William Shatner is 95 years old, and still cracking jokes about his own mortality after a scary cancer battle… fought by both him, and his daughter.
The Star Trek icon and his daughter Melanie Shatner Gretsch, 61, revealed in a new People cover story and a series of TV Insider interviews this week that they simultaneously battled stage 4 cancer three years ago — and that both have been cancer-free since late 2024.
“Both had, at the same time, a diagnosis of stage four cancer three years ago,” Shatner said, “and through the magic of medicine, we’re both cancer-free.”
Melanie’s diagnosis came first. She discovered a lump in her breast in 2022 and was diagnosed with stage 4 metastatic breast cancer. Her UCLA oncologist later said she was “one of those rare cases of stage 4 breast cancer that was curable.” But in the middle of it, she didn’t know that.
The elder Shatner was diagnosed with stage 4 malignant melanoma in June 2023, when his daughter noticed a lump forming on his cheek. He initially dismissed it as a blocked salivary gland.
A plastic surgeon friend who examined it told him plainly: “Bill, you better get this out.” The surgery revealed the cancer had spread to his lungs and brain. Historically, stage 4 melanoma carries a median survival time of less than a year. Shatner spent two full years in immunotherapy before being declared cancer-free.
“We’re in a very together family. We’re bonded by all kinds of difficulties that we overcame. And who knows what else we’re going to overcome,” he said.
The father and daughter are turning their ordeal into something new. On July 29, they launch No Time, But Now, a weekly podcast series in which they interview health experts and fellow cancer survivors.
“It sharpened our attention to each other and my whole family,” Shatner said. “And also — what do you want to do with the remaining years?”
At 95, having beaten stage 4 cancer, Captain Kirk still apparently has some ideas.