>> the extraordinary william shatner. captain kirk himself opens up about "star trek" and why his co-stars hate him. >> what are you talking about? i thought i was loved. >> how he'd like to be remembered. >> blazing in the sky with sky-writing, with fire, "shatner." >> and the greatest moment of his life. >> what has been the single greatest moment of your life? >> doing the piers morgan interview. >> well, obviously. >> this is "piers morgan tonight." good evening. we start with breaking news, with shocking new developments in the case of natalie wood, the actress who once said her greatest fear was dark seawater, who drowned 30 years ago next week. her body was found bay mile from a yacht she'd been on with her husband, robert wagner, and fellow actor christopher walken. the los angeles county sheriff's office reopened the case yesterday in response to claims from several people who said they have "additional information" about natalie wood's death. joining me now is natalie's sister, lana wood, in her first television interview since the case was reopened. lana, very, very extraordinary development in this case. no other way to describe this. that 30 years on it has been reopened. what was your reaction when you heard? >> i know that there had been petitions out, and i know that there were a great, great number of people that wanted the case looked into properly. and i have very mixed feelings about all of it at all times, actually. and it's just -- it's very, very difficult for me. it's -- this is a pain that i've lived with for the past 30 years. and now i'm going to have to look at it more closely again as it unfolds, as i will. you know, in caring. i think what's important to remember here is that this is about natalie and for natalie. it's not for anyone else. and i think that it's time that natalie's actual voice was heard. and that's what i'm hoping will come from the investigation. >> i mean, the key development appears to center around dennis davern, who was the former captain of the yacht, "splendour." he broke his silence with a detailed account of what he claimed at the time had happened in "good-bye, natalie, good-bye splendour," which was published in 2009. but on nbc's "today" show this morning he said this. let's watch this. >> was he responsible for her death in some way? >> well, like i said, i think we all made mistakes that night. and -- >> mr. davern, that wasn't my question. was he responsible for her death? i'm not asking about your story. >> yes, i would say so, yes. >> how so? >> i really don't want to get involved in -- >> well, how can you come on national television, sir, and accuse him of something like that but not back it up? >> well, that's up to the investigators. >> so i mean pretty clear implication there from the captain of the yacht that he believes robert wagner was more involved in natalie's death than we were led to believe. i have to stress that the los angeles county sheriff's department stressed today publicly that robert wagner is not a suspect. so there remains a very confusing picture. >> right. >> and of course the veracity of this captain's testimony must be called into question simply because he hasn't said this before and he's published books about this. >> he's been trying to say something for quite a number of years. he used to call me quite frequently about ten years after natalie passed. and tell me bits and pieces in a very agitated manner, very upset, crying. that there was more to it than he said. and how guilty he felt. and i always told him at the time go to the authorities, then. and he was scared. and i don't know. i know that the sheriff's department, the homicide division, is taking this all very seriously. and i think what's important is not what i think happened or someone else thinks happened. i think what's important is to get to the bottom of what actually did happen. and i think that's what they should be allowed to do. i don't think anybody -- i don't know. you know, only r.j. and natalie know, and only one of them can speak. >> when was the last time you spoke to robert wagner? >> oh, my goodness. 14 years ago, when my mother passed away. >> what is your feeling towards him? >> i've known r.j. since i was 9 years old. i've always loved him dearly. i can't imagine that he purposefully would have done anything to hurt natalie. however, i know things happen when there's too much drinking and fighting. and there again, this is so difficult for me. you have no idea how painful this is. i just think -- i just think it's time for the family to hear the truth. that's all. >> robert wagner has made a statement through his publicist today. and it says that "although no one in the wagner family has heard from the l.a. county sheriff's department about this matter, they fully support the efforts of the l.a. county sheriff's department and trust they will evaluate whether any new information relating to the death of natalie wood wagner is valid, and that it comes from a credible source or sources other than those simply trying to profit from the 30-year anniversary of her tragic death." fairly pointed, i would say, that statement. a clear suggestion that the motivation of this captain of the yacht may well be driven by the 30th anniversary, the chance to make money, as he has done in the past. are you -- you've spoken to him, as you said, many times. you know this guy better than most people. do you think that what he says should be taken seriously, or could he have other motivations? >> i think that -- first of all, i think that that's sort of a slap in the face to the homicide department because they wouldn't simply reopen a case based upon what one person is saying. i don't think that's quite fair to them. secondly, dennis has always told me the truth. he has withheld a great deal, but he's always told me the truth. and in speaking with him, i have no reason not to believe him. he's never lied to me before. i don't know -- i don't think he has anything to gain. i think it's a matter of trying to get -- to purge himself. i don't know what his -- i don't really think it's about money, though. i really don't. >> he clearly, this captain, believes it wasn't just an accident. in the conversations you've had with him, i mean, the general agreed areas of what may have gone on that night are that alcohol was involved, there was fighting of some description between natalie and robert. when you've spoken to this guy, has he said to you that he believes robert was personally involved in her falling from the boat? >> yes. he has told me that. >> and this is presumably what he's now told the police? >> presumably. i don't think they're just taking his word for it, though. they have been in touch with me for quite some time. and they have information from a lot of other people, a lot of other sources. i would prefer, as i'm sure a great many people would, to not have all this brought up in this fashion. i would prefer to always believe that r.j. would never do anything to hurt natalie and that he loved her dearly, which he did. and i don't believe that whatever went on was deliberate. i've always cared about him. i always will care about him. and i would prefr to continue living the prior explanations. but i don't think that's going to happen. and it's -- as i've said, very painful. very, very painful. it's going to be painful for everyone, i'm sure. >> and finally, lana, what are your thoughts about natalie as we speak today? it's 30 years since she died. you lost a beloved sister. she was a wonderful actress. she was an incredibly well-loved person. >> yes. yes. it's -- she -- there are so many parts of natalie that are still with all of us. it's the movies. it's the smile. it's the laughter. it's the bits of herself that she gave to every role that she did. and i don't mean that to sound, you know, soppy at all. i miss her enormously. and all of our lives changed drastically at her passing. but i also know that there were some unkind things being said about natalie that were not true. and i think it's time for those things to be put to rest as well. and let's just let everybody do their job. and the innocent have nothing to fear. so you know, it should go smoothly, hopefully. >> what are the misconceptions about natalie that upset you the most? >> oh, various things that were said in a couple of books, i believe, gavin lambert's book and another one. i tried not to look at them, but people keep bringing them to my attention, saying look at this, look at this. whereas i would rather not. those things stay with you. they sort of eat at you. that she was flirtatious and that she would have left the boat undressed to go to a party. it's the most ludicrous thing i've ever heard. she wouldn't leave the house unless she was fully made up and fully dressed. she wouldn't go in the back yard. it's just -- it's ridiculous. it made her seem like -- i don't know, like someone frivolous. and she was not frivolous. she really was not. she needed to be more frivolous, but she wasn't. not in the least. various things like that. >> from your conversations with captain davern, are you in any doubt now that natalie didn't fall into the sea, that she was pushed? >> i don't think she fell. i don't know if she was pushed. i don't know whether there was, you though, an altercation and it happened accidentally. but i don't -- she shouldn't have died. she shouldn't have died. and that does stay with me. and hurt. >> lana wood, i really appreciate you coming on today. thank you very much. >> thank you, piers. coming up, the moment "star trek" fans like me have been waiting for. the one and only william shatner. i wouldn't do that. pay the check? 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[ male announcer ] progresso. you gotta taste this soup. william shatner, welcome. i didn't mean to shock you. >> woke me up. >> do you know i look at you, and somebody said to me, you're 80 years old. >> well, somebody said to me you're 40. that's -- >> 46, actually. but either way, you don't look 80. you shouldn't be 80. >> i don't feel 80 and i don't know how to deal with that. i don't know how to deal with being 80. >> this great book, "shatner rules," quite miserably. you don't want to be 80 and facing death, do you? >> no. as you've already read in the book, i described getting my 80th birthday, getting up and not wanting to get up and realizing that i had to get up because it could all end right now. >> do you fear death? >> i'm in torment. i'm in terror. i'm terrified. i envy the people that say, well, got my name in the golden book and i'm going to be entered into the pearly gates. >> what do you hope happens? >> that this continues. can't i go on? make a record here and there, write a book now and then, say hello to my wife in the morning? it would be great. >> are you ever happy? you've worked unbelievably hard your entire life. you don't need the money. you don't need the success. you've had every success imaginable. what drives you? why do you still put yourself through this? >> piers, if you were given the opportunity to have a great interview, a great interview, but you're sick and you're tired and you're in your -- wouldn't you get up out of bed -- >> yeah. >> -- and make it to the -- and they'll say, well, piers, we'll have anderson do it. and you'd say no. >> dear god. >> dear god. >> even if i was dead, i'd get out of the coffin if i heard those words. >> that's right. there would be a rap on the thing, you'd slowly emerge and come out. i'm going to do thant view. >> is that how you feel? >> yes. i've got to do this record. i've got to do that part. i've got to write this book. i've got to say this thing. i've got to ride those horses. got to. >> you've been acting for six? seven decades? you've been singing for all of that time as well. you've been making hilarious commercials. you've done all sorts of stuff. what is the one thing, if you're completely honest, that you enjoy above everything else that you've ever done? >> i like making people laugh. making people laugh is a joyful occupation. first of all, the invention of the joke itself. it's a crafting art. a good joke about -- and it has to have commentary as well, whether it's on the human condition or the political condition. whatever it is. a joke makes you laugh at the thing that's scathing, usually. >> but your comedy now, a lot of it, comes from television, where people are laughing a long time after you tape this stuff. do you not fancy if comedy's the thing that really gets you going, do you not fancy taking the ultimate risk and going on a stand-up tour? >> well, i am, basically. in the one-man show called "how time flies." i mean, the opening joke is have your cake and my mother's whole thing is that -- >> no, i love this story. this is from your book. i actually tore it out i loved it so much. so your mother, god bless her, had this wonderful thing where she would go to any restaurant, often with the entire family, and say it's her birthday and then you would all get massive amounts of cake. >> well, no, one piece. >> but it was never her birthday. >> no. it was her birthday once that year. then she would go to a restaurant with all of us -- there were a lot of us. and say it's my birthday. so the waiters would come out and sing "happy birthday to you." my mother would say thank you very much. and in the beginning we sang happy birthday to my mother, and then after a while we wouldn't sing happy birthday. and the waiters got really annoyed and upset. and the maitre d' i heard him say once, shatner hates his mother. >> what did she teach you about life? >> my mother was an exuberant, silly lady. and that silliness, which on her part was a little overboard for the silliness -- you need to be silly to be funny. but you can't be too silly. on the other hand, depending on what kind of comedy it is -- i mean, slapstick is silly. but slapstick is like the slipping -- the pretentious man slipping on the banana peel. it's funny and it's cruel and it's observant. but that's slapstick. it's outrageous. when you throttle all that back, you've got drawing room comedy. and somebody drops a cup of tea. i mean, it's all related. >> so you've always i think brilliantly been able to laugh at yourself without ever crossing that line where it becomes a bit ridiculous. you've managed to straddle that divide -- >> and that's the key. and you're working without a net and without an audience if -- but laughing at yourself, the whole irony of life. i mean, the fact that we're here talking about me in the midst of all this chaos. and a bit of a joke. so it should take its rightful place in the importance -- >> what's the best william shatner joke you've ever heard? >> the best william shatner joke? >> yeah. >> i'm terrible with jokes. i can't remember them. >> what was the one from your roast you that found most offensive and yet funny? >> oh, the roast was -- oh. well, this actor george takei. i was given the line that was the line. i rode in on a horse on my roast. and the obvious line is screw you. f. you and the horse you rowed in on. right? someone got the line. george got the line. but he disliked me so much that when he said it he meant it. it wasn't funny at all. holy cats, george. take it easy. >> we're going to come back and talk about your relationship with your "star trek" colleagues. because that again is very amusing in this book. i also particularly liked, and we'll come back to this, your list of questions you've had to answer at "star trek" conventions because you've had to answer these things so bloody often you now have every answer in the book. no need to answer any more "star trek" questions. leonard, definitely. the other four, not so much. e, so i wasn't playing much of a role in my own life, but with advair, i'm breathing better so now i can take the lead on a science adventure. advair is clinically proven to help significantly improve lung function. unlike most copd medications, advair contains both an anti-inflammatory and a long-acting bronchodilator, working together to help improve your lung function all day. advair won't replace fast-acting inhalers for sudden symptoms and should not be used more than twice a day. people with copd taking advair may have a higher chance of pneumonia. advair may increase your risk of osteoporosis and some eye problems. tell your doctor if you have a heart condition or high blood pressure before taking advair. if you're still having difficulty breathing, take the lead. ask your doctor if including advair could help improve your lung function. get your first full prescription free and save on refills at advaircopd.com. gives you a 50 percent annual bonus. so you earn 50 percent more cash. if you're not satisfied with 50% more cash, send it back! i'll be right here, waiting for it. who wouldn't want more cash? 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[ male announcer ] the new capital one cash rewards card. the card for people who want 50% more cash. what's in your wallet? sorry i'll clean this up. shouldn't have made it rain. sorry i'll clean this up. after your dishcloth? bounty extra soft can help. in this lab test bounty extra soft leaves this surface three times cleaner than a dishcloth. super clean. super soft. bounty extra soft. in the pink pack. beam me aboard. >> energize. >> energize. >> gentlemen, i suggest you beam me aboard. >> 10. 9. 8. >> mr. scott. 6. >> fire now. >> okay. i need to just admit something. >> i don't know what that was all about. a lot of hullabaloo. >> i have to admit something. i loved "star trek." i was a trekkie. i mean, literally bordering on going to a convention. never actually did. >> why didn't you go to a convention? >> no, i didn't. i nearly did. >> why didn't you? >> i should have done. >> why didn't you? >> i would have done. >> why didn't you? >> i just don't think they ever had one in my neck of the woods, a little sleepy village in the south of england. but i loved "star trek." and i loved to just crave "star trek." >> you know why? >> captain kirk was like my idol. why? >> it's part of the myth. >> what is the myth? >> joseph campbell. everybody