‘Cheers’ Actor Reveals Humbling Health Scare
Confronting his mortality forced him to make lifestyle changes.
Cheers
Cheers actor Ted Danson, 78, opened up about a frightening brush with his health, forcing him to confront his mortality.
On his podcast, Where Everyone Knows Your Name—a nod to the Cheers theme song—Danson opened up about a discomforting encounter with a “health scare.”
Ted Danson attends the inaugural Golden Gala in 2025.
Daniel Cole/REUTERS
“The last thing that kind of hit me that was very liberating was [that] I had a bit of a health scare,” Danson said on the May 6 episode, which featured actress and fellow ‘80s sitcom star Valerie Bertinelli as a guest.
“I’m totally fine,” Danson reassured listeners, “but it was like, oh, well that’s real.”
The Golden Globe-winning actor continued, “And it was humbling. Mortality is the real deal, you know. It’s not just a rumor. Ted Danson doesn’t get a free pass. Love his work, but…“
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Ted Danson answers questions during the panel for "The Good Place" at the NBC Universal Television Critics Association press tour in 2016.
Phil McCarten/REUTERS
Despite this, the Curb Your Enthusiasm star shared that he’s been living a healthy lifestyle and hadn’t made any mistake warranting such a scare.
He added, “It was very humbling and calming, and I’m fine, you know. But, it was, I think, the best thing that could’ve happened to me, and I’m doing some things differently.”
Among these changes, Danson noted that he now meditates twice daily with his wife, Mary Steenburgen, 73, who co-starred with Danson in the 1995 film Pontiac Moon and the 2025 series A Man on the Inside. Meditation was something, he said, he’d always talked about trying.
Though Danson didn’t specify the health scare or share details about any ailments his new wellness practice may be addressing, meditation offers broad benefits, supporting healthy aging, reducing inflammation, and boosting immunity.
Ted Danson and his wife, Mary Steenburgen, attend the Golden Eve event in 2026.
Mario Anzuoni/REUTERS
“What [meditation has] done for me, the biggest gift of all—you can be curious about other people, you can listen, and you can be supportive,” he told Bertinelli.
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