From James Spader to William Shatner: The Cast of ‘Boston Legal,’ Then and Now

Before there was Harvey Spector and Mike Ross on Suits, the legal world was ruled by Alan Shore (James Spader) and Denny Crane (William Shatner) in Boston Legal. Although a bit out of line and full of themselves, people loved these leading Boston lawyers.

A spinoff from the successful series, The Practice, Boston Legal began in 2004, running for five seasons until 2008. Meet the stars of the popular legal drama and find out where you know them from!

James Spader as Alan Shore

Born: February 7, 1960, Boston, Massachusetts

Personal life: Previously married to Victoria Spader from 1987-2004; father of three kids, Sebastian, Elijah and Nathaneal

Best known for: Pretty in Pink (1986), Sex, Lies, and Videotape (1989), The Office (2011-2012) and The Blacklist (2013-2023)

Thoughts on Boston Legal: “He’s a rascal,” Spader said of Shore. “He’s a troublemaker. He has tremendous appetites. I haven’t yet found what he’s scared of, except maybe complacency. That would probably scare the hell out of him.”

William Shatner as Denny Crane

Born: March 22, 1931, Montreal, Canada

Personal life: Previously married to Gloria Rand (1956-1969) Marcy Lafferty (1973-1996)Nerine Kidd (1997-1999) and Elizabeth Shatner (2001-2020); father of three: Melanie, Lisabeth and Leslie

Best known for: Star Trek (1966-1969), Star Trek film series (1979-1994); T.J. Hooker (1982-1986)

Thoughts on Boston Legal: “I knew it earlier [that the character was special] when I had breakfast with the producer, David Kelly,” Shatner said. “He described what he wanted to do and I jumped at the chance to be able to do it. Not only because of his genius, but the character seemed so outlandish.”

Candice Bergen as Shirley Schmidt

Born: May 9, 1946, Los Angeles, California

Personal life: Previously married to Louis Malle (1980-1995) and Marshall Rose (2000-2025)

Best known for: Murphy Brown (1988-2018), Miss Congeniality (2000), Bride Wars (2009)

Thoughts on Boston Legal: “I was reading a script for Boston Legal, and it was heaven,” Bergen said. “David [show creator] originally planned to write me into only one or two episodes as a foil to the male leads, but the character proved so popular that two episodes turned into 91 that aired from 2005 through 2008.”

Rene Auberjonois as Paul Lewiston

Born: June 1, 1940, New York City

Died: December 8, 2019

Personal life: Married to Judith Mihalyi from 1963 until he died in 2019; father of two, Remy and Tessa

Best known for: M*A*S*H (1970), Benson (1980-1986), Star Trek: Deep Space Nine (1993-1999), Madam Secretary (2016) and Certain Woman (2016)

Mark Valley as Brad Chase

Born: December 24, 1964, Ogdensburg, New York

Personal life: Previously married to Anna Torv (2008-2009); father of Sherri Valley

Best known for: Days of Our Lives (1994-1997), Keen Eddie (2003-2004), Stolen (2012) and Batman: The Dark Knight Returns, Part 2 (2013)

Julie Bowen as Denise Bauer

Born: March 3, 1970, Baltimore, Maryland,

Personal life: Previously married to Scott Phillips (2004-2018); mother of three: Oliver, Gustav and John

Best known for: Happy Gilmore (1996), Ed (2000-2004) and Modern Family (2009-2020)

Thoughts on Boston Legal: “I’m a huge David E. Kelley fan,” Bowen said. “Year after year, he writes shows with good female leads… Kelley’s female characters aren’t just the girlfriends sitting around waiting for the guy to come home… I never complained about being the girlfriend on that show.”

Christian Clemenson as Jerry Espenson

Born: March 17, 1958, Humboldt, Iowa

Best known for: The Fisher King (1991), Apollo 13 (1995), The Big Lebowski (1998) and United 93 (2006)