Star Trek legend William Shatner does not know what “slowing down” means

• The actor received a diagnosis of tinnitus or other tonal disturbance.
• Shatner continues to compete as a horseback rider, particularly in American Saddlebreds.
• The 91-year-old jumped at the chance to collaborate with Hearing Life.

William Shatner has been breaking new ground in entertainment. However, a few decades ago, he needed to polish his perception of his surroundings.

In the 1990s, the actor received a diagnosis of tinnitus, a chronic buzzing, hissing, ringing, or other tonal disturbance in the ear linked to hearing loss. And he acknowledges that it was a scary experience.

“I realized that if you were given the choice of sight or sound, choose a faculty, most people would say, ‘Well, sight, sight, sight!'” Shatner told news’ Courtney Lopez in an exclusive interview. “It’s argumentative because sound gives you a 360-degree [perspective]. Imagine never hearing music again.”

The sonorous singer has claimed that the harm he sustained when a pyrotechnics effect burst right next to him on the Star Trek set in 1967, during the filming of the episode “Arena,” is what caused his disease, which affects 10 to 15 percent of the population.

But it wasn’t until years later when he was on the beach—”a vivid moment,” he recalled—that he recognized something was very wrong. He continued hearing the whooshing sound of the ebbing waves, even when they were crashing back into the sand.

Shatner recalled that at initially, before realizing that tinnitus “actually is in your brain,” he tried wearing earplugs, but that just made him temporarily “nearly deaf.”

“Your brain starts to internalize the sound like it would if you were living beside an airport,” he continued, “at some point.”

According to Shatner, a doctor at the time warned him that “it might not” become worse. But as you get older, of course, it does, he continued. In spite of Shatner’s still-vibrant, “we’ll take what we can get” attitude, he eventually did. Technically.

But his creative output has barely been affected by the natural development of time. Bill, the 11th album by the legendary stealth recording artist and two-time Emmy winner, was released in 2021. Among his most recent endeavors were four seasons as presenter of The Unexplained on History, as well as performances at the Kennedy Center.

Shatner continues to compete as a horseback rider, particularly in American Saddlebreds and quarter horses. He claimed that he didn’t ride as a child, but “I adapted to horses as if they had always been around. It had a certain magic to it.”

He has also been fortunate enough to have been acting since the age of six, which is virtually his whole life.

“I’ve never done anything else,” Shatner said. “I’ve never driven a taxi, I’ve never waited tables. I’ve never taken an unemployment insurance check. I was always just trying to find something to do that entertains you.”

He was asked if he ever thought about slowing down, and he asked, “What does that mean?”

The 91-year-old jumped at the chance to collaborate with Hearing Life for the company’s new “Live Life to Your Fullest” campaign to raise awareness of hearing loss and the value of hearing testing, so when the opportunity to do so offered itself.

“Getting your hearing checked is critically important,” Shatner noted. “It’s as important as getting your health checked, your eyes checked. There’s a stigma attached to the hearing aid, so that stigma’s got to go. Hearing Life is doing that.”

Shatner was the first to speak out about tinnitus because he had personal experience with facing the unknown. It’s worse than you think it is because of the concern that it won’t go away and that you won’t be able to sleep, which is what happened to me, he explained.

After Shatner began talking about it, other renowned people began calling him frequently “in a panic” after learning they, too, had the illness and were concerned they wouldn’t be able to remember lines or perform their other duties.

Unfortunately, there is no magic bullet; nevertheless, the earlier a person is diagnosed, the sooner they can begin to manage the problem and move ahead.

Shatner “ended up with a famous audiologist,” who told the actor there was nothing he could do but adapt.

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