Michael J. Fox Told The Emmys He's Close To A Cure For Parkinson's

Michael J. Fox, 65, accepted the Bob Hope Humanitarian Award at the 78th Primetime Emmy Awards on September 14, 2026, the eighth time in the award's history that it has been given and only the second time the Television Academy has presented it to someone whose humanitarian work centers on medical research rather than entertainment philanthropy. Fox took the stage in a wheelchair, wearing a black suit, and received a standing ovation before he said a word. His former Good Wife co-star Julianna Margulies presented the honor, recognizing his work through the Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson's Research, which has become the largest nonprofit funder of Parkinson's research in the world, directing more than two billion dollars toward treatment and a cure since Fox was diagnosed at 29. He began his speech by talking about Bob Hope, whose example he said had shaped the way he approached his own diagnosis, noting that his parents had grown up during the Depression and come of age during World War II and that to them, Hope was more than an entertainer. He described Hope spending holidays in Berlin, Saigon, and the Middle East with a turkey leg and a golf club when he could have been home with his family. Fox said that kind of selfless service was what he aspired to when he had to decide what to do with a disease he had not asked for.

He then spoke about the diagnosis itself, saying he had initially kept it a secret because he was afraid of what it would mean for his career and for how audiences would see him, and that the moment he went public and felt the response, he understood what the path forward was. He told the room that the public's support was so uplifting that it made him feel like he could keep going, and that they had stood up for him in a way he would never stop appreciating. The moment the audience reacted to most visibly came near the end of the speech, when Fox said quietly that his foundation is close to finding a cure for Parkinson's disease. He also thanked his wife of nearly 40 years, Tracy Pollan, who was in the audience alongside their four children, telling them they had no idea what their sacrifices and their love had meant to him. The award has previously been given to Oprah Winfrey, Jerry Lewis, Bonnie Hunt, Forest Whitaker, Jeff Probst, and Ted Danson and Mary Steenburgen. Fox received his first Emmy in 1986 for Family Ties and won five in total across his career. The one he accepted at the Peacock Theater on September 14 carries a different weight than any of those, and the room, which gave him a second standing ovation when his speech ended, appeared to know it.

Source:https://ew.com/michael-j-fox-honored-humanitarian-award-emmys-2026-12114765