He filed for divorce in February 2019 and it was finalized in January 2020. He filed for the divorce just four days after his wife's brother died.
William Shatner, who turned 90 on March 22, has seen quite a lot of grief in his life. He was married four times and as of 2020, has been divorced four times as well. After his last divorce was finalized, the Star Trek actor portrayed a strong front. However, it must have hurt since he was married to horse trainer Elizabeth Shatner for 18 years.
He filed for divorce in February 2019 and it was finalized in January 2020. At the time, he joked about being a "heartthrob" at his age. He also said that he was not "upset," writes The Express UK. He added, "Nothing makes me sad at this age. It's all good here. It's all good. I wish everyone well." Not feeling the negative emotions may have caused him to be insensitive towards his ex-wife's as well. He reportedly filed for divorce only four days after her brother died, reported Fox News.
"Respect distance from divorce topic while we grieve my brother respectfully," she added, according to Fox News.
They settled their divorce fairly quickly since he had a strong pre-nuptial agreement in place, according to The Blast. Shatner's net worth is $100 million and splitting that up without the agreement may have caused him more distress. He will be paying no spousal support to his ex-wife, who is more than two decades younger than him. He continues to get royalties from Star Trek movies and TV shows after playing Captain James T. Kirk on the iconic space saga. What would have been discussed would be his earnings from the work he did when they were married.
His broken heart isn't the only grief in his life. The actor, who was previously hitched to Nerine Kidd, Marcy Lafferty, and Gloria Rand, lost Kidd untimely. He has two daughters, Lisabeth Shatner, 58, and Leslie Carol, 61, with Rand. The Boston Legal actor had lost his third wife in 1999 when she died in his swimming pool. She drowned accidentally. The actor was deeply affected by his loss even though their marriage had been tumultuous.
He was the one to discover her lifeless body in the pool. "I found her in our pool and lifted her out of the water,” Shatner explained, according to RadarOnline. “The emergency responders rushed to the house, but there was nothing that could be done. I saw her body lying there in the moonlight.”
She was only 40 at the time, and the couple had recently reconciled after trying to part ways. However, days before her death he told her that he was ready to leave for good. And, there was a specific reason for that. He wanted to leave because of the same reason that killed her, the disease called alcoholism. Her autopsy revealed that there were traces of alcohol and Valium in her system and they contributed to her sudden drowning.
Shatner later revealed that he had felt helpless about supporting her out of her addiction. "I fought and fought to save my wife from the serpent of alcoholism – but I failed,” Shatner said. “Nerine would hide bottles of alcohol all around the house where I couldn’t find them, and even hide her vodka in water bottles.”
In his upcoming memoir, Live Long and…What I Learned Along the Way, he wrote, "My grief was overwhelming. This was the type of pain that makes you think either I’m simply going to die or I’m going to kill myself."
He revealed that he felt "completely lost” after her death. "The drowning death of my wife Nerine haunts me," he confessed in the book.
Even though he has been married four times, they were all long-term relationships. He and his first wife Rand were together for 13 years, and he and his second wife Lafferty were together for 23 years.
After going through so much the actor is still upbeat and willing to work hard. He recently filmed the History channel documentary series The UnXplained, which looks into several unusual phenomena. "I was a cynic but as of late I’m less disapproving. With new ways of photographing, we’re seeing what the person claims to have seen," he was quoted as saying by Express UK. He added, "There was a film of what some air force people saw and there’s no explanation for it."
It is inspiring that he continues to focus on work at 90 as well.
References:
https://www.foxnews.com/entertainment/william-shatner-finalizes-divorce-report
https://www.foxnews.com/entertainment/william-shatner-divorce-nothing-makes-me-sad-at-this-age
Cover image source: Getty Images | Photo by (L) Amanda Edwards, (R) David Livingston
