When Michael J. Fox arrived on stage at the Emmys on Monday, Sept. 14, the ovation he received might have only been matched by the emotions that swept through the audience and tears visible in many of the stars the cameras captured as he spoke.
Fox was the recipient of the Bob Hope Humanitarian Award for his long advocacy of finding a cure for Parkinson’s disease, which Fox was diagnosed with in 1991, while working on the film “Doc Hollywood.”
The award, which has only been given six times since it was created in 2002, recognized Fox “in recognition of his transformative contributions to Parkinson’s disease research and advocacy.”
He gave his acceptance speech while seated in a wheelchair. The physical symptoms of his illness were apparent, but so too were the humor and charisma that first made him one of Hollywood’s most-beloved stars.
“Initially, I kept my Parkinson’s diagnosis secret,” Fox said. “I worried it would affect my work and relationships with audiences. Would they laugh if they knew I was sick?
“I was stunned by the support from all of you,” he said of his peers. “And it’s because you stood up for me.”
The Michael J. Fox Foundation was created in 2000 with the goal of searching for a cure to the disease, and doing so with urgency. It’s raised billions of dollars since then, and its research has made great strides in the fight.
“Accepting Parkinson’s didn’t mean I had to surrender to it,” Fox said. “It just meant I had to do everything I could for everyone living with this disease.”
Early in his remarks, Fox noted how proud he was to receive an award named after Bob Hope, whose life of philanthropy had meant so much to military families like his own, he noted.
“My parents were born during the Great Depression,” Fox said. “For them, Bob was more than an entertainer. He was a selfless champion of military families like mine.
“He embodied everything I came to believe in years later,” he said.