Famous Prostate Men
Every cancer is traumatic, but when you get prostate, cancer, or any cancer that involves reproductive organs, it can really mess with your mind because we attach so much of our self-worth to these physical attributes. Who are we without them?
Men get prostate cancer as frequently as women get breast cancer, yet I’m personally aware of only three friends who’ve been treated for prostate cancer, while I know a bunch of women who’ve had breast cancer. I think the reason is that women share their struggles more often. It’s as if men are ashamed.
As I do research into prostate cancer, I recognize the names of entertainers and politicians, of course, but also of athletes who were in great physical shape. Most of the names are of those who died. I suspect that those who survive choose to keep their news private. Often enough, a man is described as dying of “cancer,” without the type being specified. Prostate cancer makes many feel less of a man because your sexual equipment no longer functions as well as it did. And while the famous have obits in the newspaper, there are many more unknown men whose deaths never make the headlines. Being rich, being famous, being in shape does not exempt you from getting cancer.
In September 2024, Wade Boggs said his cancer tested at Gleason 7, which indicates intermediate risk and was probably Stage 2. Five months later, he said he was cancer free. I’m guessing that he had surgical removal. While his cancer is gone, he is probably dealing with the standard urinary and ED aftereffects. I’m glad he could be diagnosed and treated so quickly. It took me seven months to move through urology and get to oncology, and almost a year before doctors started to kill my cancer with radiation. Two and a half years after I was diagnosed, I’m still waiting for my doctors to say my cancer is gone. Maybe because my cancer is Stage 3, higher risk and prone to misbehave, my doctors are cautious about making any pronouncements.
Ryne Sandberg, the beloved Chicago Cubs ballplayer, is a cautionary story about wanting to believe that some good news is all good news. In January 2024 he said he was diagnosed with metastatic Stage 4 cancer, and was going through radiation and chemotherapy. In July, six months later, he said he was cured, which I didn’t believe at the time. In December, he said the cancer came back, and eight months after this, in July 2025, he died. Who wasn’t telling the truth? Was Ryne trying to be positive for his many fans, or was he unclear about what his doctors said? I have not heard of any person who has Stage 4 metastatic cancer being cured. It doesn’t happen. Not yet, anyway.
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar got leukemia in 2008, and around 2009 he developed prostate cancer. He had no symptoms, but his annual PSA caught the problem. He had surgery and radiation, and is currently a survivor.
These are some of the famous men who died, with other details I found. You will recognize many of the names: J.G. Ballard died in 2009, Bill Bixby age 59, Stokely Carmichael, Winston Churchill, Eldridge Cleaver, Gary Cooper, Gregory Corso, Vince Flynn, (diagnosed in 2010 with stage 3 and a rare form of metastasis, died 2013, age 47), Dan Fogelberg from Peoria died in 2007 at age 56, Dennis Hopper, Langston Hughes, William Hurt (diagnosed in 2012, died 2022. He said in 2018 that it had metastasized into his bones), Christopher Isherwood, Dexter Scott King, Barry Lopez (nature writer, diagnosed in 2013, died 2020 of metastatic cancer, age 75), Pablo Neruda (died 1973 of advanced prostate cancer), Sidney Poitier, Ryne Sandberg, Desmond Tutu, Robert Penn Warren, Jun’ichi Watanabe, Walter Winchell, Ludwig Wittgenstein, and Frank Zappa (diagnosed in 1990, died 1993, age 52, of metastatic cancer).
These are some of the famous men who survived: Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Harry Belafonte had surgical removal, Wade Boggs, Jerry Brown, Warren Buffett caught his early and had radiation, Robert De Niro found his cancer during a routine PSA at age 60, Stephen Fry (who has a Gleason 9 out of 10), Elton John, who discovered it early and had surgery, John Kerry, Phil Lesh, Nelson Mandela who was diagnosed at age 83, had radiation, and lived twelve more years, Ian McKellen, Ryan O’Neal, Arnold Palmer, Mandy Patinkin, Sidney Poitier, Colin Powell, Al Roker, Ben Stiller who discovered it early via the PSA, Joe Torre, and Andrew Lloyd Webber.
© 2025 Mark Liebenow