William Shatner on Getting Shoved in the Face by Neil deGrasse Tyson and Auctioning His Kidney Stone for $75,000
William Shatner sits down with Brent Spiner and Jonathan Frakes on Dropping Names and opens with the moment he still cannot let go of, the time Neil deGrasse Tyson answered him on camera by putting a hand in his face and pushing, hard enough that Shatner went backwards. From there he gets into the…
Two moments from this episode
Altman, Miller Lite and Ann Arbor
Jonathan worked with Robert Altman on a Miller Lite beer commercial shot in Ann Arbor, Michigan, complete with improvisation and overlapping dialogue. As a fan, he wondered why a director he admired was shooting a commercial at all, and Altman gave him a straightforward answer. Jonathan says he has been trying to land another commercial ever since.
“He said, Jonathan, the money in commercials is great.”
Neil's Wrestler Move
While shooting publicity with Neil deGrasse Tyson for a show they were doing together, Bill disagreed about whether they had the take, and Neil simply pushed his face away instead of arguing. Bill says Neil is so physical, a former wrestler, that the shove took the place of words, and he was taken so far aback that he fell backward. Afterward their producer had a quiet word with Neil about it.
“Neil, you can't push somebody in the face.”
Names dropped in this episode
46 names come up in this episode, in the order they are mentioned. Tap a timestamp to jump straight to that moment.
Leonard Nimoy
4:13American actor and director, famous for playing Spock in the Star Trek franchise for over 40 years Wikipedia ↗
Arnold Schwarzenegger
6:34Austrian and American actor, businessman, film producer, politician, and former professional… Wikipedia ↗
Photo: Bernhard Holub · CC BY-SA 4.0
Marlon Brando
14:41American actor Wikipedia ↗
Neil deGrasse Tyson
15:09Neil deGrasse Tyson is an American astrophysicist, author, and science communicator Wikipedia ↗
Photo: Maryland GovPics · CC BY 2.0
Alexander Skarsgård
17:16Alexander Johan Hjalmar Skarsgård is a Swedish actor Wikipedia ↗
Photo: Veggiegalaxy · CC BY-SA 4.0
Stephen Hawking
19:34English theoretical astrophysicist, cosmologist, and author who was director of research at the Centre… Wikipedia ↗
Isaac Newton
20:21English polymath who was a mathematician, physicist, astronomer, alchemist, theologian, historian and… Wikipedia ↗
Albert Einstein
20:21German-born theoretical physicist best known for developing the theory of relativity Wikipedia ↗
Christopher Columbus
23:17Italian explorer and navigator from the Republic of Genoa who completed four Spanish transatlantic… Wikipedia ↗
Thomas Edison
23:17American inventor and businessman known for his work on the incandescent light bulb, the phonograph… Wikipedia ↗
Luigi Mangione
24:31American former software engineer known for killing Brian Thompson, the CEO of UnitedHealthcare, in 2024 Wikipedia ↗
Brian May
25:23English musician, animal welfare activist, and astrophysicist Wikipedia ↗
Photo: Gage Skidmore · CC BY-SA 4.0
Peter Frampton
25:23English musician who rose to prominence as a member of the rock bands The Herd and Humble Pie Wikipedia ↗
Rick Wakeman
25:23English keyboardist and composer best known for his multiple tenures in the progressive rock band Yes… Wikipedia ↗
Photo: Stéphane Gallay · CC BY 2.0
Bootsy Collins
25:23William Earl "Bootsy" Collins is an American bass guitarist, singer, and songwriter Wikipedia ↗
Photo: MikaV · CC BY-SA 4.0
Judy Collins
25:23American singer-songwriter and musician with a career spanning nearly seven decades Wikipedia ↗
Photo: Raph_PH · CC BY 2.0
Brad Paisley
25:53American country music singer, songwriter, and guitarist Wikipedia ↗
Photo: Crisco 1492 · CC BY-SA 4.0
Joe Walsh
25:53American guitarist, singer, and songwriter Wikipedia ↗
Photo: Derek Russell · CC BY-SA 2.0
Judy Garland
26:23American actress, singer, and vaudevillian whose career spanned four decades Wikipedia ↗
Gregory Peck
27:20American actor Wikipedia ↗
John Huston
27:40American and Irish filmmaker and actor Wikipedia ↗
Stanley Kramer
28:09American film director and producer, responsible for making many of Hollywood's most famous "message… Wikipedia ↗
Burt Lancaster
29:01American actor Wikipedia ↗
Spencer Tracy
29:26American actor Wikipedia ↗
Harold Clurman
30:19American theatre director and drama critic Wikipedia ↗
Julie Harris
30:19American actress Wikipedia ↗
Christopher Plummer
33:39Acclaimed actor, played General Chang in Star Trek VI Wikipedia ↗
Yul Brynner
40:05Yuliy Borisovich Briner , known professionally as Yul Brynner , was a Russian and American actor Wikipedia ↗
Albert Salmi
40:57American actor of stage, film, and television Wikipedia ↗
Rod Serling
46:32American screenwriter and television producer, widely known for his live television dramas of the… Wikipedia ↗
Elia Kazan
49:39Elias Kazantzoglou , known as Elia Kazan , was a Greek-American film and theatre director, producer… Wikipedia ↗
Baruch Spinoza
55:18Baruch Spinoza , also known under his Latinized pen name Benedictus de Spinoza, was a philosopher of… Wikipedia ↗
John Keats
55:48English poet of the second generation of Romantic poets, along with Lord Byron and Percy Bysshe Shelley Wikipedia ↗
Jeff Bezos
60:33American businessman, and the founder, executive chairman, and former president and CEO of Amazon, the… Wikipedia ↗
Elon Musk
60:33Businessman, industrialist, and former public official who is the chief executive officer and largest… Wikipedia ↗
Photo: Gage Skidmore · CC BY-SA 4.0
Sam Altman
60:33American entrepreneur and investor who has been the chief executive officer of the artificial… Wikipedia ↗
Photo: 首相官邸ホームページ / Office of the Prime Minister of… · CC BY 4.0
Mr. T
64:50American actor and retired professional wrestler Wikipedia ↗
Photo: Miguel Discart · CC BY-SA 2.0
Diana Nyad
66:17American author, journalist, motivational speaker, and long-distance swimmer Wikipedia ↗
Photo: Gage Skidmore · CC BY-SA 3.0
Guy Fieri
American restaurateur, author, and television presenter Wikipedia ↗
Photo: Big Red Liquors · CC BY 3.0
Lorne Greene
Ben Cartwright on Bonanza Wikipedia ↗
Howard Da Silva
Howard da Silva was an American actor, singer, and theatre director Wikipedia ↗
Photographs from Wikimedia Commons.
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