Seinfeld star Michael Richards revealed that he was diagnosed with prostate cancer in the summer of 2018 in his upcoming memoir Entry and Exit.
The 74-year-old actor detailed discovering he had stage 1 prostate cancer in an excerpt from his book, obtained by PeopleAfter a routine checkup he showed high PSA levels, candidly revealing that he “would have been dead” if he had not undergone surgery to remove his prostate.
“I thought, ‘Well, this is my moment. I’m ready to go,'” he told the outlet of his initial reaction to the news. “But then, a few seconds later, my son came to mind and I heard myself say, ‘I have a 9-year-old boy and I would like to be close to him.’ Is there any way he can have a little more life?
After undergoing a biopsy, Richards, who reunited with his Seinfeld co-star Jerry Seinfeld earlier this month, said his doctor recommended immediate surgery to remove the entire prostate.
“It had to be contained quickly,” said the California native. ‘I had to have full surgery. If he hadn’t, he probably would have died in about eight months.
Seinfeld star Michael Richards revealed that he was diagnosed with prostate cancer in the summer of 2018 in his upcoming memoir Entry and Exit.
The near-death experience inspired him to publish his memoirs, which he said forced him to do a “complete review” of his life.
“I had over 40 journals that I had kept over the years,” Richards told the outlet. “I’m turning 75, so maybe wanting to do that is something that comes with my age.”
As he embarked on the journey of writing his own life story, the artist said he “wanted to connect” with his feelings and memories.
At the end, he joked that he was “surprised” by “how much” he could “remember.”
Richards didn’t hold back in the memoir, even writing about his decision to stay out of the public eye following his racist rant at Laugh Factory in 2006.
“I immediately regretted it the moment I said it on stage,” Richards told People about her use of the N-word while responding to hecklers during one of her stand-up performances. “My anger was everywhere and it came out loud and fast.”
He continued: ‘Anger is a great force. But it happened. Instead of running away from it, I dove into the deep end and tried to learn from it. It has not been easy. The crisis managers wanted me to do damage control. But as far as I was concerned, the damage was within me.’
He noted that he has spent the last 17 years in “deep analysis” to “figure out where all the anger was coming from.”
The 74-year-old actor detailed discovering he had stage 1 prostate cancer during the summer of 2018 in an excerpt from his book after a routine checkup showed high PSA levels, obtained by People, which will be published on January 4. June (seen at left in 1994 with her Seinfeld co-stars)
“It had to be contained quickly,” said the California native. ‘I had to have full surgery. If I hadn’t, I probably would have died in about eight months” (seen in 2014)
Richards said he believes his anger stems from his own insecurities and fears of not being accepted or loved.
While discussing the 2006 incident, Richards insisted that he is “not racist” and has “nothing against black people.”
‘The man who told me I wasn’t funny had just said what I had been telling myself for a while. I felt slighted. He wanted to sacrifice him,’ he explained.
Even while playing Cosmo Kramer on Seinfeld, Richards said he “couldn’t connect with the joy of being an artist.”
“I was a good character actor, but I felt comfortable being the character, not being me,” he reflected.
His insecurities even caused him to turn down “the offer of a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame” because he “didn’t feel worthy.”
‘I said no to hosting Saturday Night Live twice because I didn’t feel good enough. I was never really satisfied with my performance on Seinfeld. Fame magnified my insecurities,’ the actor admitted.
His memoir, Entrances and Exits, will be published on June 4.