Edward James Olmos Reveals Throat Cancer Battle: 'That Was Close'

Legendary actor Edward James Olmos has revealed a recent battle with throat cancer — and he is pulling no punches regarding just how tough the fight really was.

Olmos, 76, told Mando Fresko on the "Mando & Friends" podcast, "I've been through some experiences that have gotten me close to death, but that was close."

"I just finished getting through it," he said. "December 20 was my last radiation. The week before, I'd finished my chemo and [for] months and months I was on radiation and chemo as it attacked my throat... A lot of my friends have passed because of this. It’s a very strong disease. Cancer is, period, but in the throat, it's really difficult... Man, it took a lot — months and months and months."

Olmos, known for his work on "Miami Vice" and his Oscar-nominated performance in the 1988 drama "Stand and Deliver," went into detail about his grueling treatment, saying, "The doctors would say right before I started, 'There’s only one thing we have to tell you, we do not know what you’re gonna sound like... We’re shooting your vocal cords, we’re shooting your throat; where you eat, where you swallow, where you talk, where you breathe' — everything goes through here, okay?"

"So we’re shooting it. And it becomes the hardest place to shoot, to use radiation and chemo," he continued.

The actor also said he still has a bump on his lymph nodes from where they were scorched by radiation.

The "Selena" star also lost 55 lbs. of muscle, but asserted he "was in good condition — and I still am," noting he swims every day and does strength training. "The key to existence is exercise."

Now that it is over, he is willing to talk about it, including what he took from the ordeal: "It was an experience that changed me, the understanding of how wonderful this life is."