William Shatner sued by man claiming to be long-lost son

Actor William Shatner in Los Angeles on Jan. 30, 2012. (AP / Matt Sayles)

A Florida man is suing William Shatner for US$170 million, claiming the former "Star Trek" actor is his father.

Peter Sloan, 59, who also goes by the name Peter Shatner, told CTV Toronto he went in search of his birth parents in 1983.

“My first adoptive father, George Orick, contacted Pierre Trudeau in Canada. He was friends with the prime minister and also with his speech writer at the time. And they complied a list of 40 people, five of which might be my mother,” Sloan said by phone Wednesday.

According to Sloan, a trip to the CBC archives led him to his mother, Katherine McNeil (nee Katherine Burt), who told Sloan who his father was.

"She revealed my father was William Shatner,” he said. “…My jaw dropped to the floor, basically.”

McNeil told him she had had a brief affair with Shatner in Toronto in 1956 that resulted in his birth. She then gave him up for adoption at five days old. McNeil died in 2003.

Sloan claims he contacted Shatner, who invited him to California, but the visit never happened. In 1984, a friend got Sloan onto the set of Shatner’s TV show, "T.J. Hooker."

When the two met, Sloan’s lawsuit claims that Shatner "admitted" he was his father, but within days, the actor refused to have any further contact with him.

Shatner, now 85, denies that Sloan is his son and says the man is simply is trying to profit from his association with him.

Asked about the allegations by the New York Post’s Page Six, Shatner’s publicist responded: “Mr. Shatner has three lovely daughters, but no sons... Mr. Shatner is aware of the lawsuit, but there’s nothing there because he isn’t his father.”

In 2009, Sloan says he registered the web address petershatner.com with the aim of writing a still-unpublished book called “The Search” about his search for his birth parents. He also launched a radio show on CBS Radio under the name Peter Shatner. http://petershatner.com/

Sloan alleges that Shatner and his social media director have posted "malicious, libelous and slanderous statements” about Sloan on Facebook and Twitter. He also says Shatner’s team had the Twitter and IMDBPro accounts related to “Peter Shatner” shut down, claiming that Sloan’s allegations about Shatner being his father are false.

Sloan alleges he has now lost the ability to earn income from the use of the name Peter Shatner, which he says has been his “brand” since 2009.

He is seeking $30 million in compensatory damages, $90 million in punitive damages and $50 million for pain and suffering.

Sloan admitted to CTV Toronto it’s a large sum, but he wanted to make a point.

“$1.70 wouldn't get much attention, would it?”

With a report from CTV Toronto’s Andria Case