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At 95, William Shatner<\/a> remains one of Hollywood\u2019s most enduring icons. After more than seven decades in the entertainment industry, the actor has built a career defined by unforgettable roles and an energy that has often made him seem timeless to generations of fans.<\/p>\n In the entertainment industry for more than seven decades, from his early days on The Canadian Howdy Doody Show in 1954, as Ranger Bob, to his unforgettable performances on The Twilight Zone<\/em><\/a>, as Captain James T. Kirk on Star Trek<\/a><\/em>, the hard-nosed detective on T.J. Hooker<\/a><\/em>, and the eccentric attorney Denny Crane on Boston Legal<\/a><\/em>, Shatner has long seemed almost ageless to his fans, which as become a little bit of a issue.<\/p>\n \u201cThe problem is that I regard myself as ageless, which is very dangerous. The danger of agelessness.\u201d Shatner shared as part of an in-depth conversation for TV Guide Magazine\u2019s Star Trek: The Captains<\/em> Special Issue<\/a>.<\/p>\n When asked how he views himself, Shatner explained that his battle with cancer brought his outlook on life and his own sense of perspective into focus.<\/p>\n \u201cWhen 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\u2019s gentle fingers on my cheek, and he said to me, \u2018Bill, you better get this out.\u2019 With a kind of gravitas but not alarm, like a good doctor, and I went and got it out,\u201d explained Shatner. \u201cIt took two years of treatment to become cancer-free.\u201d<\/p>\n <\/a> 404 – TV Insider<\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n Related<\/p>\n \u201cWhen I got the news, and my daughter got her news of breast cancer at the same time \u2014 Stage 4 breast cancer \u2014 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<\/em>, our podcast. I, on the other hand, said, \u2018Really? Stage 4?\u2019 It didn\u2019t occur to me that I was going to die. It didn\u2019t occur to me that bad fortune was going to happen,\u201d explained the icon. \u201cI\u2019m sensing, at 95, I\u2019m sensing, the leaves are getting a little yellow and falling off the tree, but, OK!\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI didn\u2019t fear dying because it didn\u2019t occur to me that I was going to die. And that\u2019s my attitude,\u201d said Shatner. \u201cEven as we speak. So what does that mean?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m taking care of myself,\u201d assured the actor. \u201cIt\u2019s an attitude. I guess it\u2019s acquired, but it may be inborn.\u201d<\/p>\n \u2014Reporting by Rob Edelstein<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n TV Guide Magazine\u2019s Star Trek: The Captains Special Issue is available for order online now at StarTrek.TVGM2026.com<\/a>, and for purchase on newsstands nationwide.<\/b><\/em><\/p>\n404 – TV Insider<\/a><\/h3>\n