told People.“But then my son came to mind just a few seconds later and I heard myself saying, “I’ve got a 9-year-old and I’d like to be around for him.
Is there any way I can get a little more life going?”Richards, who played Kramer for nearly a decade on the hit show, and won three Emmys for the role, said that his doctors recommended surgery to remove his prostate.“It had to be contained quickly,” he says. “I had to go for the full surgery.
If I hadn’t, I probably would have been dead in about eight months.”This near-miss pushed him to write a memoir, he told the outlet. “I had over 40 journals I’d kept over the years and wanted to do a full review of my life,” he said. “I’m turning 75, so maybe wanting to do that is something that comes with being my age.
I wanted to connect with feelings and memory. I’m surprised at how much I was able to remember.”In his memoir, he also addresses the infamous controversy in 2006 where he used the N-word during a racist tantrum to berate a heckler at a comedy club.