90s star shares secret cancer battle and says he ‘would’ve died in 8 months’ without surgery-Meghna Amin-Entertainment – Metro

Seinfeld star Michael Richards has shared his cancer battle (Picture: Nbc Tv/Kobal/REX/Shutterstock)

Seinfeld star Michael Richards has shared his cancer diagnosis, and said he would have died in months without surgery to remove his whole prostate.

The Cosmo Kramer actor, 74, has revealed in his upcoming memoir that he was diagnosed with stage 1 prostate cancer six years ago, after a routine checkup.

‘I thought, “Well, this is my time. I’m ready to go,”‘ he’s now shared.

‘But then my son came to mind just a few seconds later and I heard myself saying, “I’ve got a 9-year-old and I’d like to be around for him. Is there any way I can get a little more life going?”‘

Richards was recommended surgery to remove his whole prostate after a biopsy, and told People that he ‘would’ve been dead in about eight months’ had he not gone for the full surgery.

The diagnosis also led to him deciding to release a memoir, with Entrances and Exits set to be released on June 4.

This follows years out of the spotlight, after starring alongside Jerry Seinfeld between 1989 to 1998.

The actor, 74, says he would have died in 8 months without surgery (Picture: John Salangsang/Shutterstock)

Following his own sitcom, The Michael Richards Show, which was cancelled after just eight episodes across two months in 2000, Richards returned to stand-up, but in 2006 was filmed going on a racist tirade against hecklers.

The infamous rant was sparked by a heckler telling him he wasn’t funny, and left his career and reputation in tatters.

In his upcoming memoir, he reportedly discusses the incident and says that he was hurting from the failure of his own show, at the time of the gig, though six years had passed in between.

Richards says he heard talking coming from the balcony before he exploded in rage, and yelled: ‘Shut the f*** up!’ – to the delight of the audience.

He then heard someone from the balcony call out: ‘You’re not funny. We don’t think you’re very funny!’

Richards starred alongside Jerry Seinfeld between 1989 and 1998 (Picture: Variety/Getty)

Richards admitted he took the insult ‘pretty hard’ and called it a ‘solid punch below the belt’.

He swerves detailing exactly what he said during his tirade – which featured him shouting into the audience: ‘Fifty years ago we’d have you upside down with a f****** fork up your a**’ before calling one of his hecklers the n- word.

Richards says in his book: ‘Of course, looking back at all, I wish I had just agreed with (my heckler.)

‘He went low and I went even lower. We both ended up at the bottom of the barrel.’

Richards added the words ‘You’re not funny’ kept running through his mind at the time of the incident, saying: ‘He laid it out so clearly, so simply, my biggest fear – not being funny. 

Richards addressed his infamous racist tirade from 2006, after which he has remained out of the spotlight (Picture: Getty Images North America)

‘Later, I’ll come to realise that all of this, everything he said, is me. His voice is my voice. This is all ME going on. My inferiority sets in. My anger erupts.’

Richards appeared on the Late Show with David Letterman to apologise for the incident days after footage of it spread.

He added his Seinfeld co-stars Jerry, Jason Alexander and Julia Louis-Dreyfus reached out during the controversy, but he was ’embarrassed’ and ‘concerned about the mess spilling onto them’.

The actor also confesses he has had ‘some regrets’ but believes in the ‘continuity of the soul’, saying: ‘Screw-ups in life are necessary.’

Seinfeld is available to stream on Netflix.

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