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William Shatner and his daughter Melanie revealed they simultaneously battled stage 4 cancer in an exclusive interview with People. The duo have been cancer-free since late 2024, after the Star Trek star battled malignant melanoma and Melanie metastatic breast cancer.
Shatner, 95, was diagnosed with malignant melanoma in June 2023 after his daughter noticed a lump forming on his cheek; she was in the midst of intense treatment for her cancer. While he initially shrugged off the growth as a blocked salivary gland, the tumor grew, and at the behest of a plastic surgeon friend, he underwent the removal of the tumor. Following this, the actor underwent two years of immunotherapy to treat cancer that had spread to his brain and lungs.
"I remember vividly thinking, ‘I don't have the strength to take care of myself and lose my father at the same time,'" Melanie told People. For his part, Shatner's tried to maintain a positive mindset. "They said, ‘You got cancer. If you came in later, you would have been dead,'" he said. "I think the universe is taking care of me."
Shatner looks at life with a rosier outlook nowadays. "I'm thinking of the miracle of a hummingbird, and of my dog taking a ball, and my children," he said. "I'm aware of the magic of it all."
Melanie, 61, was diagnosed with breast cancer (which had metastasized to her chest's lymph nodes) about a year earlier in July 2022. Her father described feeling "devastated" upon hearing the news of her diagnosis. She underwent chemotherapy, 30 radiation treatments, and a double mastectomy over the 18 months after her diagnosis. "[Overcoming cancer] changed my life," she said. "I'm not so afraid anymore, and there's so much freedom and joy."
Melanie noted a challenging roadblock during her chemotherapy when Shatner drove to her house in the middle of the night and gave her the strength to push through. "He gave me … a ‘daddy bear hug,'" she said. "He said, ‘This is going to be a blip in your life. You're going to get through this, and it'll be a memory.'"
The father-daughter duo also announced No Time But Now, their new wellness podcast, which launches its first episode on July 29. The series will be cohosted by the Shatners where they interview health experts and survivors to help similar individuals "discover new perspectives, live with intention, and make every moment count," per the podcast's official website.
The nonagenarian shows no signs of slowing down. William Shatner and You and Wisdom & Worries, two new books by the actor, are coming this September and October, respectively. He also has plans to release two albums; Love & Other Mysteries and the tentatively titled What the ‘F' Is Metal are arriving by early 2027, per People.
"It's easy for us in this lovely home to say, ‘Make your life meaningful.' It's much more difficult to be poverty-stricken and wonder how you're going to get through it. I've been there," Shatner said. "But it's also possible to endure that and be aware of the beauty around you."
