Albert Ortega/Online USA, Inc/Getty William Shatner and then-girlfriend Nerine Kidd prepare to host the 7th annual Hollywood Charity Horse Show $20,000 Reining Royale.
Nerine Kidd was William Shatner’s third wife. Her tragic death is memorialized in a song on his 2004 album Has Been. If you are curious about the circumstances surrounding Kidd’s death, read on to get the details about her passing, and how Shatner memorialized his wife in song.
Nerine Kidd Drowned
Nerine Kidd died intoxicated and injured according to coroner.
People reported on the Nerine Kidd autopsy, noting both Valium and alcohol (at three times the legal driving limit for the state of California) were in her system at time of death. The autopsy also concluded there was no evidence of foul play. The official cause of death listed was “drowning associated with neck trauma”. Yahoo! adds that Kidd’s body was found with bruising that suggested her death may have been caused by diving headfirst into the pool where she ultimately drowned.
Radar quoted an extract from one of Shatner’s recent memoir, where he stated his grief was “overwhelming” after Nerine’s death.
“This was the type of pain that makes you think either I’m simply going to die or I’m going to kill myself,” Shatner wrote.
Shatner Had Filed for Divorce Shortly Before Her Death
Ethan Miller/Getty ImagesWilliam Shatner speaks during Comic-Con International 2015.
Shatner’s agent, Warren Cowan, told the LA Times that Shatner had filed for divorce prior to Nerine’s passing, but the couple had been attempting to reconcile. The NY Post reported that Shatner had told Nerine he was ready to call it quits for good a few days before her death.
The BBC reported that Shatner set up a memorial fund to help other women struggling with addiction shortly after Nerine’s death.
Leonard Nimoy Warned Shatner About Nerine Kidd’s Drinking
J. Emilio Flores/Getty ImagesActors Leonard Nimoy and William Shatner appear at a public signing.
In an interview with the Sydney Morning Herald, Shatner recalled a warning about Nerine he recieved from a fellow Star Trek cast member.
“Leonard Nimoy telephoned me just before I married Nerine,” Shatner recalled. “He said just one sentence, ‘Bill, you do know that Nerine is an alcoholic.’ I’m not sure what Leonard expected me to say. ‘I know she is,’ I told him. ‘But I love her.’ Leonard didn’t speak for a minute and then he said, sadly, ‘Well, Bill, then you are in for a rough ride’.”
Shatner Wrote a Song About the Night Nerine Died
Listen to What Have You Done by William Shatner in the player above.
On his 2004 album Has Been, Shatner has a song about the night Nerine died. That track, What Have You Done, is a spoken word track that recounts his experiences of finding her body. One passage of the track recalls:
The water was still and so was she
I dove in with so little breath
In truth I knew
I was too late for death
I had one chance
I grasped her arm and floated upwards
Wanting to stay below in the warm forgiving waters
What have you done
I screamed to the stars
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Details on the Cause of Death of Nerine Kidd, William Shatner’s Wife