William Shatner ‘Wants to Go Out With a Blaze’ but Has Pals Worried: ‘He’s Liable to Crash and Burn’

William Shatner has sparked fears in the past for running himself ragged, but his current schedule is completely out of control as friends fret that he’s being totally delusional with his goals and expectations, a source exclusively tells Closer. 

The former Star Trek heartthrob, 93, has been living by the series’ motto “Live Long and Prosper” for as far back as anyone can remember, telling NBC News in September 2018, “My life has been so lucky — I’ve been so fortunate in terms of health, which is really the basis of everything.” 

“Your health and your energy is partially your doing, but partially accidental — genetic and accidental.”

In William’s memoir, Live Long and…: What I Learned Along the Way, he reaffirmed the basic tenets of a healthy lifestyle: don’t smoke, stay active, eat sensibly and get as much sleep as you need.

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He also gave his own personal self-help tip, “Don’t die. That’s it; that’s the secret. Simply keep living and try not to slow down.”

However, despite vowing to never pump the brakes, the breakneck pace the actor has been working at recently has friends concerned he’s pushing himself too hard, especially considering he opened up back in April 2024 about his battle with stage 4 melanoma, which began as a simple lump under his ear.

“I went and had [the lump] taken out. It was melanoma, stage 4,” William said. “I said, ‘Stage 4?’ And someone in the room said, ‘Sorry.’ I said, “What are you sorry about?’ It was like, ‘Better pack your things.’ That person who said ‘sorry,’ that was very sad, like you are going to die. And I was. They said if this [treatment] they used did not work, I had about 5 months.”

Luckily, the treatment was successful and he is now cancer-free, which has reinvigorated the aging actor and given him a new sense of purpose with what mortality he has left.

“He’s got all these things he wants to do and not a lot of time to do them in, and that’s propelling him to go around at this breakneck speed,” the source tells Closer.

“He’s got this bucket list to fulfill and doesn’t care a damn about what it’s potentially doing to his health.” 

The nonagenarian will travel to Kentucky on Friday, October 4, to present a special screening of Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan, part of a full schedule of premieres, before setting out on a planned Antarctic cruise in December. 

“He wants to go out with a blaze while loved ones would rather see him stick around, chill out and slow down,” says the source.

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While the actor insists he’s not afraid of death, in a tender moment he opened up about losing his father to the Toronto Sun in August 2022, saying, “I’ve heard of people weeping, my father was incapacitated, he had had a stroke and he had tears in his eyes and I wonder quite often what he was crying about. Was he crying about leaving? I loved him very much and he loved me.”

“Was he weeping because of me and leaving this world? That’s the way I feel about it. That’s the way I want to feel about it. I don’t want to feel fear, but I’m afraid I feel fear.”

Now, it’s William’s close friends and family worrying.

“Bill’s always said the secret to longevity is to keep moving, but at this frenetic pace he’s liable to crash and burn.”