The star of Back to the Future, Michael J Fox, who suffers from Parkinson's disease, made a surprise appearance at the Bafta to present the award for best film. The 62-year-old actor took to the stage in a wheelchair but insisted on going up to the podium to present the award to Christopher Nolan's Oppenheimer. Fox received a standing ovation. He was 29 years old in 1991 when he was diagnosed with Parkinson's disease but hid the disease for 7 years. Last year he released a documentary on Apple TV+ about his career and living with this devastating disease, which earned him a BAFTA nomination.
Since being diagnosed with the disease, Fox has been praised for his tireless fundraising work in an attempt to find a cure for Parkinson's disease. He founded the Michael J. Fox Foundation to support research efforts. Parkinson's disease is a neurodegenerative disease that causes tremors and, when the disease has matured, the loss of motor skills. In a candid interview with People magazine in 2018, he spoke about how he began drinking after the devastating diagnosis and the effect it had on his marriage to American actress Tracy Pollan. Fox said he drank heavily and hid wine bottles from his wife because he found it too hard to face his new disease. "I was isolating myself from my family," said the Teen Wolf star. His wife added, "It was scary because you don't know how it will end."
The actor then decided that his path would be to help others and launched his foundation to raise funds for Parkinson's research. Fox retired from acting in 2020 due to his symptoms and confessed that life with Parkinson's "is getting harder; every day is getting harder", in an interview with CBS Sunday Mornings last year. In addition to facing the incurable disease, over the years the actor has also had other serious health problems and injuries. "I had spinal surgery. I had a tumor on my spine. And it was benign, but it messed up my walk. And then, it started to break things. I broke an arm, an elbow. I broke my face and hand". Since being diagnosed with the disease, he has been praised for his tireless fundraising work in an attempt to find a cure for Parkinson's disease.
The actor recounted that for many years "no one outside of my family" knew about his diagnosis and he took pills to "hide" his symptoms. The actor did not specify whether these were recreational or prescription drugs he was self-medicating with. In November, Fox revealed that he "does not fear death" as he reflected on his thirty-year battle with Parkinson's disease in a candid interview with Town & Country. He said, "One day I will run out of gas. One day I will simply say: 'It won't happen. Today I'm not going out. I'm 62 years old. Certainly, if I were to die tomorrow, it would be premature, but it wouldn't be unheard of. And so no, I don't fear it." Reflecting on what scares him, the Hollywood legend recalled the safety of his wife, Tracy Pollan, and their four children: Sam, Aquinnah, Schuyler and Esme. "Anything that would endanger my family."
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