"There is a part of me in him," Shatner told the crowd at the Festival, "and Kirk in me," he added about the character he played on the original "Star Trek," the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported Monday.

Shatner kicked off the festival with humor, but also talked of loss and tragedy, his and Captain James T. Kirk's.

Playing Kirk may have made Shatner a cultural icon, but his career also includes producing, recording, writing, horsemanship and philanthropy.