Leonard Nimoy and William Shatner — two actors who boldly went where no man had gone before as James Kirk and Spock on the 1960s TV series Star Trek — had a “very challenging relationship,” according to Nimoy’s son, Adam.
“It’s unfortunate, it’s sad, but it is what it is,” Adam, author of the book The Most Human: Reconciling with My Father, Leonard Nimoy, told Page Six. “I love Bill, but I can say, I will say, that they had a very challenging relationship themselves.”
Paramount/Everett Collection
Adam said that he knows why his father and Shatner feuded — and intends to “let sleeping dogs lie” — but also pointed out that there was a period when the two Star Trek actors were “really beautifully … together.”
During that time, Leonard told Adam and his other child, Julie Nimoy, that Shatner was his best friend. “Julie and I were scratching our heads,” Adam recalled. “Like, ‘What? You’ve knocked heads with Bill all your professional life.’ And now they had some reconciliation. And it was beautiful, but they just couldn’t sustain it. And that’s unfortunate.”
In a 2022 interview, Shatner reflected on his and Leonard’s relationship. “Leonard was a wonderful guy who struggled, the same way I did, with family and children and career and gradually made his way up through talent and attendance,” the Kirk actor told Entertainment Tonight. “We were like brothers. I loved him as family.”
Shatner also opened up about falling out with Leonard in the years before the Spock actor’s 2015 death. “I don’t know what happened. He wouldn’t answer my calls,” Shatner said. “I wrote him a heartfelt letter saying how much I loved him and I wished him well, because he was dying. I wanted to see him, and I am hurt, and so, devastated. Somebody said they’ve known people who got ill and didn’t want to see anyone because they were ill, and I’d like to say that was the reason.”