Michael J. Fox, 51, will return to NBC this fall, the same network he worked for as a Family Ties star. The show will be “based loosely on my experiences,” Fox told Access Hollywood.
A New York anchorman diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease is prodded by his boss to return to work, “and that’s what I’m doing,” said Fox.
Fox said he could say to himself “I won’t be able to do that, I won’t be able to do this.”
“But it’s much more about right now, what can I do right now? I love to do this,” he said.
He has made guest appearances recently on The Good Wife, Rescue Me, and Curb Your Enthusiasm. Fox said these were good experiences that have encouraged him to return to the screen.
Denis Leary of Curb Your Enthusiasm is a long-time friend of Fox’s. He told AARP magazine: “Even when his [Fox’s] symptoms are most acute, it drives him crazy to be pitied … I’ve walked down the hall with him and he’s herky-jerky and he‘ll go, ’Watch out, Denis, you might get an elbow in the face.' ”
Fox uses his sense of humor to stay positive. In AARP’s April/May cover feature, the magazine highlights some of the actor’s Parkinson’s-related jokes: “When I start pouring [cereal], I don’t know what’s going to happen,” Fox said. “The next thing I know, I’m spraying All-Bran all over the kitchen.”
A vibrating hand makes any toothbrush function like an electric one, he told AARP.
One of Fox’s fans Tweeted on Wednesday: “I have so much respect for Michael J. Fox for continuing what he loves, despite his illness. Live and love like never before.”
