Thoughts of death spark William Shatner bio-doc
William Shatner is thinking a lot about death these days.
The “Star Trek” icon shared thoughts on his mortality and legacy ahead of the release of the biographical documentary “You Can Call Me Bill,” which focuses on his life. After former co-star Nichelle Nichols' death at age 89 in 2022, Shatner is one of only three surviving members of the original show's cast, the others being George Takei, 85, and Walter Koenig, 86.
“I've turned down a lot of offers to do documentaries before,” Shatner, 91, said during an interview with Variety published Thursday. “But I don't have long to live.”
He said he also considered his grandchildren in his decision to participate in the film, calling it “a way of reaching out after I die.”
Shatner is grandfather of five children, all from his children with the first of his four wives, Canadian actress Glorida Rand. He previously said being a grandparent is “the greatest joy for me.”
“I have the time now to grab a grandchild and talk, and hug and kiss them and make sure that I'm taking time to be with them and to give them some aspect of the things I've learned,” he told the Guardian in 2014.
“So with the time I have left, I like to look at all my grandchildren and try to extract what I can out of my impressions,” Shatner said in the Variety interview. When asked about his legacy, Shatner shared an anecdote about his controversial decision in 2015 to attend a Red Cross fundraiser at Mar-A-Lago instead of the funeral of “Star Trek” co-star Leonard Nimoy.
“I said to the audience, `People ask about a legacy. There's no legacy. Statues are torn down. Graveyards are ransacked. Headstones are knocked over. No one remembers anyone. Who remembers Danny Kaye or Cary Grant? They were great stars. But they're gone and no one cares,' ” Shatner recalled.
“What does live on are good deeds. If you do a good deed, it reverberates to the end of time . ... That's why I have done this film.”