I ... AM ... WILLIAM ... SHATNER.

Byline: Fred Shuster Staff Writer

William Shatner a has-been?

We don't think so. The ``Boston Legal' star has been a lot of things in his long career. Now, at 73, add pop star to his long resume.

The former Capt. James T. Kirk today finds himself on playlists side- by-side with Maroon5, Coldplay and Franz Ferdinand. And this time, nobody's spinning his ironically titled collaboration with Ben Folds, ``Has Been,'' for cheap giggles.

It wasn't always this way, of course. Shatner's best-known musical effort, 1968's infamous thrift-store classic ``The Transformed Man,'' is a perennial on worst-of lists on both sides of the Atlantic due to Shatner's solemn recital of lyrics by Bob Dylan and the Beatles over syrupy strings.

But that spoken-word record - which now sells for at least 50 bucks in used vinyl emporiums - won at least one fan who admits he took it seriously. Alt-rock pianist-singer Folds says he was - forgive us - transformed by ``Transformed Man'' when he stumbled across it at a garage sale at age 9.

``With Shatner, you're always in on the process to a certain extent - that's why people say he's an overactor,'' Folds says. ``He doesn't distance himself - it's just his style. He's in on the joke. And if you don't know that, the joke's on you.''

Laughing with him

Over the years, Shatner's self-deprecating sense of humor has set him apart from other actors. At the center of the ``Star Trek'' craze, Shatner hasn't been afraid to poke fun at his role as Kirk or poke fun at the fans, even telling them on one ```Saturday Night Live'' skit to ``get a life.''

``I don't understand why everyone doesn't laugh at themselves - after all, there's a lot to laugh at,'' he says.

It hasn't always been easy for Shatner, after the cancellation of the original ``Star Trek'' series in 1969, he hit a dry spell in Hollywood, which he blamed on being typecast. It took off again in 1979 when the first of the ``Star Trek'' movies was made. He quickly went back to television with the '80s hit series ``T.J. Hooker,'' where he played a uniformed cop.

Now he's back on TV. He picked up an Emmy last month for playing the blustery barrister Denny Crane on ``The Practice.'' When that series ended, the Crane character moved on to spinoff and current ABC hit ``Boston Legal'' (10 p.m. Sundays). Show creator David E. Kelley says he wrote the quirky Crane with Shatner in mind.

``What I love about it is, it's an ensemble piece,'' Shatner says. ``My character is wonderful: buoyant, funny, sad. It's a lot of fun, and I love the rest of the cast.''

The renaissance man Shatner - he's a successful sci-fi author, too - has other irons in the fire. Along with his newly rejuvenated music career and hit series, those witty Priceline commercials (some shot with ``Star Trek'' pal Leonard Nimoy) just keep running.

``If I were the head of that company, I'd sign me up to do six more ads,'' Shatner said.

Where Kirk was born

And Shatner recently help play a joke on Riverside, Iowa, the hometown of ``Star Trek's'' Kirk. The major league con will play itself out early next year on Spike TV in a reality TV show. ``Invasion Iowa'' chronicles what happens when a bunch of Hollywood filmmakers and celebs descend on small-town America. The town (population 978) was told that Shatner was directing and starring in a time-travel film he had written. The actor then played ``an increasingly over-the-top version of himself,'' complete with an ``entourage.''

The townspeople weren't told what was going on until the end of the 10-day shoot.

``I fell in love with the people there,'' Shatner said. ``The hardest part of the experience was containing my empathy for the individuals who listened to and identified with the soap opera we played out in front of them. It was extremely moving. The more we got to know the people, the harder it was to continue the trickery. At the end, when we told them the truth, there were tears and hurt feelings, which we appeased with money and apologies.''

But Shatner, who incidentally just won a harness racing championship at the Kentucky State Fair, isn't appeased by steady TV work. He views his collaboration with Folds on ``Has Been'' (Shout! Factory) as an accomplishment, particularly on the track ``What Have You Done?'' in which he revisits the accidental drowning of his third wife, Nerine, in the swimming pool of their Studio City home in 1999. (Shatner and Folds appear at the El Rey Theatre on Oct. 21-22)

``I thought long and hard about whether to include a portrait of what happened,'' says Shatner, who is remarried and the father of three daughters. ``But I decided I was making the record for the people I love - to let them know what I was thinking and feeling. The tragedy is part of my psyche. I turned a corner after that, and maybe this record is a result of it.''

On stage next week with Folds and pals, Shatner plans to perform songs from ``Has Been'' as well as a piece of two from the notorious ``Transformed Man,'' which provided fodder for such cringe compilations as Rhino's ``Golden Throats'' set, which finds Shatner's readings of ``Lucy in the Sky With Diamonds'' and ``Mr. Tambourine Man'' in the company of Jack Webb's ``Try a Little Tenderness'' and Eddie Albert's ``Blowin' in the Wind.''

``It wasn't enough that everyone scoffed at my attempts - but I never even got a penny from it,'' Shatner muses cheerfully.

Yet, despite making his mark as a sci-fi guy, Shatner was only recently pulled kicking and screaming into the digital age when he was gifted with an iPod.

``I asked a friend to download the contents of his iPod into mine,'' Shatner said. ``So, I'm now walking around with someone else's musical soul. But I've discovered some new things. Like the Beatles' 'White Album' - 36 years late.''

Fred Shuster, [phone]

fred.shuster(at)dailynews.com

Did you know?

First telecast Sept. 8, 1966, NBC's ``Star Trek'' followed the adventures of the U.S.S. Enterprise spacecraft in the 23rd century as it explored alien worlds. The original series, lasting three years, was a ratings dud, but you'd never know it from the reverence felt for William Shatner's Capt. James T. Kirk ever since. Here are some facts you might not know about Shatner:

--Born in Montreal, he attended that city's McGill University, where he earned a bachelor of commerce degree. The university named a building after him.

--He breeds and shows American saddlebreds and quarter horses.

--His daughter Lisbeth wrote the script for the ``T.J. Hooker'' episode ``Partners in Death'' (1986).

--He appeared in the music video and sang in the choir on the song ``Voices That Care.''

--After the original ``Star Trek'' ended, his wife split. Left with little money and few acting prospects because he felt he had been typecast as Kirk, he took bit parts and even did party appearances until his career turned around.

--He is CEO of the Toronto-based Core Digital Effects company that did the effects for the 1996 film ``Fly Away Home.''

--He's fluent in French.

--He has penned many ``Star Trek'' fiction novels, including ``The Ashes of Eden,'' ``The Return'' and ``Avenger'' as well as the ``Tek'' series of science-fiction novels.

--On ``Saturday Night Live,'' he jokingly told ``Star Trek'' fans to ``get a life.''

--Two of his daughters appeared in the ``Star Trek'' episode ``Miri.'' A third daughter had a bit part in ``Star Trek V: The Final Frontier,'' directed by her father.

--In 1965 he starred in ``Incubus,'' which is filmed entirely in Esperanto, a language created in 1887 as an easy-to-learn universal tongue.

--He appeared in several episodes of ``The Twilight Zone.''

He is pictured on the cover of the official first-aid handbook issued by the National Safety Council.

--In 1978, Shatner hosted the Science Fiction Film Awards where he performed Elton John's ``Rocket Man.''

He produces and hosts the annual Hollywood Charity Horse Show, which he founded in 1990.

In 1999, he was nominated for an Emmy for his guest-starring role in ``3rd Rock From the Sun.''

His favorite ``Star Trek'' episode is ``The Devil in the Dark.''

``The Transformed Man,'' long considered a camp classic, now sells for $50 in used record stores (the disc's version of ``Lucy in the Sky With Diamonds'' was once voted the worst massacre of a Beatles song ever).

- Daily News research

BOSTON LEGAL

Where: ABC (Channel 7).

When: 10 p.m. Sunday.

WILLIAM SHATNER AND BEN FOLDS

Where: El Rey Theatre, 5515 Wilshire Blvd., Los Angeles.

When: 8 p.m. Oct. 21-22.

Tickets: $30. Call [phone] or www.ticketmaster.com.

CAPTION(S):

4 photos, box

Photo:

(1 -- cover -- color) SHATNER

this guy isn't going away

(2) `Star Trek' legend balancing `Boston Legal' role with commercials and new spoken-word CD

Associated Press

(3) William Shatner traded his Starfleet insignia for a badge on the cop drama ``T.J. Hooker,'' which ran from 1982-86 on ABC and CBS.

(4) Shatner has kept a sense of humor about the iconic status of Capt. James T. Kirk.

Box:

Did you know? (see text)