Eric Braeden, 82, shares rare picture of look-alike son after devastating cancer diagnosis
LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA: Soap opera legend Eric Braeden proved he is every inch a doting father as he shared a rare picture of his look-alike son, Christian Gudegast, after revealing that he is battling prostate cancer - which is known as a 'silent killer.’ The 82-year-old ‘Young And The Restless' actor took to his Facebook handle on Sunday, April 23, to share the stunning picture of Christian, whom he shares with his wife, Dale Russell Gudegast.
The picture captured Christian posting with ex-UFC world heavyweight champion Cyril Gane and Dutch k1 world heavyweight champion, Rico Verhoeven on set of his upcoming venture ‘Den of Thieves 2’. The picture soon garnered immense social media attention with more than 6.7k likes in just a few hours. Many Braeden fans also flooded his comment section with praises of his son. "Spitting image! Good luck on #2, Christian. Continued prayers, Eric!" one user wrote while another said "Just as handsome as you Eric. Nice to see how proud you are of him!"
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Who is Christian Gudegast?
The ‘Lucky Chance’ star welcomed his only child Christian with his wife, Dale Russell Gudegast, whom he married in 1966. Eric and Dale met in the early 1960s when they were both living in Los Angeles and pursuing careers in entertainment. His son Christian graduated Magna Cum Laude from UCLA Film School and won the Best Student Film award for his thesis film, "Shadow Box" in 1992. He started his career directing rap music videos until his first script, "Black Ocean," was sold in 1993 to Oliver Stone, which launched his screenwriting career, according to Amomama.
Chrisitan has several spectacular movies under his belt including, ‘Den of Thieves’, ‘A Man Apart’ and ‘Plane’ among many more. In his book, 'I'll Be Damned,' Braeden described his son as "the pride of my life." Just like his son, Braeden never fails to express love toward his grandchildren. In April 2022, Braeden shared an image of him hugging two of his grandchildren. In March 2022, he celebrated International Women's Day by sharing a Facebook photo of his "beautiful, bright granddaughter."
Eric Braeden opens up about devastating prostate cancer diagnosis
Braeden shared the picture just a day after he opened up about his prostate cancer in a Facebook Live on April 22. “I hate to be this personal but I think this may be good for some older guys who may or may not listen to this,” said the actor in his 13-minute long video where he shared a health update with his fans. He started by stating that his left knee got replaced about three months ago and his hips were done about a year ago.
He believed the knee replacement would be simple after his hip operation, and the first few days were OK because he still had a spinal block. The actor assumed he was safe because he could walk with a cane, but after performing squats, he realized he had hurt himself. Eric immediately rushed to his doctor, who determined that he hadn't hurt himself but that he was beginning to have post-operative pain. After recovering from the pain, he started experiencing issues with his prostate.
Braeden visited a Urologist, who ran some tests and determined that he has cancer. He underwent surgery and had another treatment to eradicate cancer, but a week later, high-grade cancer cells were discovered in his body, according to Amomama. The star still exercised but listened to his body as he promised to continue fighting against his diagnosis.