'I'm not planning on dying': William Shatner confirms he is alive after Facebook Messenger death hoax

William Shatner has been forced to confirm he is very much alive and well after a death hoax circulated on Facebook.

The Star Trek legend, who coincidentally is celebrating his 87th birthday on Thursday, was prematurely killed off by a promoted advert on Facebook Messenger, brought to his attention by a fan.

The advert was headlined: “Beloved sci-fi actor found dead,” while the preview read: “‘Fans will always hold a special place for Captain Kirk, after William was found…”

A stunned fan tweeted Shatner informing him that he was “dead”, prompting Shatner to issue an amendment.

He wrote: “Hey @facebook isn’t this your messenger app? What’s up with you allowing this Acocet Retail Sales ad to pass your muster? Thought you were doing something about this?”

Luckily, somebody from Facebook saw the tweet and assured Shatner that the ad and page have been removed.

Gratefully, Shatner quoted the tweet and added: “Thank you. I’m not planning on dying so please continue to block those kinds of ads.”

The veteran actor isn’t the first this year to have fallen victim to a hoax doing the rounds on social media.

In February, Sylvester Stallone reassured worried fans he was “alive and well” after rumours of his death circulated once more.

Fans of the Rocky star, 71, were left panicking after reports that he had died from prostate cancer.

But Stallone posted a montage of the posts on his Instagram, slamming the reports and “stupidity".