Shatner Sells Kidney Stone for Charity

[MorganGrayson]

Ya gotta love a guy that not only revives a dead career with a self-mocking commercial for Priceline but goes on acting...and does freaky good deeds.

LOS ANGELES (AP) - An online casino has a piece of Capt. Kirk. Actor William Shatner has sold his kidney stone for $25,000, with the money going to a housing charity, it was announced Tuesday. Shatner reached agreement Monday to sell the stone to GoldenPalace.com.

"This takes organ donors to a new height, to a new low, maybe. How much is a piece of me worth?" he said in a telephone interview.

GoldenPalace.com is noted for its collection of oddities, which includes a partially eaten cheese sandwich thought to contain the image of the Virgin Mary.

"This is a bold new addition to our fleet," GoldenPalace.com Chief Executive Officer Richard Rowe said in a statement.

The money will go to Habitat for Humanity, which builds houses for the needy.

"This would be the first Habitat for Humanity house built out of stone," joked Darren Julien, president of Los Angeles-based Julien's Auctions, which handled the sale.

Shatner, who played Kirk on the original "Star Trek" TV show and won an Emmy for his role on "Boston Legal," passed the stone last fall.

The stone was so big, Shatner said, "you'd want to wear it on your finger."

"If you subjected it to extreme heat, it might turn out to be a diamond," he added.

Shatner said the idea of selling the stone came up after "Boston Legal" raised $20,000 for Habitat for Humanity. With the money for the stone, Shatner said there is about enough funding to build half a house.

GoldenPalace.com originally offered $15,000 for the stone but Shatner turned it down, noting that his "Star Trek" tunics have commanded more than $100,000. His counteroffer was accepted.

The morning news said he'd auctioned it off on eBay, but eBay has a policy *against* selling body parts. How interesting that enough has happened that they'd actually require a "policy" for that. Things that make ya go "hmmmm...."

[Evil Chris]

William Shatner has become a certifiable nut.
But a loveable one. haha...

Have you seen his commercials for All Bran cereal?
They are hilarious.

[Quagmire]

Golden Penis ended up paying $25,000 for the stone.

They are the ultimate in media whores.

[Panky]

Originally posted by Quagmire
They are the ultimate in media whores.

That's right! They will earn that money 10 times over from all the publicity.

[jade12]

Hey is that the same cracked up casino that bought that porn stars breast implants and they own a bunch of other weird stuff?? hmmmm .... I'm going to have to look on google now as you have piqued my curiosity about this one!


and it is too!!! hot damn wonder how much money I could get for a goldenpalace tattoo on my body???? LOL you gotta read the crazy shit these folks pay for ..... http://www.goldenpalaceevents.com/auctions/?e=mjlicense01 and talk about eBay happy LOL

[war_ner]

Why not hav a fund raising instead? Can't he help others without donating something from his body?

[MorganGrayson]

Originally posted by war_ner
Why not hav a fund raising instead? Can't he help others without donating something from his body?

Not without getting this much publicity. And with things like Habitat for Humanity, publicity is a good thing. It got splashed all over the news, bringing the work once again to the forefront of the public eye. I do imagine the donations went up, as donations tend to do when people go "oh, I've been meaning to send them a check...."

The first time I ever heard of Habitat for Humanity, it was because the best "ex-President" we've ever had, Jimmy Carter, was photographed hammering away on a roof. He and his wife were both very active with Habitat, and this was a *long* time ago. They wouldn't have gotten the publicity they got back then if the Carters weren't involved.

The kidney stone thing may have pushed good taste off the table...but I'd never knock anybody doing a good deed.

Chris called it. Shatner is a certifiable, albeit lovable, nut. He deserves whatever he gets for having to put up with a lifetime of "Captain Kirk" remarks.

[TheLegacy]

for all that shatner has gone through - I admire him greatly. yes his acting is questionable. Yet his icon status and personality will live on. We only have a few of the originals left, want to enjoy every moment with each one.

[MorganGrayson]

Originally posted by TheLegacy
for all that shatner has gone through - I admire him greatly. yes his acting is questionable. Yet his icon status and personality will live on. We only have a few of the originals left, want to enjoy every moment with each one.

That's so true it made me go "ouch." :(

Every generation has to watch its "icons" pass and its always painful. I look around, though, and realize that ours might be the last generation that has true "icons."

There is no replacement for Bob Hope, who risked all to entertain the troops during war time. My father saw his show in Vietnam.

Has all the ground been broken?

[TheLegacy]

Originally posted by MorganGrayson
That's so true it made me go "ouch." :(

Every generation has to watch its "icons" pass and its always painful. I look around, though, and realize that ours might be the last generation that has true "icons."

There is no replacement for Bob Hope, who risked all to entertain the troops during war time. My father saw his show in Vietnam.

Has all the ground been broken?

as much as my heart pains for greats such as Hope, rat pack, carson and others - each generation has someone who makes their mark that defines a moment in someones life. We have many great icons left to love - Elton John, Jack Nicholson, Dustin, Simon Garfunkle, Rod Stewart, Kiss and many others even some of the saturday night live cast.

I can see a new generation (dakota fanning, kids from Harry Potter, Lord of the Rings) and some young musicians that will have just a deep meaning to our kids as every generation looks back fondly on their youth and says, "it will never be like that again". and you know what? it wont - our only hope is that each one gets better, and learns the mistakes of those gone past.

[war_ner]

Ok, I got your point dude.. :)

[MindyBlingBucks]

William Shatner maybe crazy, but I'd take him over a raving Tom Cruise any day!!

[WEGRuth]

haha - Shatner is awesome!

[Quagmire]

Better to be a 'has-been' than a 'never-was'

Shatner is a great Canadian icon and I have a lot of respect for the man and how he's worked the industry he's in.

[MorganGrayson]

Originally posted by Quagmire
Better to be a 'has-been' than a 'never-was'

Shatner is a great Canadian icon and I have a lot of respect for the man and how he's worked the industry he's in.

Shatner's career took a hard hit when he played a character that developed such a huge fan base. "Trekies" are serious people. Shatner became fused with that role.

He had to do something to break out of that, and being silly seemed to do it.

In a way, it reminds me of Leslie Nielson. He was a serious actor for a long time, then his career hit a bump or two. He came back as a "comic actor" and made a lot of movies. Silly movies, but I do imagine they paid the mortgage. :)

[DonMike]

What I want to know is, did he just happen to have it lying around? Eewwww.

[MorganGrayson]

Originally posted by DonMike
What I want to know is, did he just happen to have it lying around? Eewwww.

I think that once he went through the absolute hell of passing it, all it did was lie around. Of course...it could have also danced. Who knows? :D

[TopBuxBrad]

HaHa...A kidney stone bought by "Golden"Palace...heheh...and then donated to Habitat for Humanity....hehe..... William Shatner's kidney stone paid for my new house!!! ahahaha :confused: