William Shatner Was Married Four Times, All About His Ex-Wives Amid Star Trek Icon's Cancer Journey
William Shatner has been married four times. Meet the Star Trek legend's ex-wives as he and his daughter Melanie reflect on surviving stage 4 cancer.
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Add BollywoodShaadis on GoogleWilliam Shatner has spent nearly seven decades in the entertainment world, becoming a pop culture icon through Star Trek, Boston Legal and countless other projects. At 95, the actor has a newfound zest for life after successfully overcoming a cancer that had given him only months to live.
Shatner recently revealed that he and his daughter, Melanie Shatner Gretsch, battled separate stage 4 cancer diagnoses within months of each other, beating the disease head-on. And now, the father-daughter duo is cancer-free and sharing how the ordeal shaped their outlook on life. With the pop culture legend's resilient comeback, here's a look back at the four women he married and the relationships that defined his life.
William Shatner shares his daughters with his first wife, Gloria Rand
William Shatner's first marriage was to Canadian actress Gloria Rand. The couple tied the knot in 1956, years before Star Trek transformed Shatner into a global icon. The couple built a family together, welcoming three daughters: Leslie in 1958, Lisabeth in 1961 and Melanie in 1964.
The marriage unfolded during the formative years of Shatner's acting career, when he was working tirelessly to establish himself in Hollywood. In his autobiography Up Till Now, Shatner described his first marriage as "lopsided," admitting that he "wasn't good at being married." The actor admitted that his demanding schedule often kept him away from home while Gloria stayed behind to raise their daughters.
The distance gradually led to resentment, misunderstandings, and emotional strain. Realizing neither of the two was happy anymore, William Shatner and Gloria Rand ended their 13-year marriage in 1969.
Shatner's marriage to Marcy Lafferty lasted over two decades
In 1973, Shatner married television actress Marcy Lafferty, and by this time, he was already an established Hollywood star. Shatner and Marcy shared interests, particularly in horses. They spent years breeding, riding, and investing in horses together. Marcy also played a huge role in raising Shatner's daughters from his first marriage. Their relationship lasted 23 years, making it the longest of Shatner's four marriages, though they never had children together.
When the couple finalized their divorce in 1996, it was labelled as 'amicable'. However, their divorce settlement came with unusual requests, including Marcy reportedly receiving horse semen from some of Shatner’s prized stallions.
Shatner's tragic love story with Nerine Kidd
After the end of his marriage to Marcy, Shatner found love again in Nerine Kidd. They married in 1997, and Shatner called Nerine the love of his life and his soulmate. Despite this, he was warned ahainst against marrying Kidd due to her struggles with alcoholism. Shatner believed she would change and married her anyway.
The marriage was tragically short-lived. Just about two years into the marriage, Nerine died in August 1999 in an accidental drowning in the swimming pool of their Los Angeles home. Examiners found significant levels of alcohol and valium in her system at the time of her death.
Shatner has frequently spoken about the devastating loss and later established the Nerine Shatner Foundation to support women recovering from addiction.
Why Shatner's fourth marriage is unlike most celebrity romances
Two years after Nerine’s death, Shatner found love again. He met horse trainer and photographer Elizabeth Anderson Martin, about 27 years his junior, and their shared love of horses brought them together. The couple tied the knot in 2001 and remained together for nearly two decades before Shatner filed for divorce in 2019. The split was finalized the following year.
Surprisingly, the separation didn't last. In 2024, the actor said he and Elizabeth were reunited and were living together once again."We've in effect remarried," he told Parade, explaining that while they never legally tied the knot again, they had rebuilt their relationship as life partners.
William Shatner's cancer journey brought him close to his daughter
In 2024, Shatner shared his devastating stage-4 melanoma diagnosis. He has long battled tinnitus, a condition that causes a permanent ringing in his ears, a consequence of being too close to a special effects explosion during filming of Star Trek’s "Arena" episode in 1967.
In 2023, Shatner discovered a lump on his cheek that was eventually diagnosed as stage 4 melanoma, which had spread to his lungs and brain. By that time, his daughter Melanie was already battling stage 4 HER2-positive breast cancer, which was diagnosed in 2022.
The actor underwent surgery followed by two years of immunotherapy. And today, both he and Melanie are cancer-free. Reflecting on her father's unwavering support throughout treatment, Melanie recalled one of her greatest fears.
Melanie told PEOPLE, "I remember vividly thinking, 'I don't have the strength to take care of myself and lose my father at the same time.'" However, Shatner encouraged her to focus solely on recovery and even reassured her that she need not worry about mounting medical bills.
Now cancer-free and happier than ever, their shared experience has inspired them to launch a new podcast, No Time but Now, where they'll speak with doctors, survivors, and experts about navigating cancer and finding hope after life-changing diagnoses.
Even at 95, William Shatner's story serves as a reminder of very human emotions, heartbreak, and unwavering resilience to fight till the end.
Image courtesy: Social media photos
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