BRIDE OF WILLIAM SHATNER

Audiences thrilled to Son of William Shatner. They were chilled by Revenge of William Shatner. And they were both charmed AND slightly turned-on by Bride of William Shatner.

All of which is Balladeer’s Blog’s roundabout way of introducing this quick look at some of the screen appearances of Marcy Lafferty-Shatner, who was married to the legend from 1973-1996.   

PAPER MAN (1971) – Marcy’s appearance in this telefilm was B.S. (Before Shatner). Paper Man starred Dean Stockwell, Stefanie Powers, Tina Chen and Ross Elliott. Marcy played an unnamed secretary.

The plot involved college friends abusing early computer technology to create a non-existent “paper man” just so they could get a credit card in that name and go on a quick spending spree with no accountability.

Things get eerie when the non-existent person they created seems to be tracking them down and killing them one by one.    

COFFEE, TEA OR ME? (1973) – Another made-for-tv movie appearance for the future Bride of William Shatner. America’s 1970s sweetheart Karen Valentine starred in this comedy as a stewardess who secretly had two husbands – lawyer John Davidson in Los Angeles and artist Michael Anderson Jr. in London.

Louise Lasser, soon to become a superstar with Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman, played a friend of Valentine’s who offered wry comments about the chaos of the bigamist’s situation. Marcy portrayed another stewardess in Karen Valentine’s social circles. 

HUNTER (1973) – Our woman Marcy fades into the background of this telefilm. Not even IMDb lists a character name or designation for her, they just list her as appearing in Hunter. John Vernon gets a rare good guy role as he investigates a seemingly accidental death at a car race.

Vernon’s character David Hunter looks into a link between the death and an enemy spy ring using hypnotic conditioning to set up false “accidents” to kill their targets. This flick either was or was not the pilot for the later espionage series Hunter, depending on which source you go by.

STAT! (1973) -With M*A*S*H doing well, imitations of that show started to pepper the airwaves. Fighting Nightingales was one, Snafu was another and Stat! was yet another one. Marcy played a character who actually had a first and last name in this unsold pilot set in a hospital’s emergency room.

She portrayed Dolores Payne and starred alongside Frank Converse, Michael DeLano and Henry Brown. Future Lethal Weapon director Richard Donner was the man in charge on the set of this medical comedy with dramatic moments.   

WANT A RIDE, LITTLE GIRL? (1974) – Marcy was married to Shatner for about a year by the time this movie came along. It’s better known as Impulse. Bride of Shatner played an unnamed Hotel Clerk while hubby chewed the scenery as a psycho who would romance his way into the lives of lonely women then murder them after bilking them out of all their money.

The Shat gnawed his pinky decades before Dr. Evil and went medieval on the ass of a hapless balloon seller at the beach. Harold Sakata, Oddjob himself, played the former cellmate of Shatner’s character in a prison bride relationship. Bill broke his thumb literally saving Sakata’s life when a fight scene went awry. Bad movie legend William Grefe directed this cult classic.  

KINGDOM OF THE SPIDERS (1977) – Marcy got her meatiest role to date in this 1970s “Nature Strikes Back” horror film about tarantulas getting organized and waging war on humans. Our lady portrayed Terry Hansen, the widow of Shatner’s brother.

William’s doctor character is torn between his and Terry’s obvious longing for each other and his fling with Tiffany Bolling’s female scientist who helps Bill against his arachnid adversaries. Woody Strode and Hoke “Crapout” Howell are along for the ride.  

BACARDI: THE MIXED ONE (1978) – If you watch only one 17-minute promotional short for the Bacardi Rum distillery in Puerto Rico, you MUST make it this one! The Shat and his blushing bride are reunited with director William Grefe for this extremely rare item that makes you forget all about Progress Island U.S.A.  

America’s couple (well, Canada’s couple anyway) pretend to be filming a movie in Puerto Rico when they take a break to tour the Bacardi Rum operations on the island. They learn how the potent potable is bottled and are spellbound by the many, many mixed drinks you can prepare with Bacardi.

Bill goes on to prepare some of those drinks for his fellow cast members back on set and also acts out a sword-fighting scene! Marcy’s performance will convince you that she is, indeed, a human being appearing in this short subject.  

THE DAY TIME ENDED (1979) – Marcy gets her meatiest role since Kingdom of the Spiders in this meandering, unfocused Charles Band product which is like a sci-fi version of an “isolated haunted house” story. She portrays Beth, the daughter of Jim “Jock Ewing” Davis and Dorothy Malone.

Chris Mitchum co-stars as Beth’s husband Richard as our cast members experience attacks by spaceships, very selective time warps and other bizarre phenomena. None of it makes much sense, including the ending, but the sheer WTF? fun of this bad movie more than makes up for it!