- Michael J. Fox accepted an honorary Oscar for his philanthropic contributions to Parkinson’s disease research at the 13th Governors Awards on Saturday.
- In his acceptance speech, he admitted to being in denial for years after his diagnosis.
- He also shared an update on his health.
Michael J. Fox was diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease in 1991, seven years before he told the public about it. Those years were spent reimagining his future, talking to doctors, and admittedly, being in denial, he revealed during his acceptance speech at the 13th Governors Awards on Saturday, per People. He also took the opportunity to update fans on his health while discussing his philanthropic efforts.
During the ceremony, the actor, 61, accepted the Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award, an honorary Oscar that applauds his decades of philanthropic efforts and fundraising for Parkinson’s research via his foundation the Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson’s Research, which he established in 2000.
He now calls the neurological condition a gift (albeit one that “keeps on taking,” he joked in his speech). But he didn’t always feel that way.
His diagnosis came shortly after Back to the Future shot him to superstardom, and doctors told him he only had 10 years left to work—which was a tough pill to swallow, considering he had dropped out of high school and relocated to the United States to pursue acting.
“I only knew it would get worse. The diagnosis was definite, the progress was indefinite and uncertain,” Fox said in his speech. “Then I entered into seven years of denial, trying to make sense of it all. The kid who left Canada convinced that he would make anything happen, at least by working hard and by believing, now had a tall order in front of him.”
He continued: “I told very few people, and they kept my secret. Then there were all kinds of doctors who helped me understand the physical processes that were at work, or not at work, in my brain, as the case may be. Finally, I felt like I needed to tell everybody. I understood it would have a huge impact on my career.”
In 1998, he took to People and broadcaster Barbara Walters to share his story, and was overwhelmed by the influx of love and support. “The outpouring of support from the public at large, the beautiful reaction from all of my peers in the entertainment business, all of you, thank you, and the people that I worked with, was transformative,” he said at the ceremony.
As his disease progresses, Fox continues to face new challenges. Although he has worked over the last two decades, his memory loss has begun to affect his acting and line memorization. He also recently told People that he spent the last year recovering from a slew of injuries and broken bones that were largely tipped off by a 2018 spinal cord surgery that removed a tumor. The recovery made him more vulnerable to falls, and he ended up breaking his cheek, hand, arm, shoulder, and elbow.
He told People he’s now “rocking and rolling” with a new mission: “Don’t fall down.” So his Governors Awards speech was particularly exciting because he stood through the entire thing.
“I cannot believe I have been standing here for this long, it’s a miracle,” he told the crowd, per Today. But he did enlist his wife of 34 years, Tracy Pollan, for help getting off stage. “I cannot walk and carry this thing," he said, referring to the award. “I ask Tracy to once again carry the weight.”
Kayla Blanton is a freelance writer-editor who covers health, nutrition, and lifestyle topics for various publications including Prevention, Everyday Health, SELF, People, and more. She’s always open to conversations about fueling up with flavorful dishes, busting beauty standards, and finding new, gentle ways to care for our bodies. She earned a bachelor’s degree in journalism from Ohio University with specializations in women, gender, and sexuality studies and public health, and is a born-and-raised midwesterner living in Cincinnati, Ohio with her husband and two spoiled kitties.
