“I was really broke.”
Star Trek didn’t start inching toward becoming the worldwide phenomenon it is today until after The Original Series was canceled in 1969. In the years that followed, through the miracle of syndication, a new generation of fans finally began watching reruns of TOS, which led to the franchise’s popularity and profitability.
However, those early years, which happened well before Star Trek exploded and became a part of the popular culture, were a difficult time for struggling actor William Shatner. In fact, the performer who is now synonymous with the role of Captain James T. Kirk “didn’t have any money” when TOS closed up shop six decades ago. Shatner elaborated in an interview with Entertainment Weekly about his bygone financial and personal hardships by saying:
“By the end of Star Trek, I had been divorced, and they didn’t pay that much money to begin with, and there were no residuals because the union hadn’t ever heard of residuals during those years, so I was really broke."
Shatner continued during the same sit-down by saying:
"I didn’t have any money when I finished Star Trek, and I had obligations for another home, and I had to live. So, I put together a summer theater production and went back east in a truck with a cab on the back, which I lived in with my dog to save money. I was homesick and lonely; it was a tough time.”
The financial lull didn’t last long for Shatner because he and most of the USS Enterprise’s crew would successfully reunite on the big screen in 1979 for the first of six lucrative Star Trek movies, none more popular than The Wrath of Khan and The Voyage Home with the fandom.
To borrow one of Mr. Spock’s most famous observations, I find Shatner’s journey fascinating. While he might have gone recognized and been broke in those immediate years following Star Trek’s cancellation, the circumstances are drastically different today.
Shatner is one of the most recognizable celebrities in the world, whether you’re a fan of the beloved science fiction franchise or not. And Shatner is anything but broke today.
According to both Men’s Journal and Celebrity Net Worth, the Star Trek legend is worth approximately $100 million, as of September 2026. So, as much as Captain Kirk touched many of our lives as fans over the year, the popular character literally changed Shatner's life.
For more Star Trek content and to share your comments on William Shatner’s incredible Hollywood journey from rags to riches, visit the Redshirts Always Die Facebook and X pages.
Live long and prosper, Trekkies!
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