New York, August 26: Veteran actor Christopher Plummer has reveals in his upcoming autobiography ‘In Spite of Myself’ how he was once replaced by William Shatner to perform ‘Henry V’ when he was hit by a painful stone problem, following a one-night stand in a bar.

He writes that he was to perform the role, which finally ended up making Shatner a star, the following day.

"I woke up alone the next morning . . . (pain) all around my groin and lower abdomen . . . I started to whimper like a whipped dog. ``So this is what syphilis is like?`` I thought. ``I suppose I deserve it, but Christ, how the hell was I to know?``" the New York Post quoted him as writing.

The book states that Plummer’s sex romp dislodged a kidney stone, which doctors had to remove through a horrifying procedure with a surgical wire.

"It began to sink in . . . Shatner, my understudy, would have to go on . . . (It) instantly brought back the pain. I screamed for a nurse who jabbed me with more morphine," he reveals.

He recalls that Shatner did not let the big opportunity get away.

"I knew then that the SOB was going to be a ``star,``" he writes.

ANI