{"id":52682,"date":"2026-09-21T14:15:45","date_gmt":"2026-09-21T18:15:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/idolchatter\/?p=52682"},"modified":"2026-09-21T14:15:45","modified_gmt":"2026-09-21T18:15:45","slug":"michael-j-fox-earns-double-standing-ovation-during-moving-emmys-speech","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/idolchatter\/2026\/09\/michael-j-fox-earns-double-standing-ovation-during-moving-emmys-speech.html","title":{"rendered":"Michael J. Fox Earns Double Standing Ovation During Moving Emmys Speech as He Thanks Family For Their \u2018Sacrifices\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Left: Featureflash Photo Agency \/ Shutterstock.com | Right: Television Academy \/ YouTube<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Michael J. Fox once feared audiences might stop laughing with him if they knew he had Parkinson\u2019s disease. More than three decades later, an Emmy Awards audience rose to its feet twice to honor him \u2014 and the actor delivered a hopeful message about the search for a cure.<\/p>\n

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\u2019s disease research.<\/p>\n

The \u201cFamily Ties\u201d and \u201cBack to the Future\u201d 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.<\/p>\n

\u201cInitially, I kept my Parkinson\u2019s diagnosis a secret,\u201d Fox said. \u201cI worried that it would affect my work and my relationship with audiences.\u201d<\/p>\n

Fox was diagnosed with young-onset Parkinson\u2019s disease in 1991 at just 29 years old but did not publicly reveal his diagnosis until 1998.<\/p>\n

\u201cWould they laugh if they knew I was sick?\u201d he recalled wondering.<\/p>\n

What happened after he went public surprised him.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was stunned by the support I got,\u201d Fox said. \u201cIt was so uplifting. It made me feel like I could keep doing this, and I hadn\u2019t lost what I do, and they couldn\u2019t take this away from me. And it\u2019s because you stood up for me.\u201d<\/p>\n

Fox also used the moment to recognize the people who have stood closest to him throughout his decades-long battle with Parkinson\u2019s: his wife, Tracy Pollan, and their four children, Sam, Aquinnah, Schuyler and Esm\u00e9.<\/p>\n

\u201cI thank Tracy and our kids for their sacrifices, for their patience and for their love,\u201d Fox said. \u201cYou have no idea.\u201d<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

Fox turned his diagnosis into a mission in 2000 when he launched The Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson\u2019s Research. It has since become the world\u2019s largest nonprofit funder of Parkinson\u2019s research, supporting more than $3 billion in research programs, according to the Television Academy.<\/p>\n

And Fox believes that work is bringing researchers closer to their ultimate goal.<\/p>\n

During his Emmy remarks, he said researchers are \u201cclose\u201d to finding a cure for Parkinson\u2019s.<\/p>\n

The hopeful declaration comes as Fox continues to deal publicly with the effects of the disease. Earlier this month, he acknowledged that \u201cthings have gotten harder over the years,\u201d but said he remains \u201cprivileged to commit my time and energy to bringing everything I\u2019ve got to help cure this disease.\u201d<\/p>\n

Fox has also returned to acting. His role as Gerry in the Apple TV series \u201cShrinking\u201d earned him his 19th Emmy nomination after he had stepped away from regular acting in 2020.<\/p>\n

But perhaps the most powerful moment of the Sept. 14 ceremony came when Fox finished speaking.<\/p>\n

The audience rose again, giving him a second standing ovation.<\/p>\n

Decades after Fox wondered whether people would still embrace him if they knew he had Parkinson\u2019s, the response inside the Emmy theater offered a powerful answer.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Michael J. Fox once feared audiences might stop laughing with him if they knew he had Parkinson\u2019s disease. More than three decades later, an Emmy Awards audience rose to its feet twice to honor him \u2014 and the actor delivered a hopeful message about the search for a cure. Fox, 65, received the Bob Hope…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":462,"featured_media":52685,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fbia_status":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-52682","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-television"],"yoast_head":"\nMichael J. 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