In a poignant exploration of human resilience, we delve into the powerful interviews of celebrities who faced their mortality with courage and grace. These remarkable individuals shared their stories, insights, and reflections while battling terminal illnesses.
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00:00Patrick this is your first television interview since your illness. I have no idea what I'm gonna say welcome to watch mojo and today
00:07We're looking at famous figures who gave interviews knowing they might not have much time left. They look at you
00:13Like you're dead man walking basically
00:17Charlton Heston starring in classic films like Ben-Hur and Planet of the Apes few actors dominated the screen like Charlton Heston
00:24Take your stinking paws off me you damn dirty ape
00:29Even as he started taking fewer lead roles Heston remained in the public eye with high-profile
00:34cameos and as the president of the NRA
00:36Heston permanently stepped away from the spotlight after announcing he had been diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease in August 2002
00:42It is difficult to watch what age and Alzheimer's are doing to a man who's always
00:47Appeared to be so strong that December Heston and his wife Lydia Clark welcomed journalist Peter Jennings into their home
00:53Jennings could tell that the disease was already affecting the aging Heston who struggled to remember things despite putting on a brave face
01:00Heston suspected he would be afraid as his condition inevitably worsened
01:04I don't mean for a second Charlton to impose my own emotions on you, but I think I'd really be afraid I
01:12Probably will be afraid too when it gets closer
01:16But I don't feel those things this would be Heston's final televised interview before his passing in April 2008
01:23Alex Trebek, it was impossible to imagine Jeopardy! without Alex Trebek for over 35 years
01:37While the long-running game show could last forever it became clear in 2019 that Trebek's phenomenal tenure would soon end
01:44The TV legend was diagnosed with stage 4 pancreatic cancer seeking treatment Trebek remained committed to his Jeopardy! duties
01:51I plan to beat the low survival rate statistics for this disease
01:58Truth told I have to because under the terms of my contract. I have to host Jeopardy! for three more years
02:06So help me keep the faith and we'll win all the while Trebek opened up about his illness in several interviews
02:13Trebek maintained an optimistic attitude expressing an eagerness to return to the Jeopardy! set at the same time
02:18Trebek didn't sugarcoat his condition saying he wasn't afraid to die one thing
02:22They're not gonna say at my funeral as a part of a eulogy. He was taken from us too soon
02:29I'm 79 years old. So hey, I've lived a good life a full life and I'm nearing the end of that life
02:35I know that I'm not gonna delude myself
02:39So if it happens it happens between interviews Trebek balanced work and treatment for 20 months
02:45Trebek shot his final Jeopardy! episode in October 2020 passing away several days later, John McCain
02:51This Arizona senator overcame cancer in the past yet
02:54Nothing could prepare him for July 2017 after doctors discovered a blood clot over his left eye
02:59McCain was rushed into surgery this morning a giant of the Senate is battling brain cancer
03:05Senator John McCain is recovering at home in Arizona after having surgery last Friday to remove a blood clot above his left eye
03:13Further tests his doctors say revealed a tumor weeks after being diagnosed with glioblastoma a form of brain cancer
03:20McCain returned to the Senate where he helped preserve the Affordable Care Act
03:23While McCain had a fighting spirit treatment wouldn't buy him much more than another year or so that September
03:29McCain and wife Cindy Hensley sat down with Leslie Stahl of 60 minutes at their ranch. I was driving up here and
03:36I got about two-thirds of the way up and
03:39My doctor called and said you got to come back and I said hey that today is Friday
03:44I'll just come in on Monday and she said no you have to come now
03:47It's very serious in addition to discussing Donald Trump's presidency McCain talked about his health and the legacy
03:53He hoped to leave behind 60 minutes revisited the interview in August 2018 following the former Republican presidential nominees death
04:00I have feelings sometimes of fear of what happens
04:04But as soon as I get that I say wait a minute wait a minute you've been around a long time old man
04:12You've had a great life. You've had a great experience Steve Jobs in January 2006
04:17Steve Jobs shared a close-knit secret with Disney CEO Bob Iger his cancer was back while Jobs was committed to seeing his son graduate
04:24High school he knew he'd be lucky to survive that long while Jobs didn't regularly make public appearances
04:29He was still the face of Apple over the following years Jobs promoted the iPhone as the game-changer
04:34It was in presentations and interviews. We think what we've done is to is to reinvent the phone and
04:41Completely change what your expectations are gonna be
04:45For what you can carry in your pocket in 2010 Jobs gave one of his final interviews at the d8 conference
04:51Comparing PCs to trucks and Apple products to cars although Jobs filled the room with charisma
04:56Speculations concerning his health continued to grow and nonetheless came as a shock when Jobs announced his resignation in August 2011 only two months before dying
05:04A giant in business technology and entertainment Steve Jobs had been battling pancreatic cancer for eight years
05:11Anthony Perkins in September 1992 Anthony Perkins passed away due to age-related
05:17Complications the actor best known for playing Norman Bates have been privately seeking treatment over the past two years
05:22Only recently announcing his condition to the public
05:24How would you define the Tony Perkins persona? Well, it's it it changed in 1960 with psycho with psycho suddenly
05:33I'd abandoned being the young leading man and became the slightly a quirky slightly nervous
05:40ticker in
05:42Juvenile a month after Perkins died AMC aired what turned out to be his last interview with film professor Richard Brown
05:48Perkins reflected on his work in films like desire under the elms friendly persuasion and of course psycho
05:54She just goes a little mad sometimes
05:59We all go a little mad sometimes
06:05Haven't you the focus remained on Perkins career and the craft of acting as the interview concluded though Perkins mentioned how lucky he felt
06:12To still be alive and working while Perkins appeared hopeful about the future
06:15His illness soon took its toll this retrospective interview thus served as a bittersweet
06:20Farewell the fact that I'm still working still alive and still productive is
06:27Means more to me than anything
06:28Patrick Swayze the star of dirty dancing and ghost was in the middle of filming the show The Beast upon learning that he had stage
06:354 pancreatic cancer
06:37I need this envelope delivered to that exact address at 1400 sharp. You got it. What is it?
06:43It's an envelope Swayze finished his work on the season while undergoing treatment
06:47He also found the strength to speak with Barbara Walters with his wife Lisa Nehemi by his side
06:52Swayze expressed gratitude to those who had sent letters of support
06:56the outpouring of love
06:58Constantly astounded me these letters in the kind of genuine love and support without expecting anything in return has
07:05Personally restored my faith in what people are made of Swayze was grateful that he had made it through ten months of treatment
07:11Confident he could keep going even so Swayze knew his time was limited best-case scenario
07:16Swayze thought he'd live another five years. Although he felt two was more realistic
07:20Unfortunately, it was even less Swayze died in September 2009 nine months after the interview aired last month
07:27Patrick and his doctors decided to discontinue treatment
07:31Anything that could be done had been tried his last days were spent at home in his ranch resting without pain
07:38Chadwick Boseman Chadwick Boseman found out he had stage 3 colon cancer in 2016 over the next four years
07:44He turned Black Panther into a universal icon my king. Stop it. Stop it
07:52Beyond the MCU
07:53Boseman appeared in several other projects while privately enduring chemo and surgeries making Boseman's accomplishments all the more heroic
08:00He never showed any signs of declining health in interviews watching Boseman laugh alongside late-night hosts
08:06He seemed like an actor with a long career ahead. It feels like it's been going on for longer than that
08:10But yeah, you're right. Yeah, it's been a crazy ride as his cancer advanced to stage four though
08:15Boseman's life was cut tragically short during a 2018 interview
08:18Boseman tearfully mentioned two terminally ill children determined to live long enough to see Black Panther
08:24And so what put me back in the mind of being a kid just just to experience those two little boys
08:32Anticipation of this movie and when I found out that they this interview is even more emotional
08:37Knowing Boseman's secret struggles and how his legacy continues to inspire Olivia Newton John after surviving two previous
08:44Experiences with cancer Olivia Newton John faced another round in 2017
08:48The Grease star appeared resilient as she addressed her cancer's return during interviews with 60 Minutes Australia and the Today Show
08:55How is it the second time around different for you?
09:00I
09:01Think it's not as frightening. You know, I've had a wonderful life. And so I'm not as
09:07Freaked out as I was when I had a young child
09:09Discussing treatment Newton John seemed assured she could overcome cancer again throughout the next five years
09:14Newton John gave updates about her life and health in several interviews while Newton John always sounded a beat
09:19She revealed in a 2021 interview with extra that her cancer hadn't gone away
09:23I don't know that I'm cancer-free, but I am stable and feeling well and
09:30And
09:32So I feel very fortunate in February 2022 Newton John spoke with direct talk saying that her favorite expression was this too will pass
09:39It would sadly be a parting message as Newton John passed away that August yet
09:44Her contributions to breast cancer research are still making a difference
09:48Life is never the same where we're moving and changing all the time
09:51You just got to go with the flow
09:53If you can don't resist because it'll take you down Karen black many celebrities have given interviews knowing it might be their last
09:59But few have taken an approach quite like Karen black big to me a little bit more about when you
10:05Read those posts from anonymous people
10:09Touched by your music and your essence what it did for you how it made you feel
10:22The Oscar-nominated actress received her ampullary cancer diagnosis in November 2010 having part of her pancreas removed black lost a
10:29Significant amount of weight and struggled to get out of bed as her condition worsened black
10:33Decided that she wanted to document the final stages of her life. There's nothing that blacks
10:39Me
10:41From loving my fellow man from feeling close to my fellow man
10:47And knowing I've always known this according to journalist Elliot Mince black contacted him about a month before her passing in August
10:542013 at a request
10:56Mince interviewed black from her hospital bed the two talked about her life and career as well as their friendship years later
11:02Mince reflected that nothing in his broadcast life had prepared him for that conversation. Are you afraid to die?
11:09Yes, I am
11:11but uh
11:13Not so much
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11:32Shannon Daugherty Shannon Daugherty had a history of medical issues including about with stage 3 breast cancer in 2015
11:39I was about a year and a half ago. You said that you're in remission. So how's everything going?
11:43Everything is going really well. I mean, you know, you hear the word remission. I know there's it's a rush of different emotions, right?
11:50Mm-hmm. It's it's like what's next? There's a little bit of fear and apprehension
11:54Although Daugherty entered remission in 2017
11:57The cancer eventually returned and advanced to stage 4 after initially keeping her diagnosis private Daugherty shared her harrowing experience in an ABC interview
12:05This is a much more difficult one to deal with. I'm
12:09Grappling. I haven't found
12:12My path and my peace by 2023 the cancer spread to her brain and bones
12:17The writing was on the wall
12:18But Daugherty didn't give up on treatment in another ABC interview Daugherty provided an update on her condition and talked about her podcast
12:25Let's be clear through this memoir of sorts Daugherty shared insight into her career and cancer
12:30She also found time to answer questions from fans Daugherty continued to record the podcast regularly until her death in July 2024
12:37the actress rose to fame for her roles on Beverly Hills 90210 and
12:41Charmed and was so open about her valiant fight with cancer for nearly a decade
12:46She passed away at the age of 53 which interview gives you chills just thinking about it. Let us know in the comments
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