Beloved Canadian actor Michael J Fox thought about maintaining a positive outlook after his The diagnosis of Parkinson’scalled it a “huge privilege” to support the Parkinson’s community through his charitable foundation, which is celebrating its 25th anniversary this year.
Fox, 64, stopped by The Late Show with Stephen Colbert to discuss his memoirs Future boywhich was released on October 14, and to raise awareness of the disease.
“2025 marks 25 years of the Michael J. Fox Foundationwhich has raised more than $2.5 billion for Parkinson’s disease,” said Colbert said. “How does it make you feel to know that this is such a big part of your legacy?”
Fox said that when he was diagnosed, he “took seven years to sort it out for myself” before deciding to go public.
“The response from people was so good, and then I realized the overwhelming power of it and all the energy that was focused on that, like I could tune it in and turn that into something positive,” Fox said.
Colbert told Fox that he is admired not only for raising money for research into the disease, but also for staying in the public eye and being a face for Parkinson’s.
“It’s really important for me to not show up and not say anything when I have something to say, to show up and say it because people who had Parkinson’s for years were stigmatized,” Fox said. “So to represent them now, to be a place in society and to claim this land for our own… I’m so flattered by it. I’m so humbled by it.”
“But it’s not about me. It’s about all these families and people who want change, want things to get better and want to be healthy.”
During the day his sitting position During a conversation with Colbert on October 21, Fox also discussed what it was like juggling filming Back to the future and the popular sitcom Family ties at the same time.
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“You played against Alex P. Keaton all day Family ties. A whole day of filming on one soundstage and then Back to the future at night,” Colbert said.
“The teamsters come pick me up, throw me in the shower and get me a cup of coffee,” Fox recalls.
He said he would drink his coffee in the shower and then have a milkshake on the way to bed, surviving on only three to four hours of sleep for three months.
“I was 23 years old and I was too stupid to know any better,” Fox said.
Fox was diagnosed Parkinson’s disease in 1991 at age 29 and founded the nonprofit in 2000 to fund research for a cure and improve therapies for people living with the disease.
Parkinson’s is a disease of the central nervous system that mainly affects motor functions. The condition causes gradual damage to parts of a person’s brain, resulting in numerous symptoms, including tremors, slow movements, and stiff and inflexible muscles. There is no cure.
In one interview of CBS Sunday morning in 2023, Fox said the degenerative condition has made aging a challenge. He described Parkinson’s as a “gift that keeps on receiving.”
“It sucks to have Parkinson’s,” Fox told interviewer Jane Pauley. “It gets harder, it gets harder, every day you suffer, but that’s how it is.”
Fox said Parkinson’s has led to several injuries over the years, including the breaking of bones in his face and other parts of his body, and the discovery of a benign tumor on his spine.
He clarified that people don’t die directly from Parkinson’s disease, but Fox wasn’t naive about his own mortality either.
“I’m not going to live to be 80. I’m not going to live to be 80,” Fox said.
He claimed that falls, aspirating food and pneumonia can all be seen as “big” killers for people with Parkinson’s.
“I recognize how hard this is for people and how hard it is for me, but I have some skills that allow me to deal with these things, and I realize, with gratitude, that optimism is sustainable,” he explained. “If you can find something to be grateful for, you find something to look forward to, and you keep going.”
Fox officially retired from acting in 2020, but recently revealed he will guest star in an episode of a TV show Shrink in 2026.
In November 2023 he received one honorary Oscarthe Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award, for his philanthropic efforts in Parkinson’s research. The award is given to an “individual in the motion picture industry whose humanitarian efforts have brought honor to the industry,” according to The Academy’s website.
— With files from Global News
“The Late Show With Stephen Colbert” airs weekdays on Global TV at 11:30 PM ET/PT.
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