NARRATION You never would have known. This was last week's episode of ABC's comedy hit "Spin City." Nothing in Michael J. Fox's performance would tell you that he had any illness. He was as energetic as ever.
NAT SOT FOX '.you know sir.'
MICHAEL J. FOX I just feel like I've been in God's pocket for so long. I just didn't think that I was going to be hammered with this. That ... that I would find a way to live with it, to learn from it ... to deal with it. And I have.
NAT SOT Family Ties theme song
NARRATION We first met Michael J. Fox on the TV sitcom Family
Ties. Then came the enormous success of Back to the Future.
("He's an absolute dream.")
His boyish good looks and physical comedy made him a box office star
and a rich young man. To many, Fox never looked old enough to marry, but
he did -- years ago -- to actress Tracy Pollan. They have three children, a
son and twin daughters.
(Fox muffled talking to president.)
While he continued to make films, few knew about his condition.
(Spin City theme song)
Two years ago he returned to TV as the executive producer and star of
"Spin City." Then last week came the stunning news that the actor had
Parkinson's.
NAT SOT PETER JENNINGS AND OTHER REPORTERS "The actor Michael J. Fox has told People magazine this week that he is battling Parkinson's Disease."
BARBARA WALTERS Michael, all this week we have been reading and hearing that you have this devastating disease. That it is life threatening. That you are in the fight for your life. Is this the way you feel?
MICHAEL J. FOX It's ... it's ... no, it doesn't represent the way I feel. But, um, uh, it's ... it ... it's been an interesting few days. Um, the ... the first thing that I felt was that I was really moved that ... that people, uh ... uh, cared and expressed that emotion. They got in touch with me, and ... I ... I don't mean to diminish that at all. But in some levels of the media, the ... the ... the breathlessness of it. And the ... and the tragedy of it. And the drama of it. And the melodrama of it. Certainly didn't apply to me. I mean I felt very apart from it.
BARBARA WALTERS You don't consider this a tragedy.
MICHAEL J. FOX No. Not by any stretch of the imagination. It's my life. It's my life and my life is so filled with positives and so filled with blessings, and so filled with things that ... that I wouldn't trade for anything in the world.
BARBARA WALTERS You work a full schedule?
MICHAEL J. FOX Yeah, absolutely.
BARBARA WALTERS You can still do athletics?
MICHAEL J. FOX Um, I ski, I ... I ... I ride horses. I hike. I'm pretty active.
BARBARA WALTERS There are other young people who do have Parkinson's. It's rare to get it as young as you did at 30, but there are people that do. Are you concerned perhaps that they won't want to say anything because they see the reaction to your telling about your case?
MICHAEL J. FOX Yeah. I saw a quote from a man who's well into his 70's and has Parkinson's, and was quoted as saying ... about me ... "when I look at that young man's eyes, I see such fear of the future, and such foreboding and dread." And ... and ... you know, Tracy, and I kind of thought "well, maybe it was gas." I don't think so. But ...
SOT LAUGHTER
MICHAEL J. FOX That's just not what I feel. And that ... and that projection, I think, again, is ... could be harmful to other young people that ... that have this condition.
NARRATION Many people associate Parkinson's Disease with Muhammad Ali whose slurred speech and uncontrollable shaking represents a severe form of the disorder. Others like Attorney General Janet Reno and singer Johnny Cash are (Johnny Cash singing) like Fox, in the milder stages. The symptoms vary from mild tremors and stiffness to large flailing movements and rigidity. The disorder is progressive and the symptoms grow worse over time.
BARBARA WALTERS As I look at you, there are absolutely no symptoms.
MICHAEL J. FOX Right.
BARBARA WALTERS I mean you did not have to publicly say that you had Parkinson's Disease.
MICHAEL J. FOX Right.
BARBARA WALTERS Why did you? Why have you now told people about this disease?
MICHAEL J. FOX I would say the first reason is that it's been such a part of my life for a long time, and I wanted to just chart my own path and live one day at a time. And so I kept it to myself The other part of it was also wanting to de-stigmatize it in a way. And to just say, "yes, someone you know is dealing with this." And dealing is the operative word. I found myself at seven years not battling it, not struggling with it, not suffering from it, not breaking out of the burden of it, but dealing with it. And the tiniest element would be that I knew that somewhere, sometime, someone was going to jump out of ... possibly ... someone who I didn't want to tell everybody on my behalf ... and jump me ... beat me to the punch ...
BARBARA WALTERS A tabloid might make ...
MICHAEL J. FOX Somebody like that.
BARBARA WALTERS Do something or ...
MICHAEL J. FOX So I thought, let me do it on my terms. and I feel great about my family and I feel great about the show. And I thought this is a good time to do it. And I have to say in fairness, that we've had indications, going back as far as a year that there ... that the tabloids have known elements of it, and have for one reason or another not printed it ... maybe out of fear of litigation, maybe other things. But I have to say "thank you ... thank you for not doing it." I seriously mean that.
BARBARA WALTERS This may be the first time that an actor has thanked the tabloids. Do you feel relieved now?
MICHAEL J. FOX Yeah, but there's weird aspects to it.
NAT SOT REPORTER 'It's nothing short of bombshell.' I was looking...surfing the channels at night. And, I stumbled on this retrospective of my career. And uh ... and it was a strange feeling. It's like if you ever wonder what it's like to see your obit ... you know? Like none of us will ever get to read our obit. In a way I got to. And it was strange.
BARBARA WALTERS (Laughs)
MICHAEL J. FOX But it also didn't freak me out. I feel more at ease all the time. Because it's ... it's mine. You know? It's my life, and it's my ... it's my reality.
NARRATION No one knows what causes Parkinson's. Some believe it comes from head injuries or drug abuse or family history. According to Fox, none of these factors apply to him.
BARBARA WALTERS One of the things that's ironic, Michael, is that you were always perceived as being so boyish.
MICHAEL J. FOX Right.
BARBARA WALTERS I mean that's part of what you are. You know?
MICHAEL J. FOX God has a sense of humor.
BARBARA WALTERS Yeah. God has a sense of humor.
MICHAEL J. FOX God definitely has a sense of humor.
BARBARA WALTERS That they would give you a disease that most often affects people over 40.
MICHAEL J. FOX Right.
BARBARA WALTERS Let's go back to the beginning. When did you first have symptoms of this disease and what were they?
MICHAEL J. FOX It was actually in the fall of '90. I was doing a movie called Doc Hollywood in Florida. And I just woke up one morning, and my pinky was just doing that. And I thought well that's weird. And it wouldn't stop for a day or so. And I went, I saw a neurologist, and I said "what could that be?" And he said ... you know, he gave me a few tests, and he said well at your age ... you know, he said "there's nothing neurological that I could imagine it would be." He said "you probably whacked your elbow. So I went to a sports therapist, and he worked on it for awhile, and then sent me to a neurologist, and that was when the neurologist gave me some tests and said that it was ... that it was Parkinson's.
BARBARA WALTERS What did you think? You're 30 years old, and the doctor says you have Parkinson's?
MICHAEL J. FOX I was ... I was shocked. And it frightened me.
BARBARA WALTERS What was the prognosis seven years ago?
MICHAEL J. FOX Well, it was mixed. And it was also heard through the filter of disbelief... I sat down in a chair, and he said you have Parkinson's, but you'll be able to work for years and years. So everything after Parkinson's, he could have said, you know, but you're a three-toed Martian and you eat squirrels. I mean I ... I don't know what he said. You know, I was still back in Parkinson's.
MICHAEL J. FOX I went for a second opinion and third opinion and fourth opinion but I ... I knew ...
BARBARA WALTERS And what did you say to yourself?
MICHAEL J. FOX I said you know ... I said this is going to be an interesting journey. This is not going to be boring. But I never had a moment where I fell to my knees and said you know, "Oh, God, this is horrible. You know, why has Thou forsaken me? What is this?" I never had that moment. What I had was "wow." Okay. That's not what I was expecting.
BARBARA WALTERS You?
MICHAEL J. FOX It's pointless to dwell on it. It's absolutely pointless to dwell on it. It's like worrying about what the weather's going to be like tomorrow.
NAT SOT DOCTOR "Open and close your hands."
NARRATION Approximately a million and a half Americans suffer from Parkinson's, Five to ten percent are under 40. Many, like Fox take a daily medication called Sinamet. Fox took the drug shortly before our interview. It usually works within an hour.
BARBARA WALTERS Well, Sinamet stops your symptoms.
MICHAEL J. FOX Right.
BARBARA WALTERS And the symptoms are primarily what?
MICHAEL J. FOX ... there used to be a pretty dramatic tremor on my left side. And by dramatic I mean uh...
BARBARA WALTERS Show me if you could what it used to be.
MICHAEL J. FOX It would be like someone waving. It would be big.
BARBARA WALTERS Uh-huh.
MICHAEL J. FOX The ... the ...
BARBARA WALTERS Like this?
MICHAEL J. FOX Yeah. Like that.
BARBARA WALTERS Yeah.
There must have been drawbacks to this disease, though. I mean since
you take medication, and it doesn't last ... how long does it last?
MICHAEL J. FOX Oh, it's not a party.
BARBARA WALTERS Yeah.
MICHAEL J. FOX Don't get me wrong.
BARBARA WALTERS Yeah.
MICHAEL J. FOX It can last two hours, three hours, it can last one hour, it can last four hours.
BARBARA WALTERS Well, what if somebody said we want you to M.C. a dinner and you know the dinner's going to last I don't know, two, three, four hours.
MICHAEL J. FOX I wouldn't do it.
BARBARA WALTERS So you had to give an excuse.
MICHAEL J. FOX Yeah.
BARBARA WALTERS People Magazine wrote about one night when you were going to get a Golden Globe Award, and you were so stiff or rigid.
MICHAEL J. FOX Right.
BARBARA WALTERS You couldn't get out of the car.
MICHAEL J. FOX If you're walking into the Golden Globes, I guarantee you at any given moment that people are looking at you. So that the pressure of that moment, if I ... if I was feeling symptomatic, which I was ... my arm was tremoring and my leg was tremoring I didn't want to get out and walk through that gauntlet. So I said to the guy, you know, "once more around the block, once more around the block." So he ... I don't know what he thought was going on back there, but he ... Tracy was massaging my shoulder. Maybe he thought I was having a little fun on the way to the Golden Globes ... I had no idea.
BARBARA WALTERS You made in this last seven years film after film. No one noticed. You did stunts, you ran, you jumped, do this, do that.
MICHAEL J. FOX I still do.
NAT SOT: Cheers
BARBARA WALTERS And you still do. No one noticed.
MICHAEL J. FOX Right.
BARBARA WALTERS How did they not know?
MICHAEL J. FOX Um ... I didn't want them to. (Laughs) I didn't want them to.
NAT SOT FOX "I'm the deputy mayor of the world!"
BARBARA WALTERS Did you decide to do television in part because of this disease?
MICHAEL J. FOX Oh, yeah .
I wanted to be with my family more. I wanted to have as nine to five a
job as I could have.
NARRATION Still on the set of Spin City, there were times when Fox kept the cast and crew waiting while his medication took effect. The crew had no idea why they were delayed. And when the cameras did roll Fox could find ways to hide his minor tremors.
BARBARA WALTERS You've said that there were all kinds of tricks that you can do.
MICHAEL J. FOX Right.
BARBARA WALTERS That ... that keep the arm from tremoring ...
MICHAEL J. FOX Right.
BARBARA WALTERS ... or rigidity? Like what?
MICHAEL J. FOX I'm not going to show you too many. But ... but ... but ... someone who ... has Parkinsonian tremor ... um ... sometimes if the hand is involved ...
BARBARA WALTERS Mm-hm.
MICHAEL J. FOX It will stop. So you just involve the hand for a few minutes. And then uninvolve it. And then re-involve it ... and put it down and pick something up ... so ...
BARBARA WALTERS Oh, you'd move?
MICHAEL J. FOX Or you'd move ... shift your position.
MICHAEL J. FOX But the one symptom that I had that was ... that was most problematic for me, was this tremor in my left arm, and ... that ... that picked up steam. And ... and ... and got bigger out of ... out of a ... a ... what's the word I'm looking for. It was ... it was not in scale with the rest of ... of my progression.
BARBARA WALTERS Very serious?
MICHAEL J. FOX Well, I ... serious in that ... it ... it's like a dog with ... you know, pees on your rug. I mean you ... you ...
BARBARA WALTERS You can't avoid it.
MICHAEL J. FOX Yeah, it's just ... it's just annoying, yeah.
BARBARA WALTERS Last Spring you had brain surgery.
MICHAEL J. FOX Right.
BARBARA WALTERS First of all, ..how do you keep it secret?
MICHAEL J. FOX There's some things in all of our lives ... depending on ... no matter what we do ... that we just keep to ourselves. You know?
BARBARA WALTERS What I'm getting at is that for an actor as famous as you are, doing a series that's on every week ... to take off and have brain surgery and no one knows, is in itself a major feat.
MICHAEL J. FOX Well, it's pretty cool. (Laughs)
NARRATION At this hospital outside Boston, Fox underwent a procedure similar to this one. The success rate is very high for this operation. But there was a 5 percent chance that he could be paralyzed or die.
BARBARA WALTERS Michael, there is a risk, I mean you could have died. You could have been paralyzed. Were you scared?
MICHAEL J. FOX I had full faith in my doctors, and I had full faith in God.
BARBARA WALTERS What is this operation called?
MICHAEL J. FOX Thalamotomy. A thalamotomy is a procedure where they drill a hole in top of your head. They put you in kind of this brace ... and sit on a lazy boy basically ... and you've got just a little kind of happy valium-y thing happening, but you're, but you're awake. And you're responsive. And then they insert a ... this kind of tube into this hole on top of your head, and into your brain.
NARRATION With computer mapping, the probe finds and destroys malfunctioning nerve cells which cause Fox's tremors.
BARBARA WALTERS You are conscious. You're sedated, but you know what's going on?
MICHAEL J. FOX Yeah. Oh, yeah. And talking to them. And at one point uh, my Doctor, Doctor Bruce Cooke ... he's a terrific surgeon ... um, brain surgeons are interesting because there's no margin for error. There's no margin for error. You can't leave the sponge in there. So as he was in there, and he was doing something ... at one point he touched something, and I was giving him an answer, and I said ... "Yeah, well I think I view ... " And I kind of wound up again ... and I said "wow, you're in my brain, man, this is really wild. You're in my brain!" And then he said, he said ... "make ... can you make your arm tremor now?" And so I said "okay." And I tried. And ... and I couldn't. So I was getting mad at myself, thinking you know, don't be a jerk. The guy wants you to make your arm move, man, make it move . And I couldn't make it move. And I said "I'm sorry, Dr. Cooke, I can't do it." And he went good, we're done. It's a wrap.
BARBARA WALTERS He stopped the tremor.
MICHAEL J. FOX That was it. Yeah.
BARBARA WALTERS Did the surgery stop almost all of the symptoms?
MICHAEL J. FOX No, it doesn't.
It stops the big tremor. Yeah. The big tremor ... on that ... on that
left side. So you get ... you still have residual small tremors in the
way that ... that may or may not progress. You don't know.
BARBARA WALTERS Michael, are you at all concerned that now audiences will look at you differently?
MICHAEL J. FOX It was a thought. But I feel good about what I do, and I'm pretty confident that people are going to watch it and laugh, and just be into watching the show.
BARBARA WALTERS It must be a relief now though, that everyone on the show does know.
MICHAEL J. FOX Yeah. Well, yeah.
BARBARA WALTERS You are in the middle now of a five year contract with Spin City.
MICHAEL J. FOX Mm-hm.
BARBARA WALTERS Do you see yourself staying on and on and on that show?
MICHAEL J. FOX Absolutely.
BARBARA WALTERS Yes.
MICHAEL J. FOX Absolutely. I plan on carrying on for ... I'd love to go for seven years. I mean seven is my lucky number.
BARBARA WALTERS What's your prognosis today?
MICHAEL J. FOX There's nothing finite that anyone can ever say. But ... but what my doctors do agree, uh, on, is that I'll be able to ... to work and function for many more years to come. In terms of a ... a ... an end prognosis, I mean Parkinson's leads to a logical conclusion, and there's no getting around that. You ... you know, Parkinson's goes where Parkinson's goes.
NARRATION As our conversation came to a close we asked Michael's wife Tracy Pollan to join us.
BARBARA WALTERS When you first heard that Michael had the disease, were you devastated?
TRACY POLLAN No. I wouldn't say that I was devastated. I was very shocked and surprised. And, you know, it's funny. I am...you know, you hear Michael speaking and he's just the ultimate optimist, and he always has been. And he's the complete opposite from me.
BARBARA WALTERS From you.
TRACY POLLAN But it's hard to worry when you live with Michael, because he's such not a worrier. And he looks at you like you're a bug if you are. You know, it's sort of like he's really taught me to live in the present.
MICHAEL J. FOX A great deal of my optimism, comes from Tracy, because, because she....she means so much to me and she....she helps me in so many ways and fills in the blanks in so many ways. And when I think of that moment when I told her and she didn't panic. She didn't draw back. You know, there was....there was just that moment when you know, and you just go, you were in this with me for the long haul, aren't you? And I could just tell immediately that she was, and then it was like okay, we'll deal with it. And it's led me on a really terrific journey of really looking at things and I would not be as happy a person today were it not for that journey that I've been on.
MICHAEL J. FOX There are so many things on the horizon. So many medications, and surgical procedures. Um ... I really feel that within the next years they're going to find a way to flick a switch, and this is gone. Maybe one of the reasons I'm more optimistic and happier and more relaxed than people would expect me to be, is I don't ... won't see with this. I will see , but I will not have this.
BARBARA WALTERS You think by the time you're fifty there'll be a cure?
MICHAEL J. FOX I know I won't have this. I will not have it.