Blythe Danner has revealed she is in remission after a battle with oral cancer.
In an interview with People magazine, the actress said “I’m fine and dandy now. And I’m lucky to be alive.” Her husband of 30 years, Hollywood director Bruce Paltrow, died in 2002 after battling oral cancer for several years.
The Meet the Parents star said she was diagnosed with adenoid cystic carcinoma, a rare form of oral cancer, and initially kept the news from her children, including Gwyneth Paltrow, the actress and lifestyle entrepreneur. “I wanted to forge ahead as a mother, and I didn’t want them to worry,” she recounted.
In 2020, Danner, after undergoing radiation and chemotherapy, went through a third operation to remove the cancerous tissue, which has allowed her to be in remission. She is doing advocacy work for the Oral Cancer Foundation, which raises awareness around oral and oropharyngeal cancers that impact around 54,000 Americans annually with their own diagnoses, and on average lead to 9,750 deaths each year.
Danner appeared philosophical about the death of her husband ahead of her own battle with oral cancer and its own impact on her family. “I think we’ve all become somehow stronger. It’s a bit of a crapshoot — this disease and this life. But I’ve had a career, great kids and a loving husband. I’m very grateful,” she said.
Danner’s representatives didn’t respond to The Hollywood Reporter‘s request for comment.
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