Stanley Tucci recalls horrifying experience of using feeding tube for 6 months while fighting cancer
Stanley Tucci has spoken out about receiving a cancer diagnosis approximately five years ago and the effects of the subsequent treatment. The 62-year-old actor, who is well-known for his roles in the Hunger Games series, is believed to have received an oral cancer diagnosis at the base of his tongue in or around 2018.
The diagnosis occurred less than a decade after the death of his first wife Kate Spath-Tucci, who died in 2009 at the age of 47 after being diagnosed with breast cancer. Stanley has previously mentioned undergoing radiation therapy and chemotherapy. And, following treatment, he was declared cancer-free last year. In 2022, Blythe Danner had to go through three surgeries to get rid of oral cancer, while she also went for alternative treatments. Finally, in 2020 she was declared cancer-free.
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What did Stanley Tucci say now?
He's discussed more about his experience during an interview with Willie Geist, 47, for the newest episode of NBC's 'Sunday Sitdown with Willie Geist'. Stanley described himself as "shocked" and "absolutely terrified" when he was diagnosed with cancer. He expressed gratitude that the cancer had not spread. Talking about the experience, he said in the interview, "I had a feeding tube for six months and everything tasted like you know what and smelled like you know what." Stanley continued, "And it took months and months and months for me to finally be able to eat again and then taste properly again."
Who was his first wife?
The diagnosis occurred less than a decade after the death of his first wife Kate Spath-Tucci, who died in 2009 at the age of 47 after being diagnosed with breast cancer. In 2009, the 'The Devil Wears Prada' actor lost his wife of 14 years, Spath-Tucci, to breast cancer. The couple produced three children: twins Nicolo and Isabel, who are now 23, and Camilla, who is now 21. The actor opened up about Kate's death in 2021. "You never stop grieving. It's still hard after 11 years. It's still hard. And it will always be hard,” said the actor. "But you can't let it... and she would never want any of us to ever wallow in that grief and let it take over our lives. She would never want that. She wasn't like that," as per Independent.
Kate was a well-known American television personality, social worker, and producer. The social welfare worker was also a philanthropist who donated to many organizations. She later worked as an assistant producer on many American television episodes and series. Among her major efforts are 'The Full Circle' and 'American Idol'.
Tucci praises his wife Felicity Blunt, whom he has been married to since 2012, for helping him get through such a terrible moment in his life after the diagnosis. The couple have two children together — Matteo Oliver, eight, and Emilia, four.