Veteran actor William Shatner has revealed he has survived stage four cancer, which – incredibly – he fought at the exact same time as his daughter, Melanie. Both are now cancer-free, and the 95-year-old Star Trek icon said he feels better than he’s been “in years”.
Speaking to PEOPLE in a joint interview, the pair said Melanie, who is 61, discovered she had stage four breast cancer in 2022. A lump in her father’s cheek led to him receiving his own diagnosis the following year.
He was told a malignant melanoma, initially mistaken for a blocked salivary gland, had spread to his lungs and brain.
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Both William and Melanie were cancer-free by the end of 2024, and are now launching a wellness podcast called No Time But Now at the end of this month.
Speaking of her dad’s illness, Melanie revealed: “He wouldn’t stop his life. He kept working and moving forward. Whenever he was home, Joel [her husband] and I would bring dinner to him and watch movies, just always made sure that he’s not alone.”
“I’m healthier now than I’ve been in years. The brain is like a muscle. It feeds on activity,” William added.
As for Melanie’s ordeal, she revealed that her dad helped her significantly with the overwhelming costs of her treatment. “You said to me, ‘I do not want you to worry. Just send me the bills,'” she recalled.
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“Then you made me laugh so hard when I was still going to the doctor a year later. You said, ‘You’ve got to get well. We’re going to be in the poorhouse!'”
Melanie Shatner is the youngest daughter of William and his first wife, the late Gloria Rand, whom he divorced in 1969. Melanie herself has two children.
William played Captain Kirk in multiple Star Trek projects, including all episodes of Star Trek: The Original Series and the first seven Star Trek movies. He has also starred in Miss Congeniality, 3rd Rock From The Sun and T. J. Hooker.
In 2021, he became the oldest person ever (at the time) to fly into space, doing so at the age of 90 on Blue Origin NS-18.
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Shaun is an Evening News Editor at Digital Spy, with over a decade of experience reporting on all things pop culture. He has written for outlets including Metro, Attitude, Huffington Post, The Mirror, Yahoo!, Pink News and Express Online, specialising in TV, movies, soaps, music and LGBTQ+ issues. He is also a BAFTA Rocliffe-winning scriptwriter, having written episodes of the soap Hollyoaks, the official Steps musical Here & Now and multiple Offie Award-nominated plays. He studied English Literature and Drama at the University of East Anglia, and will happily talk at length about Desperate Housewives to anyone who’ll listen.