Shatner: Life Is For The Living

Nowadays, William Shatner told a British interviewer, he is less worried about Hollywood success than about spiritual fulfillment and whether he has been a good parent to his daughters.

Speaking to Elaine Lipworth of The Daily Mirror, the Captain Kirk actor called wife Elizabeth Martin his soulmate and grew misty-eyed as he described their relationship.

"The thing you have to remember is that life is for the living," said Shatner, recalling his crushing grief after the death of his previous wife, Nerine Kidd, who drowned in their pool after a long battle with alcoholism. "What you need to do, and what I tried to do, is leave yourself open for love."

Shatner wed Martin, who had lost her own spouse to cancer, in February 2001 after they met via a mutual love of horses.

"We are soulmates, which is really a love of the person's soul, their essence, their intelligence, their spirit and their taste," he said, adding that she gave up her business to share his "exciting life" traveling.

In addition to his new guest role on The Practice, which reportedly will lead to a regular part on a spinoff series, Shatner has been working on the sequel to Miss Congeniality with Sandra Bullock and an album due later this year.

But he said that he was happiest at his ranch, where he senses the spirits of Indians as well as the spirits of his late wife and his wife's late husband.

"It's a magical place and that's where my grief exists as well."

Discussing his daughters and their careers, Shatner admitted, "They are all doing well, but I'm always worried about whether I've done a good job as a parent. I'm just trying my best."

"Life is all about love," he concluded. "How would I like to be remembered? Not as an actor, but as a man who has tried to touch lives with love."

The Mirror interview is here.

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