William Shatner is opening up about his friendship with the late Leonard Nimoy. The two worked together on the iconic Star Trek series and became fast friends. However, William said that after decades of friendship, Leonard seemingly shut him out during the last few months of his life.
Leonard passed away in 2015 at the age of 83 from end-stage chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. He believed his diagnosis came from years of smoking and he urged others to quit. William said that he tried to reach out to Leonard before he died but never got a response.
William Shatner doesn’t know why there was a fallout between him and Leonard Nimoy
He explained, “Not knowing was part of the hurt. Leonard and I knew each other for 50 years. We were brothers. He was the brother I never had. And we were in each other’s domain again and again… We were really good friends. And then something… happened. I never found out. But in the last six months of his life, he wouldn’t connect with me. I wrote him. [I told him] I loved him. And I knew he was very sick. He was dying.”
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William continued, “Well, I wrote him a note, shortly before he died. I don’t think he read it. Never got a response from this heartfelt note, but I would say to him what I wrote in the note. ‘Hey, my God, you are my friend. If I’ve done anything wrong, tell me about it because I love you. And I value our friendship. Why don’t you tell me what I did? I won’t do it again.’ That opportunity never existed, but that’s what I would say to him.”
However, Leonard’s daughter did reach out to William after his death. She didn’t explain what happened but she told him that her father loved him. William said that it made him “feel a lot better.”
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