William Shatner Reveals the Origins Behind Denny Crane’s Famous Catchphrase

On Boston Legal, Denny Crane was the flamboyant senior partner at the fictional Boston law firm Crane, Poole & Schmidt, who was as famous for his courtroom victories as he was for his oversized ego. Played by the iconic William Shatner, he was an eccentric legal eagle who claimed to have won more than 6,000 cases and famously repeated his own name as a reminder to everyone around him that he was, in fact, a “legend.” Also known for his deeply affectionate, if politically opposed, friendship with fellow attorney Alan Shore (James Spader), Denny became a primetime favorite and one of the most memorable characters of Shatner’s career outside of Star Trek,.

While speaking with TV Guide Magazine’s Rob Edelstein for “60 Years of Star Trek,” the one-time Captain James T. Kirk took a break from talking about warp cores and shuttle bays to look back on his years at Crane, Poole & Schmidt on David E. Kelley‘s Boston Legal, including a little personal insight into the extraordinary Denny Crane.