Photo:PictureLux / The Hollywood Archive / Alamy ; Jeff Kravitz/FilmMagic
PictureLux / The Hollywood Archive / Alamy ; Jeff Kravitz/FilmMagic
William Shatneris no stranger to falling in love.
The Canadian actor, best known for his role as James T. Kirk in theStar Trekfranchise, has been married four times. He wed his first wife, Gloria Rand, in 1956, before he shot to fame. The couple welcomedthree daughterstogether — Leslie, Lisabeth and Melanie — before they divorced in 1969.
Shatner then married Marcy Lafferty in 1973, but they divorced over two decades later in 1996. Shortly after, theMiss Congenialitystar married actress Nerine Kidd in 1997. Just two years later, however, she drowned in the swimming pool at the pair’s Los Angeles home in August 1999.
When it comes to his personal life, theGolden GlobeandEmmywinner is notoriously private. He has, however, opened up about some of his past romances in his autobiographyUp Till Nowand in a few rare interviews.
Here’s a look back at William Shatner’s dating history.
Gloria Rand
JRC/The Hollywood Archive/Alamy
The couple tied the knot on Aug. 12, 1956. During their 13-year marriage, Shatner and Rand welcomed three children: Leslie, Lisabeth and Melanie.
Shatner and Rand ultimately divorced in 1969, which marked the same year thatStar Trek: The Original Seriesaired its final episode. In his 2008 autobiographyUp Till Now,the actor referred to his marriage to Rand as “lopsided” and said that he “wasn’t good at being married.”
“I was working so hard to support my family and resented Gloria because I was getting so little joy out of my marriage,” he wrote. “She resented me for … for probably many reasons. So Gloria stayed home with our girls and it seemed like each week new and beautiful — and seemingly available — women showed up on the set.”
Marcy Lafferty
Ron Galella, Ltd./Ron Galella Collection/Getty
Shatner met his second wife, Marcy Lafferty, on the set of the 1970 movie,The Andersonville Trial.He reflected on their first encounter in his autobiography, writing, “During rehearsals I’d met a lovely woman named Marcy Lafferty, a young actress George Scott had hired to run lines with the cast.”
After meeting, the couple dated for several years, with Shatner writing that his three daughters “liked her immediately.” The pair would often take his children camping and skiing on the weekends, with Shatner describing Lafferty as having a “wonderful sense of humor” and a “ready participant” in the adventures he planned. According to theWashington Post, Shatner also credited Lafferty with helping him raise his daughters successfully.
Shatner described their relationship as “comfortable,” but wrote in his book that it didn’t occur to him that the couple should get married until Lafferty brought it up. In early 1973, she inquired if they were going to wed in the next five years, as Shatner wrote. The duo ended up tying the knot on Oct. 20, 1973.
Though they were both actors, the couple entertained another career opportunity during the course of their relationship — horse breeding. In December 1991, theWashington Postreported that they were “passionately involved” with breeding, rearing and riding American saddlebred show horses.
However, Shatner and Lafferty’s marriage ended in divorce in December 1996, with the actor reflecting on the decision in his 2008 autobiography. He referred to their split as “relatively amicable,” but did note one unusual term from their divorce agreement — he agreed to give Lafferty “fresh-cooled semen” from their champion horses.
Nerine Kidd
Jeff Kravitz/FilmMagic
The couple tied the knot on Nov. 15, 1997, in Pasadena, California, marking Shatner’s third marriage. In an outdoor ceremony, the actor delivered his vows, telling his wife, “I pledge allegiance to you, Nerine, my queen … When it is dark, and there is trouble, you need but wave that bauble and there will be light.”
Prior to their marriage, Kidd struggled with alcohol addiction and ultimately went to rehab on three separate occasions. Shatner later said during a 2008 interview withThe Sydney Morning Heraldthat he married Kidd “against the advice of my family and friends,” including hisStar Trekcostar, the lateLeonard Nimoy.
“You know, [Nimoy] telephoned me just before I married Nerine. He said just one sentence, ‘Bill, you do know that Nerine is an alcoholic,’ " Shatner recalled. “But I absolutely worshipped her and I thought, stupidly, that I could heal her.”
By the time the pair got married, Kidd had stopped drinking. Shatner told the outlet that on their wedding day, his wife was sober, and they had gone to bed “ecstatic” that night. However, once he woke up the next morning at 8:00 a.m., he said she was drunk, adding, “Later, I found she had hidden bottles of vodka all over the house.”
Kidd died on Aug. 9, 1999. Shatner discovered her unconscious in the pool of their California home and pulled her out before calling 911; she was pronounced dead at the scene.
Nerine’s death has stayed with Shatner through the years and had a profound impact on him. “Sometimes I berate her for not having stopped drinking. Sometimes I tell her it’s OK, that I am thinking about her, that she is alive in my mind. But you never get over it,” he toldThe Sydney Morning Herald.
In his late wife’s memory, Shatner founded a charity called the Nerine Shatner Foundation. The charity was connected to a halfway house with room for 11 women. During an interview withThe Guardianin May 2021, he spoke about the impact of the home, telling the outlet, “Women come up to me and say: ‘You saved my life.’ But not me; it was Nerine. She did that.”
Elizabeth Martin
Jason LaVeris/FilmMagic
In a 2014 interview withThe Guardian, Shatner said he was initially attracted to Martin for her beauty, adding, “I think I lucked out because she had so many other qualities as well. Elizabeth has a great sense of humor and a great sense of adventure and she’s very nurturing.”
Shatner and Martin got married on Feb. 13, 2001, in Lebanon, Indiana. However, after 18 years of marriage, Shatnerfiled for divorce from his wife in December 2019, eventually reaching a settlement in March 2020.
In recent years, the former couple have sparked rumors of a reunion. During his May 2021 interview withThe Guardian, Shatner spoke about his and Martin’s relationship status.
“That’s a long story. I don’t know if this is an appropriate time to get into the reasoning,” he said of their divorce, adding of a potential reconciliation, “Well, that’s always hanging there and that makes the relationship really good. Maybe that’s the explanation and I’ve found the solution!”
On Jan. 20, 2023, the pair attended the Living Legends of Aviation Awards at The Beverly Hilton in California, where they were photographed on the red carpet together. At the event, Shatner spoke toThe Mirror, telling the outlet, “My wife … she is the zest of life. She brings the flavor.”
source: people.com
