Star Trek hero Shatner re-ignites long-term feud after accusing co-star Takei of not asking him to same-sex marriage

Published on Thursday 23 October 2008 22:37

WILLIAM Shatner has set his phaser to stun in an extraordinary outburst against former Star Trek co-star George Takei.

The man who will be forever known as Captain Kirk lashed out at his erstwhile Starship Enterprise helmsman Sulu for apparently not inviting him to his same-sex wedding.

Shatner, 77, claims Takei, 71, harbours a grudge against him, which prompted his decision not to ask the star to last month's ceremony in Los Angeles.

It appears to be the latest twist in a feud between the stars of the iconic 1960s TV series which is thought to relate to Shatner's allegedly overbearing role on set and Takei's homosexuality.

Canadian-born Shatner has gone to the length of posting a video on his website to sound off over the wedding debacle.

In a TV chat show-style interview with his daughter Liz, Shatner said: "Poor man. There is such a sickness there. It's so patently obvious that there is a psychosis there."

Takei invited other Star Trek colleagues Nichelle Nichols, who played Uhura, and Walter Koenig, who played Chekhov, to his marriage to Brad Altman, his partner of 21 years. But he disputes Shatner's claims and insists his former colleague was invited but never replied.

He said: "It is unfortunate that Bill was unable to join us for our wedding as he indeed was invited to attend. It is our hope that at this point he joins us in voting 'no' on proposition eight, which seeks to eliminate the fundamental right for same-sex couples to marry in California."

Shatner's video referred to reports of Takei being "often annoyed" that Shatner pressured directors of Star Trek to do close-ups of his Captain Kirk character even when the dialogue focused on another character.

Shatner said in the video: "Apparently I did not allow someone to have a close-up."

Showing bemusement, Shatner said: "I did know him (Takei] very well in the series. I did not know the man, but he has continued to speak badly about me for all these years.

"He (was] obviously hiding his homosexuality – talk about festering and not living the truth of your life and feeling badly about yourself and being fearful of someone finding out this terrible secret.

"You would have thought he would have this epiphany and say – because he and I do not have many years left – 'I wish him well', but instead, what he does is makes this big deal about not inviting me to his wedding.

"What kind of sickness is going on in this man? There must be something else inside George that is festering and makes him so unhappy that he takes it out on me – in effect a total stranger.

"It's sad that the man can't find enough peace in his life to either be positive and say I forgive him for whatever those hurts were, or to shut up about it."

BACKGROUND

THE former Captain Kirk has been accused of being difficult to work with by several Star Trek colleagues.

William Shatner, who was originally a Shakespearean actor, reportedly also fell out with James Doohan, who played Scotty.

He made numerous attempts to patch things up with the actor who played the Scottish ship's engineer, which only finally succeeded four years ago. Shatner's relationship with George Takei – Sulu – has been equally problematic.

He claimed Takei had described him as having a "grand ego of sense of self", and of revelling at being the centre of the Star Trek set.

Takei claimed in June that Shatner had been one of the few members of the show's cast and crew not to have accepted his homosexuality.

Shatner, who has been married four times, now stars in the comedy drama Boston Legal.