♪ [ singing in spanish ] ♪ [ cheers and applause ] ♪ this is "nightline." >> tonight, the far-out life of william shatner. from captain kirk on "star trek" -- >> risk is our business. >> to becoming the oldest man in a real-life space mission in blue origin. taking us along for ride and sharing the secret to seizing

life by the reins. >> don't just have a dog. i have a dog! embracing legions of fans and what about the priceline negotiator. >> there is an urban myth you made $6 million on that deal. >> i did. plus, dogs in danger. a woman clinging to the hood of a speeding car carrying her stolen french bulldog. >> i thought i was going die. i thought i could fall off the car at any second. >> why frenchies, america's most popular pooch are top targets for thieves. >> can go from 3,000 to $10,000. >> pet owners sounding the alarm, faced with losing their dog or their life. >> it was like give me your dog or i'll kill you. >> even celebrities like lady gaga falling victim. and rec bill walton, one of basketball's greats. >> "nightline" will be right back. pain means pause on the things you love, but... green... means... go! ♪ cool the pain with biofreeze.

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♪ thank you for joining us. i'm andrew dymburt. he has been a global celebrity since playing the iconic captain kirk in "star trek" in the '60s. life since then has been very good indeed for william shatner, who always seems to stay in the middle of the cosmic action. we take another look as he tells "nightline" anchor juju chang that's just how he likes it.

>> juju: william shatner does not act his age. >> here, here, here. >> juju: at 93, he still rides his beloved show horse in the same way he's lived his life, with uncommon talent and lots of gusto. not only is your life span a testament to longevity, and i'd be curious with what your secrets are, and if it involves horses. >> well, horses being an example of doing something you like. >> juju: is that the secret to longevity? >> i'm surrounded by things and people that i want to be with and want to do. >> juju: you're in it. you're into it. whatever you're doing. >> well, i think so. i'm not just -- i don't just have a dog, i have a dog! you know. >> juju: completely. his outsized passion -- >> risk is our business. >> juju: infused into his long roster of memorable characters, turning him into one of the most recognizable actors across decades. >> the needs of the many

outweigh -- >> the needs of the few. >> juju: "star trek's" captain kirk, boston legal's denny crane. >> denny crane. >> juju: tj hooker. >> 4 adam 30 westbound. >> juju: and before that, he ventured into the "twilight zone". >> there is a man out there. >> what? >> i started working. >> juju: we caught up with shatner in his happy place, on a windswept day in the santa monica mountains with his prized horses and his equestrian wife of 24 years, elizabeth. and he is not slowing down. he's still throwing himself into countless projects, hosting the popular history channel show "the unexplained" which needs no explanation. >> what is it? where does it come from? how many are there? hello. >> juju: of course, there are the endless tv appearances on

classics like "the big bang theory." >> you're william shatner. >> you can call me bill. >> can i call you captain? >> no. >> juju: born into a jewish family in montreal, his career started early on tv and on stage. when you think back to your boyhood in canada, was hollywood always the dream? was acting always the dream? >> i've been led by some unexplained force, but i was in a play when i was 6 years old and moved the audience and applause, and my father picked meand said my boy, bill. so something that approbation made me continue on. i've never done anything else. >> juju: for many fans, his swashbuckling portrayal of james t. kirk over 30 years. head strong and charismatic that helped launch an enduring franchise with movies and merchandise, but the original "star trek" show was canceled in 1969 after just three seasons.

>> well, i had just come off the shakespeare company. >> juju: you were a shakespearean thespian. now you're a starship captain. >> right. >> in every revolution, there is one man with a vision. >> except that there is an energy that stage actors need to have. so i gave it that kind of impulse. i think i've learned over the subsequent years to do less. but i'm not sure that if something else came up like that that i wouldn't have that same theatrical energy that i think is commanding your attention. >> juju: "star trek" broke boundaries with a multicultural flight crew. there was that famous interracial onscreen kiss, not to mention kirk's many intergalactic romances. it gave fans a glimpse into a world of possibilities. >> "star trek" offers a ray of hope. "star trek" is the future. "star trek" is years from now when technology instead of

demeaning us has brought us forward, has saved us. >> juju: "star trek" has earned him generations of devoted fans. but i think there was a sense afterwards where you were type cast. people saw you not as william shatner the actor, but as captain kirk. >> as a leading man. not too bad. >> juju: ultimately, he embraced the legions of fans who still show up at conventions like this recent galaxy con in come bus, ohio. >> when i got into "star trek," i was 3 years old. he someone of my first early childhood memories of watching him in the captain's chair. >> james t. kirk. >> james t. kirk. >> i go signed some autographs, posed for some pictures. but i go basically to spend an hour in front of an audience, having the best time. everybody is laughing. we're having a great time. we're discovering. i'm discovering.

it's a shame i have to leave. >> juju: yet in some ways, he's never left. he's authored best-sellers in the tech war series, won a couple of emmys for denny crane, recorded a dozen spoken word albums, and launched a one-man show about his life on broadway. of course, he famously became a pitchman for priceline.com, for which he got paid in stock. >> a four-star hotel in chicago? i'm on it. ♪ price line negotiator ♪ >> juju: there is an urban myth you made $600 million on that deal. >> that's it. i was supposed to make $600 million. it never happened. >> i think what i'll do -- >> juju: shatner says it's not money that motives him, it's that endless sense of adventure, highlighted in his new fan-funded documentary "you can call me bill". >> i haven't changed the world, but what is a legacy are the

good deeds. >> juju: he did ultimately boldly go where not many have gone before. launching at the age of 90, the oldest man in outer space, literally, with blue origin. >> i am overwhelmed. i had no idea. >> juju: a journey that he says profoundly changed his view of our precious planet. >> seeing the world as many astronauts have, with this overview of house small it is, how precious it is, imagine all the things that are going extinct that we don't know existed, how sad is that? and that's what i realized made me weep. >> juju: after a seven decade career, shatner says he is grateful for his three children and five grandchildren, and for his life's work, still eager to explore the final frontier. is there a thread that connects those dots?

>> i don't see a connecting thread. what i see is anticipation of things to come. i don't want a dime. >> juju: you're just going to keep living and working? >> i hope. >> juju: perhaps you're immortal. >> i hope. >> we hope so too. our thanks to juju. william's documentary "you can call me bill" is streaming now. when we come back, the life risking measures taken by some owners to prevent their french bulldogs from being stolen. my life is full of questions... mom, is yellow a light or a dark? how do i clean an aioli stain? thankfully, tide's the answer to almost all of them. why do we even buy napkins? use tide. can cold water clean white socks? it can with tide. do i need to pretreat guacamole? not with tide. this is chocolate, right? -just use... -tide...yeah. no matter who's doing it, on what cycle, or in what temperature, tide works. so i can focus on all the other questions. do crabs have eyebrows? ahh... for all of life's laundry questions, it's got to be tide.

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welcome back. america's most popular and

pricey pups, frenchies, are known for their sweet faces and snubnoses. tonight we look again at how that popularity has turned them into a target for dog thieves, with some owners risking their lives to get them back. here again is "nightline" co-anchor juju chang. >> i thought i was going to die. i thought i could fall off the car at any second. >> juju: the love for man's best friend leading to one woman risk her life. this video going viral by clinging to the hood of a speeding car, her beloved dog inside. >> i felt like the whole thing was in slow motion. >> reporter: ally zacarias says thieves snatched her french chee onyx as she ate lunch in downtown los angeles. >> i ran into the car and held on to the windshield wipers and i decided to hold on. i didn't expect to be in a fight mode like indiana jones. >> juju: her dog still missing. the last four months pure

torture for ally. >> it's really is a nightmare. i thought i would never be a target. >> juju: alley's ordeal part of a rising number of dog thefts nationwide. the sweet natured frenchies a the top of the target list for thieves according to dog experts. the dognaps making headlines across the country, from washington, d.c. -- >> a d.c. woman is devastated and pleading for help after her dog was stolen right out of her arms. >> juju: to pennsylvania. >> i heard them say "this is a home invasion." and that's when he said "where's the dog". >> juju: and in gardena, california, a dozen purebred french bulldog puppies were swiped overnight from a pet store, surveillance cameras catching the robbers tossing the pups into the back of a white van. >> in 2023, twice as many french bulldogs were reported stolen to us as the next breed. >> juju: tom sharp is president and ceo of a pet recovery service, american kennel club reunite, and says owner reported

dognaps to his country are up 140% since 2020. >> french bulldog by far is the most targeted breed. they're great family dogs. so they're very desirable. at the same time, they're also very expensive. so a bulldog puppy can go anywhere from 3,000 to $10,000. and that's beyond a lot of people's means, yet they still want one. >> juju: other factors driving up their costs, frenchies can be difficult to breed. most females need artificial insemination and cesarean sections to have puppies. and the average litter produces just three pup, typically fewer than other breeds. despite that, two years ago, french bulldogs nudged out labrador retrievers to become america's top dog. their hallmark snubnoses seem ready made for instagram with celebrities like reese witherspoon and dwayne "the rock" johnson posting their pooches. some dogs are even becoming influencers themselves like izzy the frenchie, and gus gus and

marty, a pair of bulldog brothers. but even celebrities aren't immune from dognappers. perhaps the most famous theft was when thieves attacked lady gaga's dogwalker in 2021, shooting him and stealing two of her frenchies. the dogwalker recovered. the pooches were returned, and the shooter sentenced to 21 years in prison. still, a sign of desperate times. dog owner tiffany worthy from washington, d.c. knows that fear and danger firsthand. >> my thoughts was i just can't believe this. i can't believe this is happening to me. >> juju: security video from late november shows tiffany coming back home from a walk to the store with her frenchie hendricks. seconds later, a man gets out of a black car from the street below, following her, armed with a taser. >> the criminal approached me, and that's when he was like give me your dog or i'm going kill you. i did fear for my life.

he put him in the back seat was just laughing and droved away. >> juju: tiffany soon calling 911, all the while worried what would happen to hendricks. >> what type of environment was he in, you know, is he eating? so all the thoughts that were going through my mind, wonder if i was going get him back, if i was ever going to see him again. >> juju: for tiffany, hendricks has been a support system after the tragic and unexpected death of her previous dog, memphis. >> my friend gifted me with hendricks. and i think that was the best gift ever. i needed that. >> juju: after that precious gift was stolen, tiffany quickly tapped into social media to spread awareness about hendricks. two days later, she says she got a message and voice mail from a woman via instagram. >> she showed me a picture of him. yes, that's my dog.

she bought him off the street for $900. >> the dog snores. he just feels so safe now. when i first got him, he was shaking in my arms. >> when i saw the picture of him, i felt relief. okay, yes, that's my dog. what do you want? and she mentioned that she just wanted the money that she >> juju: d.c. police and a private investigator helped tiffany coordinate hendricks' safe return. >> bring it back, bring it back! >> seeing his perky ears, you know, and him coming to me, and all happy. just made my day to have him back. >> you want to play? >> juju: so far there have been no arrests in the case. d.c. police say it remains active. >> pet theft usually falls into property theft. so as impactfuls that is for the family, usually under the law it's not going to be a very high dollar crime. >> juju: so what can dog owners,

especially frenchie families do to keep their pets safe? >> we recommend three things that people think about. number one, microchip and enroll your pet. number two, don't leave your pet outside unsupervised. number three, be careful with social media. and say hey, i'll be at the park at 2:00 today with my beautiful little french bulldog puppy, you're almost inviting strangers to take that dog from you. >> just be vigilant, and just go over the different scenarios in your head as to what you would do in these situations. just try to be prepared for anything. >> come on! >> i don't walk hendricks in my neighborhood anymore. >> morning. >> juju: tiffany now takes steps to protect hendricks from this happening ever again. >> the reason why i decided for him to be neutered is for his safety. i think this would deter thieves. >> juju: back in los angeles, ally's wounds from falling off

the car hood have healed, and an arrest in her case initially sparked hope. but she still doesn't have onyx. >> we have trouble sleeping. we're trying to figure out what we can do to be proactive every second. but we need to make sure that this dog comes back already. >> andrew: our thanks again to juju. when we return, remembering nba great bill walton. if you have moderate to severe ulcerative colitis or crohn's disease... put it in check with rinvoq... a once—daily pill. when symptoms tried to take control, i got rapid relief... and reduced fatigue with rinvoq. check. when flares kept trying to slow me down... i got lasting steroid—free remission... with rinvoq. check. and when my doctor saw damage,... rinvoq helped visibly reduce damage of the intestinal lining. check. for both uc and crohn's: rapid symptom relief... lasting steroid—free remission... and visibly reduced damage. check. check. and check.

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finally tonight, we learned nba hall of fame player and broadcaster bill walton has died of cancer at 71. here is abc's trevor alt. >> walton was one of the best to ever play the sport. a two-time ncaa champion at ucla, and three-time player of the year, he won championships with the portland trail blazers and boston celtics, earning mvp honor, all while trump peting t importance of team work and cooperation. >> making the team a better place, making the world a better place. >> reporter: when foot injuries

ended his career early, walton stayed close to basketball fighting through a life-long stutter, becoming a beloved basketball broadcaster, known for his unbridled enthusiasm and off the wall tangent. >> bill is taking his shirt off. >> reporter: his colorful personality matched by his signature t-shirtsry aye attributed to his favorite ban the grateful dead. walton reflecting on his career on the documentary series "30 for 30." >> i am a better person today for the failures, for the problems, for the injuries, for the catastrophic health challenges. >> that's night line. you can watch all of our full episodes on hulu. we'll see you right back here a the same time tomorrow. thanks for staying up with us. good night, america.