Celebrities Who Have Survived Breast Cancer

A diagnosis of breast cancer is terrifying and overwhelming. But these celebrities – along with millions of other women – show amazing courage and persistence in fighting and defeating this illness:

Hoda Kotb

Now 47, Kotb, co-host of “Today With Kathie Lee And Hoda,” was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2007 and underwent a mastectomy and reconstructive surgery that year. “I was devastated,” she wrote. “But I was also determined to beat it.” She even managed to find something positive about the experience. “Staring down the scariest thing that could have happened to me gave me the strength to take on new challenges I didn’t have the courage to tackle in the past.” One of those challenges: asking for her current job.

Debbie Wasserman Schultz Dealing with a diagnosis of breast cancer is difficult enough in private. But when you’re the chairman of the Democratic National Committee and a legislator in the public eye, as Schultz is, it can be tough to keep up a brave face. Nonetheless, Schultz, 45, continued her duties as a U.S. Congresswoman from Florida, even while undergoing seven breast cancer-related surgeries after her diagnosis in 2008.

Carly Simon The entertainer, 66, was diagnosed in 1997 – several years after doctors had noticed a lump in her breast. Simon underwent a mastectomy, chemotherapy and radiation before reconstructive surgery, and said she felt “a little angry with myself” for not being more proactive in her medical care.

Robin Roberts Roberts, 51, the cohost of "Good Morning America," announced her own diagnosis in 2007, saying she had found a lump during a self-examination. She went through a course of chemotherapy and radiation. In her book, “Eight Rules To Live By,” Roberts wrote, "I was asked to write an entire book about my experience with cancer. I respectfully declined. Cancer is no more than a chapter in my life. And it will not be the last chapter."

Maggie Smith The legendary British actress was diagnosed in 2008, when she was 73. She kept up her work as Professor Minerva McGonagall in the Harry Potter series, joking that because she was bald from chemotherapy, she had no trouble slipping a wig on. “I was like a boiled egg,” she told an interviewer.

Nancy Reagan At 90 years old, the former First Lady is an encouraging example of long-term survival and taking charge of your health care. She was diagnosed in 1987 and had a mastectomy a few weeks later, going against the conventional wisdom that a lumpectomy would have been enough. Ten days after her operation, Reagan faced still more devastating news: Her mother’s death. Like another First Lady, Betty Ford, Reagan’s fight against breast cancer raised consciousness about the need for mammograms.

Melissa Etheridge Known for her hard-edged rock, Etheridge, 50, approached her 2005 diagnosis the same way, performing without wig or head covering while she was going through chemotherapy. She also decided to smoke medical marijuana (legal in California) , instead of taking “the five or six prescriptions” doctors gave her.

Kate Jackson On the road to her diagnosis, the “Charlie’s Angels” actress had nothing to go on but instinct. One morning in 1987, she later recalled, she decided out of the blue to have her first mammogram ever. Doctors detected a “microscopic” growth in her left breast, and Jackson had a lumpectomy. Two years later, the illness returned, and Jackson, now 63, had a partial mastectomy. Now, she is cancer-free. "The range of emotions you go through is amazing," she says. "But I really made a conscious decision to be positive.”

Jaclyn Smith In 2002, fifteen years after her “Charlie’s Angels” cast mate, Kate Jackson, was diagnosed with breast cancer, Smith got the same bad news. “I was in a state of panic,” the actress, now 66, told an interviewer. Following her diagnosis, she recalled, she demanded an immediate mastectomy. But her husband, a doctor, showed her studies indicating that lumpectomy wIith radiation was best for the kind of cancer she had. What she learned from that: “Don’t go it alone.”

Sheryl Crow The 49-year-old singer was diagnosed through a routine mammogram in 2006. She went public with her diagnosis just weeks after breaking up with her then-fiance, Tour de France legend Lance Armstrong, himself a cancer survivor. “I am a walking advertisement for early detection,” Crow told an interviewer. She recently founded a center for diagnostic mammograms in Los Angeles.

Edie Falco The actress who played the tough-yet-vulnerable Carmela on “The Sopranos” kept her 2003 diagnosis secret from her fellow cast members in the New Jersey crime drama. But the next year, she went public following chemotherapy. The diagnosis, Falco, 48, has said, made her want to start a family. She has since adopted two children.

Marianne Faithfull The singer, a 60s veteran who lived a hard-partying life with Mick Jagger, had already faced an even bigger battle – kicking heroin – long before she was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2006. Luckily, the illness was discovered by French doctors at an early stage, and Faithfull, 64, had surgery, not chemotherapy. “I’ve been given a second chance,” she told an interviewer.

Kim Novak The sultry blonde star of Alfred Hitchcock’s “Vertigo,” Novak, now 78, was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2010 via a mammogram. Novak’s manager, Sue Cameron, told the media that Novak “is in fantastic physical shape and should recover very well.” Since 1976, Novak has lived on an Oregon horse ranch with her husband, veterinarian Robert Malloy.

Martina Navratilova The tennis legend, 55, was diagnosed in 2010 via a routine mammogram (her first) that found a malignancy in her left breast. Seven months after she underwent surgery and radiation treatment, Navratilova went on an expedition to climb Mt. Kilimanjaro in Africa. But she was forced to stop her ascent after developing high-altitude pulmonary edema, a relatively common condition on difficult climbs. She’s now an advocate for regular mammograms.

Andrea Mitchell NBC broadcaster Mitchell, 65, was diagnosed after a routine mammogram, as millions of women are. While reporting her diagnosis on air last September, she said her cancer had been caught in “its earliest stages and that her “prognosis was terrific.” Talking directly to the women in her audience, she said, “Screening matters. Do it.”

Shirley Temple Black Like Nancy Reagan, former child star and ambassador Shirley Temple Black is an inspiring example of long-term survivorship. Diagnosed in 1972, Black, now 83, became one of the first public figures to be open about her condition. But some reticence still remained; she was so unwilling to talk about her illness with her husband that she left breast-cancer articles around the house for him to read. Although she looked on her mastectomy as “an amputation,” she not overcame her illness but went on to ambassadorial posts in Africa and Europe.

Peggy Fleming In February 1998, the 30th anniversary of winning a gold medal in figure skating, Fleming, now 63, was diagnosed with breast cancer. According to Fleming’s website, “early detection saved her life. So did the mental strength she’d gained from sports and competition. “When the going got tough, I really had to draw on many of the same competitive instincts I did when I was skating. I really had to put my head down and stay positive. I had to fight.” Today, Fleming’s winery has donated money to various charities including the Lombardi Comprehensive Cancer Center at Georgetown University.

Dorothy Hamill An iconic skater who won gold at the 1976 Olympics, Hamill made her diagnosis public in January 2008 as she was beginning treatment at Johns Hopkins University Hospital. Hamill, 55, whose mother was diagnosed with breast cancer in 1980, had undergone regular mammograms but was late in getting the one that found her cancer. “So much goes through your head,” she told an interviewer, “so many emotions and fears.” Her prognosis is positive, and Hamill believes that a plant-based diet will help breast-cancer patients maintain good health.

Diahann Carroll In 1998, Carroll, then 63, was diagnosed with a tiny mass that was removed via lumpectomy. “I began to think how lucky I was to have yearly mammograms…The simple truth is that regular screening saved my life, period,” the “Julia” actress told USA Today. Since her diagnosis, Carroll has focused on raising money to help impoverished women have regular testing. “We want to make sure that everyone gets in for testing,” Carroll has said. “Testing saves lives.”

Olivia Newton-John The entertainer acted on instinct in early 1992 when a lump was found in her breast. Despite assurances that it was negative, she insisted on having it removed. A biopsy showed that the growth was, in fact, malignant. Newton-John underwent a year of counseling after her diagnosis and reconstructive surgery. “The entire experience was very traumatic,” she told the Daily Mail. In an effort to help other women facing the same ordeal, Newton-John, 63, has released CDs of songs promoting breast-cancer awareness, and she plans to open the Olivia Newton-John Breast Cancer Centre in Australia next year.