Michael J. Fox once feared audiences might stop laughing with him if they knew he had Parkinson’s disease. More than three decades later, an Emmy Awards audience rose to its feet twice to honor him — and the actor delivered a hopeful message about the search for a cure.

Fox, 65, received the Bob Hope Humanitarian Award at the 2026 Emmy Awards on Sept. 14, recognizing his decades of advocacy and fundraising for Parkinson’s disease research.

The “Family Ties” and “Back to the Future” star received his first standing ovation as he took the stage at the Peacock Theater in Los Angeles. During an emotional acceptance speech, Fox looked back at a diagnosis he initially feared could end the career that made him famous.

“Initially, I kept my Parkinson’s diagnosis a secret,” Fox said. “I worried that it would affect my work and my relationship with audiences.”

Fox was diagnosed with young-onset Parkinson’s disease in 1991 at just 29 years old but did not publicly reveal his diagnosis until 1998.

“Would they laugh if they knew I was sick?” he recalled wondering.

What happened after he went public surprised him.

“I was stunned by the support I got,” Fox said. “It was so uplifting. It made me feel like I could keep doing this, and I hadn’t lost what I do, and they couldn’t take this away from me. And it’s because you stood up for me.”

Fox also used the moment to recognize the people who have stood closest to him throughout his decades-long battle with Parkinson’s: his wife, Tracy Pollan, and their four children, Sam, Aquinnah, Schuyler and Esmé.

“I thank Tracy and our kids for their sacrifices, for their patience and for their love,” Fox said. “You have no idea.”

Fox and Pollan have been married for more than 30 years, meaning she and their family have been beside him for nearly his entire journey with the disease.

Fox turned his diagnosis into a mission in 2000 when he launched The Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson’s Research. It has since become the world’s largest nonprofit funder of Parkinson’s research, supporting more than $3 billion in research programs, according to the Television Academy.

And Fox believes that work is bringing researchers closer to their ultimate goal.

During his Emmy remarks, he said researchers are “close” to finding a cure for Parkinson’s.

The hopeful declaration comes as Fox continues to deal publicly with the effects of the disease. Earlier this month, he acknowledged that “things have gotten harder over the years,” but said he remains “privileged to commit my time and energy to bringing everything I’ve got to help cure this disease.”

Fox has also returned to acting. His role as Gerry in the Apple TV series “Shrinking” earned him his 19th Emmy nomination after he had stepped away from regular acting in 2020.

But perhaps the most powerful moment of the Sept. 14 ceremony came when Fox finished speaking.

The audience rose again, giving him a second standing ovation.

Decades after Fox wondered whether people would still embrace him if they knew he had Parkinson’s, the response inside the Emmy theater offered a powerful answer.