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The Truth About William Shatner’s Ex-Wives

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Four marriages, four divorces, and one Starfleet captain who never quite figured out domestic life.

William Shatner spent decades commanding the Enterprise on screen, but off camera his personal life told a messier story — one of four marriages spanning 1956 to 2020, each ending in divorce. From a Canadian TV actress to a horse trainer who wrote him a condolence letter, Shatner’s ex-wives trace a real arc through tragedy, drift, and eventual peace. Here’s what actually happened.

• Shatner’s 13-year marriage to Gloria Rand, mother of his three daughters, collapsed in 1969 during the height of original “Star Trek” production.
• In August 1999, Shatner found his third wife, Nerine Kidd, dead at the bottom of their Studio City pool — an accidental drowning tied to alcohol and Valium.
• His fourth marriage, to Elizabeth Anderson Martin, lasted nearly two decades before he filed for divorce in 2019, finalized in 2020.

Gloria Rand And The First Marriage

Shatner married Canadian actress Gloria Rand in August 1956 after the two met on the set of the TV play “Dreams.” The couple had three daughters — Leslie, born in 1958, Lisabeth, born in 1961, and Melanie, born in 1964 — and built a life together as Shatner’s career climbed toward “Star Trek.” But the marriage frayed during the show’s original run, and Rand and Shatner divorced in 1969 after 13 years together.

Shatner later admitted the marriage’s dynamic never worked in his favor. He acknowledged he “wasn’t good at being married,” pointing to a lopsided relationship that couldn’t survive the demands of his schedule and ego during those Enterprise years.

Marcy Lafferty And Two Decades Together

Shatner’s second marriage came in October 1973, when he wed actress Marcy Lafferty, whom he’d met around the production of the 1970 TV movie “The Andersonville Trial.” Lafferty grew close to Shatner’s three daughters from his first marriage, and the couple stayed together for 23 years — longer than any of his other unions.

When it ended in 1996, both sides described it as amicable. In his autobiography “Up Till Now,” Shatner recalled Lafferty’s own read on what happened: “life took us apart, and it was time to move on.” No scandal, no blowup — just two people whose paths stopped running parallel.

Nerine Kidd And A Tragic Ending

In 1997, Shatner married former model and actress Nerine Kidd, whom he’d met at a Toronto hotel bar while directing “Kung Fu: The Legend Continues.” The marriage was overshadowed almost immediately by Kidd’s severe alcoholism, and it ended in the worst way possible.

In August 1999, Shatner discovered the 40-year-old Kidd dead at the bottom of their Studio City swimming pool — an accidental drowning involving alcohol and Valium.

The loss devastated Shatner, coming just two years into the marriage. It’s the kind of blindsiding tragedy that shows up in relationship retrospectives like Inside Megan Fox’s Relationship History — a reminder that even a public figure’s private life can turn on a single terrible night.

Elizabeth Anderson Martin And A Long Goodbye

Shatner’s path to his fourth marriage started with grief. Elizabeth Anderson Martin, a horse trainer and photographer, sent Shatner a condolence letter after Kidd’s death, and the two connected over a shared passion for equestrian sports. They married in 2001.

The marriage lasted nearly two decades before Shatner filed for divorce in 2019. It was finalized in 2020 through an amicable financial settlement — a far quieter ending than the drama that colored some of his earlier marriages, and one that echoes the kind of low-key split covered in The Real Reason Phaedra Parks Got Divorced.

Four marriages, four divorces, and a 1999 tragedy in between — that’s the actual record behind Captain Kirk’s love life, not the tabloid speculation. Shatner turned 90 in March 2021 still working, still doing interviews, and by his own account still not entirely sure why marriage never stuck.