LOS ANGELES -- American radio shock jock Howard Stern likes to famously describe himself as the "King of All Media" because of the popularity of his radio and TV shows, the book he wrote that was made into a movie, and his huge stock options in the media company, Sirius Radio.
But, let's look at who the real superstar of all media has become.
Crowns are not given, crowns are taken. Therefore, 79-year-old William Shatner -- a best-selling author who stars in seven different shows airing this year, including three in syndication, who runs his own website and is a key part of the mega success of web travel company, Priceline.com -- has every right to barge into Stern's office brandishing a sword and declaring: "The People are now with me!" -- and grab the title.
The wildly entertaining Montrealer has more shows playing on TV this year than any other actor. Click the TV, and there he is on the hit prime-time comedy, $#*! My Dad Says, that is sweeping the ratings especially in Canada. Click again, and there he is once more as the host of Discovery Channel's Weird or What? Click and find Shatner's Raw Nerve on The Biography Channel.
Keep clicking and see Aftermath with William Shatner, his ground-breaking journalism series on A&E in which he gains unprecedented access to newsmakers such as Mary Kay Letourneau (the teacher who fell in love with her student and went to jail), Bernhard Goetz (the NYC subway shooter) and the very first prison interview with D.C. sniper, Lee Boyd Malvo.
If you want to see more, click three more times and watch Shatner's dramas still in syndication: Star Trek, Boston Legal and T.J. Hooker.
Shatner also wrote a book, Up Till Now, which was on the New York Times best-seller list when it came out two years ago and continues to be a hot seller on Amazon.com.
"The key to it all is that you need to literally and figuratively stretch," Shatner said in a recent interview about the sudden rush of work. "If you fail to stretch your muscles and your mind, they contract ... My mind is stretching creatively. I haven't lost a thing."
Acting is one thing; the business side another. Shatner has built his own website, williamshatner.com and e-mails it monthly to subscribers. The site tells fans what he's up to and has links to the Shatner store, which sells his book and Star Trek memorabilia.
Priceline shares have gone bananas with the help of his soaring fame and quirky promotions. Whether Shatner is paid in salary, stocks or a combination of the two is a company secret, but reports say he likely still owns some of the tens of thousands of shares he was initially given when he signed as pitchman more than a decade ago. And, by the way, Priceline is holding steady at a whopping $400 per share, gaining another $100 per share in just five months.
Come to think of it, maybe Howard Stern should man up and admit he's been bested and deliver the "King of All Media" title personally to Shatner's doorstep.
The Gretzky mansion changes hands again: According to reports, the hotly contested north Los Angeles property built by hockey great Wayne Gretzky, and valued at $18.5 million when he sold it to American baseball player Lenny Dykstra three years ago, has been sold at a foreclosure auction for a mere $706,712.
The winning bid came from Jeff Smith of Index Investors, a development and private equity firm.
Of course, there's a catch to the meager price tag before he takes full possession of the 6.5-acre compound: Smith is on the hook for about $12 million in payments Dykstra owes to the first lender, missed back payments and back taxes.
"It's an unbelievably beautiful estate," Smith is reported as saying. "I'm so excited I haven't been able to sleep ... I think I can get $14.5 million for it."
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