{"id":539195,"date":"2026-07-22T20:47:11","date_gmt":"2026-07-22T20:47:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/539195\/"},"modified":"2026-07-22T20:47:11","modified_gmt":"2026-07-22T20:47:11","slug":"william-shatner-and-daughter-melanie-battled-stage-4-cancer-at-the-same-time","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/539195\/","title":{"rendered":"William Shatner and Daughter Melanie Battled Stage 4 Cancer at the Same Time"},"content":{"rendered":"

William Shatner<\/a> and his daughter Melanie revealed they simultaneously battled stage 4 cancer in an exclusive interview with People<\/a>. The duo have been cancer-free since late 2024, after the Star Trek star battled malignant melanoma and Melanie metastatic breast cancer.<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

\u201cI remember vividly thinking, \u2018I don\u2019t have the strength to take care of myself\u00a0and\u00a0lose my father at the same time,\u2019\u201d Melanie told People. For his part, Shatner\u2019s tried to maintain a positive mindset. \u201cThey said, \u2018You got cancer. If you came in later, you would have been dead,\u2019\u201d he said. \u201cI think the universe is taking care of me.\u201d<\/p>\n

Shatner looks at life with a rosier outlook nowadays. \u201cI\u2019m thinking of the miracle of a hummingbird, and of my dog taking a ball, and my children,\u201d he said. \u201cI\u2019m aware of the magic of it all.\u201d<\/p>\n

Melanie, 61, was diagnosed with breast cancer (which had metastasized to her chest\u2019s lymph nodes) about a year earlier in July 2022. Her father described feeling \u201cdevastated\u201d upon hearing the news of her diagnosis. She underwent chemotherapy, 30 radiation treatments, and a double mastectomy over the 18 months after her diagnosis. \u201c[Overcoming cancer] changed my life,\u201d she said. \u201cI\u2019m not so afraid anymore, and there\u2019s so much freedom and joy.\u201d<\/p>\n

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. \u201cHe gave me \u2026 a \u2018daddy bear hug,\u2019\u201d she said. \u201cHe said, \u2018This is going to be a blip in your life. You\u2019re going to get through this, and it\u2019ll be a memory.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

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 \u201cdiscover new perspectives, live with intention, and make every moment count,\u201d per the podcast\u2019s official website<\/a>.<\/p>\n

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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\u00a0the tentatively titled\u00a0What the \u2018F\u2019 Is Metal are arriving by early 2027, per People.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s easy for us in this lovely home to say, \u2018Make your life meaningful.\u2019 It\u2019s much more difficult to be poverty-stricken and wonder how you\u2019re going to get through it. I\u2019ve been there,\u201d Shatner said. \u201cBut it\u2019s also possible to endure that and be aware of the beauty around you.\u201d<\/p>\n

From Rolling Stone US<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"William Shatner and his daughter Melanie revealed they simultaneously battled stage 4 cancer in an exclusive interview with…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":539196,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[32],"tags":[430,156,111,139,69,38990,265437],"class_list":["post-539195","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-celebrities","tag-celebrities","tag-entertainment","tag-new-zealand","tag-newzealand","tag-nz","tag-william-shatner","tag-william-shatner-cancer"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/539195","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=539195"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/539195\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/539196"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=539195"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=539195"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=539195"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}