Comedian Tim Allen has retained a high level of popularity through the years. His sitcom Home Improvement was a fan favorite from 1991 to 1999. Now Allen, 72, stars in another popular TV laugh-fest, Shifting Gears. All in all, he is doing very well.
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But Allen suffered a big scare when he learned he had skin cancer on his nose. Even worse, according to the star, a doctor allegedly failed to spot it multiple times. Allen's problem was finally luckily pinpointed by someone you would not expect - an eagle-eyed, caring makeup artist.
Tim Allen Shared the Unnerving Story With Bill Maher
When he was a guest on the Club Random With Bill Maher podcast, Allen described his frightening medical ordeal. Allen shared, "The lady [makeup artist] at The Today Show noticed it. This is [over] two years; I did Jimmy Fallon and then I did The Today Show. And she goes, 'I see you haven't done anything yet.'"
Tim Allen expressed faith in the "very prominent Beverly Hills dermatologist" he went to. Still, he mentioned the issue at his next appointment anyway. He told Maher, "Finally, I said, 'Hey, doc, would you take a look at this thing on my nose?'" Allen got nervous when the physician said, "Hold on a minute" and donned his glasses. That had never happened in about three decades of visits that Allen made to this medical professional. It was a sign that apparently something bad was coming.
He Got an Alarming Diagnosis
The doctor seemed flustered, Allen remembered. He allegedly said, "Oh [expletive], [expletive], Janice, get Paul in here, and my lawyer,'" Allen recalled. He acknowledged that he had "screwed up" by not finding Allen's problem sooner. Allen evidently had carcinoma or melanoma.
He went to a different doctor to have the procedure done to eliminate the cancer. Allen was not happy at all with what he heard. "He goes, 'I'm going to have to cut most of your nose off.' He said it like that. And I go, 'Let me explain what I do for a living. Unless I'm gonna do a Blazing Saddles with the guy with the silver nose, you have to leave some of my [expletive] nose on so I can do comedy without doing 20 minutes on having no nose!'"
Maher told Allen that you could hardly see where on his nose he had the surgery. The comedian agreed. "[I]t all worked out.... The surgeon was good."
