i am thinking of what the hell i am saying. imagine, giving yourself some sort of the correct word. >> you have a unique way of space i spacing it. you can't clown me on my own, you are our william shatner. will when it be time if every, to stop what you are doing, and done so well. ? >> he is dead, jim. i guess he will stop now. sit there and say, i was on the taf i guess smiley show once. i wonder if he would have me back. >> i have gotten good. are you still going to keep doing it until, all the things you have done. the choits do do that because -- >> i was offered the opportunity in the beginning. years ago. shooting startrek. would you like to make an album. pieceses of poetry. and couple of the items were good. to be or not to be. segued in and out. the concept of that album was, great pieces of literature write music buy hind it. the lyric, under it might have been it. to be or not to be. should i live, segues into, it was a very good year. some of it doesn't. i am doing pub i was going to do t the -- i might as well do the song. i am doing the song, with no explaination. see charlie cursing. everybody laughed, that was the end of the album, it was years later. then i did the album with nick foales. >> because you raised this, i want to you said earlier, are you looking looking around, and how do you process that? >> death? >> scares me. >> it does. it does scare me. for some reason, i got more comfortable with it at 50. i am 52 now. at 40, i was scared to death. i was scared i wouldn't live long enough. at 50, i got more comfortable with it. i have older friends, i see my friends starting popass shlths i am having -- starting to pass. >> i know, when we die, we entry the flow of energy, that is the universit universe. it reforms, and forms other material. i know that -- i think you just die. you are alone. loneliness has been my enemy. for many years. as a kid. growing up. we are off to do regional theater work. i started the career, i was always lonely, deathly lonely. loneliness was death. akin to what i am thinking about death. when i die, i will be alone. i have often talked about. i do a one-man show. what do you think that final moment is going to be like? i am dying. here is i am dying. now, what happens? that is the scary part. >> wow. >> the book is called "spirit of the horse, a celebration of fact and fable." i need to go home and process what he said for the rest of the night. there is a lot to marinate given what you just offered. >> thank you my friend. >> thank you. >> as always, keep the faith. for more information on today's show, visit tavis smiley at pbs.org. >> i am tavis smiley, join me with conversations about how companies are changing the world, like uber. that is next time, see you then. world, like uber. that is next time, see you then. -- captions by vitac -- www.vitac.com >> 50 t a conversation with international human rights attention mcdougal. it spans five decades, she is just back where she sits on the universitied community, and says that racism is more pronounced now than it has been in her lifetime. then, nba legend and author. kareem abdul-jabbar. and the captain, kareem abdul-jabbar and john wooten.