Who Is William Shatner's Wife? Inside the 'Star Trek' Icon's Love Life Through the Years

William Shatner and his Wife Elizabeth Shatner attend the Creative Arts Emmy Awards on Sept. 8, 2018, in Los Angeles. (Photo by Paul Archuleta/FilmMagic)

William Shatner has been married four times, and the man loves love.

The Star Trek actor, who celebrates his 93rd birthday on March 22, 2024, recently revealed to Parade.com that he's reunited with his fourth wife, Elizabeth Shatner, following their 2019 split—and he credits the relationship for his longevity.

"My little secret is I'm living with my former wife," he said. "We've, in effect, remarried. But we haven't done another ceremony."

"I've often heard about married couples being partners in life and I think that's what Elizabeth and I have achieved," he said. "I think we're partners. We help each other with our lives."

Cute! Look back at William Shatner's wives and find out all about his current "partner."

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Who is William Shatner's wife?

Shatner is currently not married, but he has reunited with his most recent wife, Elizabeth Shatner (née Martin). He hinted to Parade.com that they're living together, and it's not the first time he's alluded to a reunion with her.

He filed for divorce from Elizabeth in 2019 and they settled in 2020. However, in January 2023, he told The Mirror of Elizabeth, "My wife … she is the zest of life. She brings the flavor."

Related: Fun Facts About Star Trek

What happened to William Shatner's wives?

Shatner has had four wives throughout his life.

Gloria Rand

Shatner's first wife was actress Gloria Rand, who he met while they performed in a TV play he wrote called Dreams. They married in August 1956.

"I wrote a television drama, in which I cast the girl that I subsequently married and became the mother of my three children," he told The Archive of American Television.

Shatner and Rand (real name Rosenberg) share three daughters, Leslie, Lisabeth and Melanie. They divorced in 1969 after 13 years of marriage, and Shatner blames himself for the split, saying that they grew to resent one another because of his work schedule ... and his infidelity.

"I was working so hard to support my family and resented Gloria because I was getting so little joy out of my marriage. She resented me for … for probably many reasons," he wrote in his memoir Up Till Now. 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."

Related: William Shatner On Why Star Trek Is Still So Popular Today

Marcy Lafferty

Shatner met actress Marcy Lafferty on the set of The Andersonville Trial, where she'd been hired to run lines with the cast. They married in October 1973, and they mixed business with pleasure: They teamed up to breed horses together, The Washington Post reported. Shatner also credits Lafferty with helping him to raise his three daughters, who he wrote in Up Till Now "liked her right away."

The couple split amicably in 1996.

Related: William Shatner Tells All

Nerine Kidd

Shatner's third wife was Nerine Kidd, who he met in 1994 when directing an episode of the TV series Kung Fu: The Legend Continues. Kidd struggled with alcoholism, and Shatner recalled some of his friends and family members—including Star Trek co-star Leonard Nimoy—urging him not to marry her because of her addiction.

He married Kidd against their wishes in 1997, noting in his memoir that Kidd was sober on their wedding day. However, he wrote that the next morning, he found her drunk with bottles of vodka hidden throughout their home.

Kidd checked into rehab three times in an effort to get and stay sober, but her recovery wasn't easy. Tragically, on Aug. 9, 1999, Shatner found Kidd drowned in their swimming pool. He tried reviving her and called 911, but she didn't survive.

Shatner wrote a spoken-word poem, "What Have You Done," about her death from his album Has Been, and said performing it was difficult for him.

"I couldn’t get through it. It took me several tries," he told The Guardian in 2021. "With 'What Have You Done,' who is the question aimed at? Sometimes I think it’s aimed at me. Why didn’t I do more? During that period when we were together, we were so much in love and she was drinking, but I didn’t understand addiction."

Shatner founded the Nerine Shatner Foundation in memory of his third wife. The organization hosts a halfway house for women in recovery.

He told The Guardian, "Women come up to me and say: 'You saved my life.' But not me; it was Nerine. She did that."

Related: Why Did William Shatner Live In His Truck After Star Trek?

What does Elizabeth Shatner do for a living?

Elizabeth Shatner is a horse trainer and breeder.

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