Melanie Shatner Gretsch and her father, Star Trek legend William Shatner, faced the unthinkable when dad and daughter were forced to endure their own respective battles with cancer. Thankfully, today, both are free from their frightening bouts with cancer, and, at least, they had each other to lean on during one of the darkest times in their lives.
“I was having a moment and was hysterical,” Gretsch, who was diagnosed with HER2-positive breast cancer, said alongside her father in a new interview with PEOPLE. “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.’ 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.’”
“We’re a very together family,” Shatner added during the same sit-down. “We’re bonded by all kinds of difficulties that we’ve overcome.”
Near the completion of her own cancer treatment, Gretsch sadly learned that her father himself was diagnosed with malignant melanoma (Stage 4). “I remember vividly thinking, ‘I don’t have the strength to take care of myself and lose my father at the same time.’” Fortunately, even though the cancer had already reached Shatner’s brain and lungs, the iconic Star Trek actor, like his daughter, beat his own version of the disease.
Today, at the age of 95, Shatner couldn’t be more active, as he continues to frequent conventions and fan events all across the country, trading on his role as a science fiction icon. The actor who played James T. Kirk for the better part of three decades will even be hosting more of his Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan screenings/meet-and-greets this fall.
Plus, Shatner will be boldly going where most Captain Kirk fans are assembling this August (ST-LV) in Las Vegas to celebrate the 60th anniversary of creator Gene Roddenberry’s beloved science fiction universe. And if that weren’t enough, Shatner and his daughter are even teaming up for a brand-new, weekly podcast titled No Time But Now, which fans can watch the trailer for below.
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Live long and prosper, Trekkies!
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