On Tuesday, skilfully avoiding speculation of a Valentine's Day wedding and heavy media attention, William Shatner (James T. Kirk) married for the fourth time in his life as he walked down the aisle with Elizabeth J. Martin.

On Monday, the couple managed to catapult the tiny town of Lebanon, Indiana, into national media attention when they applied for a license to marry there. A day later they already took part in the actual ceremony, thereby making sure that the press didn't have any time to make its way to the town - all news organisations (including ourselves) only ">reported the news on Tuesday, when the marriage might actually have already been completed.

The wedding took place at the home of Martin's parents, Dorothy and Daniel Anderson, who own a horse farm in Lebanon. Martin herself, who is 42, lived in the town at least during her childhood, graduating from Lebanon High School in 1977. Her sister, Gayle Anderson, today confirmed the news of the marraige to the press. "It's absolutely true. That's all we're saying."

Martin is the fourth woman to get married to Shatner. From 1956 to 1969 he was married to Gloria Rand, with whom he had three children. In 1973, actress Marcy Lafferty followed, but in 1996 they officially divorced. In 1997, he married to model Nerine Kidd.

Sadly, that marriage was to last for only two years, as on August 9, 1999, Kidd drowned in an accident in the swimming pool of the couple's home. An autopsy revealed she was legally drunk at the time of her death, revealing to the world the alcohol problem Kidd suffered from. In her memory, Shatner recently opened the Nerine Shatner Friendly House, dedicated to help those with an addiction to drugs or alcohol.

The original report from the Indianapolis Star can be found here.

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