Shatner reveals pain of wife's death

Happier times: Shatner and his wife Nerine Kidd

Actor William Shatner has spoken openly on TV about the "monumental" difficulty of dealing with the death of his third wife.

Shatner, 70 - best known for playing Captain Kirk in Star Trek - gave a rare interview to CNN's Larry King in the US on Thursday.

He described how he coped with the pain of the loss of his wife, model Nerine Kidd, who drowned in the couple's swimming pool in California in August 1999.

The actor also spoke candidly about Ms Kidd's fight against alcoholism and acknowledged that he had come under suspicion after finding her body.

You heal like it's a wound - it's a terrible, terrible pain

William Shatner

"My wife, whom I loved dearly and who loved me, was suffering with a disease that we don't like to talk about - alcoholism - and met a tragic ending because of it," said Shatner.

"To deal with that double sword of publicity and grief at the same time was monumental.

"It was the love of my life, the bulwark of what I was, my family and my wife."

Post-mortem

Ms Kidd was discovered at the bottom of the pool on 9 August, 1999, by her husband when he returned home from a business meeting.

The actor recovered her body from the water, but his attempts to resuscitate the 40-year-old failed. She was pronounced dead at the scene.

I had the healing of my family around me; I had the love of friends and family

William Shatner

A post mortem later showed that she had been three times over the state's legal alcohol limit for drivers.

In the TV interview, Shatner described how he thought his life had "ended" with the death of his wife.

"You heal like it's a wound. It's a terrible, terrible pain. But the pain eventually subsides," he said.

He continued that his family, including his four children, helped him carry on.

"I had the healing of my family around me. I had the love of friends and family.

"My daughters one by one lived with me - they'd each take a week and live with me. And so, slowly I was able to come around," said Shatner.

Career

Shatner, who remarried last year to Elizabeth Martin, said he had been lucky to find someone else to love.

"I lucked out. You met my wife Elizabeth, a most wonderful, loving person. I was so lucky in finding somebody," he said.

Shatner's co-star Nimoy played Mr Spock in Star Trek

"She understood my grief because she had nursed her husband in cancer for a year and a half, who died about two years before Nerine died."

Shatner has several movies coming out in the US and has also just released a video entitled, Mind Meld: Secrets Behind the Voyage of a Lifetime, with fellow Star Trek actor Leonard Nimoy.

The video involves the pair interviewing each other and discussing life, death and Star Trek among other subjects.