Blythe Danner Is in Remission After Battle with Oral Cancer

Blythe Danner is in remission from oral cancer after battling the illness for years.

The actor revealed that she was diagnosed in March 2018 with the same cancer that killed her husband Bruce Paltrow in 2002. “Everyone is touched by cancer in some way, but it’s unusual for a couple to have the same cancer,” Danner said in a new interview with People. “I remember I looked up at heaven and said to Bruce, ‘Are you lonely up there?’ It’s a sneaky disease. But I’m fine and dandy now. And I’m lucky to be alive.” The Emmy winner, who is mom to Gwyneth and Jake Paltrow, recalled that she was working in London in 2018 when “I started feeling very woozy and I was forgetting everything. And then I felt a lump in my neck, right next to where Bruce had found his [in 1999].”

Danner was diagnosed with a rare form of oral cancer, adenoid cystic carcinoma, which often develops in the salivary glands. She explained, “I kept it from my kids for a long time. I wanted to forge ahead as a mother, and I didn’t want them to worry.” But when she did finally tell her daughter, Gwyneth shared, “I was obviously very shocked. It was scary. And it felt really eerie because it was so similar [to my dad’s].” But Danner sprung into action immediately, undergoing multiple surgeries and exploring alternative treatments. And, in 2020, the actor underwent a third surgery with Dr. Mark DeLacure that successfully removed all of the cancerous tissue. Gwyneth added, “She went through it with so much grace. I was amazed at how strong she was able to be.”

Throughout this harrowing process and the rounds of radiation and chemotherapy, Danner said, “I wasn’t quaking in my boots. I don’t have any fear of death at all.” She explained that after the death of her husband of 33 years, her perspective on life radically shifted. “You never get over that kind of loss,” she said. “Bruce was the heart of our family. And life is so much paler without him around. But grief is the price we pay for love.” And thankfully, she still has her kids and her four grandkid, and “nothing makes her happier.” Danner said that following Bruce’s death and her own battle with the same cancer, “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.”