Grey's Anatomy star James Pickens Jr. has some devastating news... The 73-year-old actor revealed to Black Health Matters on Friday that he was diagnosed with prostate cancer - just as his onscreen character Dr. Richard Webber is dealing with a similar health battle on the show. Oh no. James isn't shocked by the diagnosis, though. As he told the outlet, prostate cancer, unfortunately, runs in his family: "It's not the kind of news anyone wants to hear, but to be honest, prostate cancer has run through my family. My father had it. He had a lot of brothers; several of them had it.