Seinfeld star Michael Richards: I probably would've died in eight months without surgery for prostate cancer
Seinfeld star Michael Richards has revealed he was diagnosed with cancer and was forced to undergo surgery to remove his whole prostate - or risk dying within months.
Richards, 74, opened up about the troubling time in his soon-to-be released memoir, Entrances And Exits, saying the diagnosis came after a routine check-up showed high PSA levels.
The star recollected how he was diagnosed with stage 1 prostate cancer back in 2018.
He said in an interview with People on Thursday that his then nine-year-old son motivated him to find a way to live longer.
"I thought, 'Well, this is my time. I'm ready to go'," the actor and former stand-up comedian told the US weekly magazine while discussing the moment he received the news.
"But then my son came to mind just a few seconds later and I heard myself saying, 'I've got a nine-year-old and I'd like to be around for him. Is there any way I can get a little more life going?'"
Richards said if he hadn't followed the doctor's advice to remove his entire prostate, "I probably would have been dead in about eight months".
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The actor said he decided to write the memoir, which will be released on 4 June, as he wanted "to do a full review of my life".
Richards has spent years out of the spotlight. In 2006, he was caught on camera launching a racist tirade against hecklers at one of his Los Angeles stand-up sets.
"I was immediately sorry the moment I said it on stage," Richards told People.
He said as the "damage was inside of me", he stepped away from showbiz.
"The most I could do for everybody was go home and get my s--- together," he said.