William Shatner has spent more than 70 years entertaining his fans. Building his own legacy in the industry, the “Star Trek” legend has seemed almost untouched by time, an image shaped by his energy, wit, and sheer staying power. But now, Shatner is sharing some revealing details of his life, from battling cancer to seeing his daughter beat the same.
Shatner was diagnosed with stage 4 melanoma in 2023 after a lump behind his ear turned out to be cancerous. According to a Today report, he first spoke publicly about the diagnosis in March 2024, during a keynote address at the American Academy of Dermatology’s annual meeting in San Diego.
In that same appearance, he revealed he was cancer-free at age 93, crediting a successful immunotherapy treatment.
Facing Stage 4 Melanoma Without Fear
GettyNow, Shatner is opening up about the moment that forced him to think differently about age, health and the limits of feeling untouchable. In a candid conversation for TV Guide Magazine‘s “Star Trek: The Captains” special issue, Shatner reflected on his long-running sense that time had not quite caught up with him. “The problem is that I regard myself as ageless, which is very dangerous. The danger of agelessness,” Shatner said.
When asked whether a health scare changed how he views aging, Shatner pointed to the moment he was diagnosed with stage 4 melanoma.
Getty“When I was told I had Stage 4 melanoma, and the doctor, a friend of mine, I said I got this lump, and put his doctor’s gentle fingers on my cheek, and he said to me, ‘Bill, you better get this out.’ With a kind of gravitas but not alarm, like a good doctor, and I went and got it out,” he recalled.
“It took two years of treatment to become cancer-free.”
William Shatner Reflects on Stage 4 Melanoma and Daughter’s Diagnosis
GettyThe diagnosis came during an especially difficult period for Shatner’s family. His daughter, Melanie Shatner Gretsch, was also facing stage 4 breast cancer at the time, a reality he said they absorbed in very different ways.
“When I got the news, and my daughter got her news of breast cancer at the same time, Stage 4 breast cancer, she thought she was going to die. And she spent a year suffering torment until she gradually work herself out, which is the element, the issue, of ‘No Time to Die,’ our podcast,” he said in the same interview.
Shatner said his own reaction was far more detached. “I, on the other hand, said, ‘Really? Stage 4?’ It didn’t occur to me that I was going to die. It didn’t occur to me that bad fortune was going to happen.”
That outlook still shapes the way he talks about aging now. “I’m sensing, at 95, I’m sensing, the leaves are getting a little yellow and falling off the tree, but, OK!” he said.
Why Death Never Crossed His Mind
GettyShatner didn’t approach the diagnosis with bravery; it was more instinct than anything else. Fear, by his account, never even crossed his mind. “I didn’t fear dying because it didn’t occur to me that I was going to die. And that’s my attitude,” he said. “Even as we speak. So what does that mean?”
Shatner said that outlook has stayed with him, but he also pairs it with the simple discipline of looking after his health. “I’m taking care of myself,” he said. “It’s an attitude. I guess it’s acquired, but it may be inborn.”
At 95, Shatner remains one of television’s most iconic stars. He made his early mark as Ranger Bob on “The Canadian Howdy Doody Show” in 1954, then went on to build a career that included “The Twilight Zone,” “Star Trek,” “T.J. Hooker” and “Boston Legal.”
