“The truth is that on most days, there comes a point where I literally can’t stop laughing at my own symptoms,” he says.
“Just the other morning I come into the kitchen,” he says. “I pour a cup — a little trouble there. Then I put both hands around the cup. She’s watching. ‘Can I get that for you, dear?’ ‘Nah, I got it!’ Then I begin this trek across the kitchen. It starts off bad. Only gets worse. Hot java’s sloshing onto my hands, onto the floor.”
The Backstory
At the age of 18, Michael moved to Los Angeles. However, when he failed to bag acting roles overnight, he had to load up on the cheap and cheerful dish mac and cheese.
It didn’t take long before the roles came pouring in though, with his agent calling to tell him that he’d won the part of Alex P. Keaton on Family Ties in 1982. He then went on to star in the likes of Teen Wolf (1985), High School U.S.A (1983), Poison Ivy (1985) and Back To The Future (1985).
This was the beginning of an incredible career for this unbridled talent.
Michael J. Fox has been fighting Parkinson’s disease since he was first diagnosed in the 1990s, but he’s tragically losing this fight.
At 54-years-old, Fox’s speech is slurred and his left foot is so unresponsive that he’s often forced to drag it behind him. He is expected to become wheelchair dependent before the age of 60.
The often reclusive star took a night out with his wife Tracy Pollan in February of this year and required several helpers to enter and exit his vehicle.
According to Radar Online, a close friend said of the night out, “It was heartbreaking. Michael’s bravery knows no bounds. But as the disease takes its toll on his body, even he is beginning to see that his battle is a losing one.”
They continued to say, “Michael sees every day as a gift, as well as an opportunity to help other sufferers. His Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson’s Research has done so much and has raised millions of dollars, but a cure remains well out of reach.
Michael may be down, but he’s not out. It was a struggle for him during his rare outing, but as he headed away from the restaurant he even managed to flash a peace sign to his fans from the back of the limo.”
According to Snopes (because we wanted to verify this rumor), they said “Despite his condition, Fox has soldiered on with his acting career,” most recently starring as Mike Henry in NBC’s The Michael J. Fox Show portraying a newscaster with Parkinson’s who retires from work, and also playing a recurring role on the CBS drama The Good Wife as Louis Canning, an opposing counsel who suffers from tardive dyskinesia (involuntary visual tremors) and often uses his condition to his advantage by repeatedly calling attention to it in order to elicit sympathy during court appearances.
One thing is certain: Michael J. Fox, who in 2007 was named by Time magazine as one of the 100 people “whose power, talent or moral example is transforming the world,” has maintained his sense of humor and a forward outlook despite the difficulties of his medical condition.
He has also been tireless in using the opportunities afforded by his high public profile to raise awareness of Parkinson’s for other less visible sufferers.
Please send your thoughts and prayers to one of our most beloved actors who continues to advocate awareness and the fight against Parkinson’s disease.
