Star Trek star William Shatner, 95, and daughter open up about receiving stage four cancer diagnoses at the same time
Jen Thomas
Featured Image Credit: Barry King/WireImage
Warning: This article contains discussion of cancer which some readers may find distressing.
Star Trek icon William Shatner and his daughter Melanie shockingly received stage four cancer diagnosis at the same time.
Now William, 95, and Melanie, 61, have opened up about the experience and how William turned to humour to cope.
William played Captain Kirk on Star Trek, and both he and his daughter found out they had stage four cancer three years ago.
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The actor was diagnosed with a stage four malignant melanoma that had spread to his brain.
Meanwhile, Melanie was diagnosed with HER2-positive breast cancer that had spread to lymph nodes in her chest.
Speaking to People, Melanie recalled the time she called her dad for help when she was in the middle of her gruelling treatment, saying she was 'hysterical'.
She said, "I was having a moment and was hysterical. I called you and said, 'I think I’m dying.'"
Melanie said he rushed straight over to see her and to give her a 'huge daddy bear hug' to try and make things better.
'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."' she explained.
“We’re a very together family. We’re bonded by all kinds of difficulties that we’ve overcome," says William.
Melanie had expressed concerns over the cost of her treatment, but said her dad reassured her: "I do not want you to worry. Just send me the bills."
She added that her dad's humour helped: "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!'" he joked.
"I remember vividly thinking, 'I don’t have the strength to take care of myself lose my father at the same time'."
Fortunately, they both received the all clear by late 2024, and it was understandably a very emotional time.
Melanie recalled: "It was the third time in my life I had heard him cry," after she called him to tell her the news.
She went through chemo with HER2-targeted therapies, as well as a double mastectomy and a gruelling 30 radiation therapy treatments.
Her treatment took more than a year, but while she was undergoing the course she spotted a lump on William's cheek.
Initially he was told it was nothing to worry about and that it was merely a blocked saliva gland, he fortunately sought out a second opinion from a plastic surgeon he knew: "He placed his hands on my cheeks, and he said with love in his voice, ‘You better get this out.’”
He was then diagnosed with cancer, and underwent surgery to remove it, followed by two years of immunotherapy to target the cancer in his lungs and brain.
Despite all of this, William is busier than ever, and says he's feeling better than ever, too, at the age of 95: “I’m healthier now than I’ve been in years. The brain is like a muscle. It feeds on activity."
If you’ve been affected by any of these issues and want to speak to someone in confidence, contact Macmillan’s Cancer Support Line on 0808 808 00 00, 8am–8pm seven days a week.