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At 95, William Shatner is nothing less than a living legend in the world of television.
And he earned even more public adulation on Wednesday, when he and daughter Melanie Shatner Gretsch both spoke candidly about their stage 4 cancer diagnoses.
The father-and-daughter duo appears on the cover of this week’s issue of People magazine.
Inside the mag, they opened up about learning in 2023 that they were both battling Stage 4 cancer.
Thankfully, both are now cancer-free. But as Melanie revealed in an in-depth interview, the fight was not without its frightening moments.
“I was having a moment and was hysterical,” Melanie recalls of the days when she was receiving chemotherapy for breast cancer. “I called you and said, ‘I think I’m dying.’
“He gave me, what I think of ever since I was a little girl, a ‘daddy bear hug,’” she adds. “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.’”
Shortly thereafter, William was diagnosed with Stage 4 salivary cancer.
“I remember vividly thinking, ‘I don’t have the strength to take care of myself and lose my father at the same time,’” says Melanie.
“They said, ‘You got cancer. If you came in later, you would have been dead.’ See? That’s my life,” William recalls. “I think the universe is taking care of me.”
William adds that he and Melanie leaned on one another throughout their shared battle, and the rest of the Shatners cheered them on.
“We’re a very together family,” he said. “We’re bonded by all kinds of difficulties that we’ve overcome.”
William went on to say that the experience has left him with a greater appreciation for the small pleasures in life.
“I’m thinking of the miracle of a hummingbird, and of my dog taking a ball, and my children,” he said, adding:
“I’m aware of the magic of it all.”
Here’s hoping William and Melanie will be able to enjoy many more happy years together,
