Michael's mission

Katie Couric

Whether he’s center ice or center stage—or front and center in a polarizing political debate, Michael J. Fox knows what everyone around him is thinking.

Michael J. Fox:  You know, people would come up and kind of go to hug me and look me in the eye and say, “Are you okay?” But I started looking in their eyes and I see that you’re looking at me and I could see THEIR fear.  Not for me but for them that they might get sick one day and what was that gonna be like.  And then it was like, “Oh, now I get it.  You’re not coming to hug me, you want me to hug YOU. So I give them a hug and say it’s okay, you’re gonna be okay.”  

We first knew him as the cocky conservative son of liberal parents on “Family Ties.” Then as the beloved time-travelling teenager in the blockbuster movie trilogy, “Back to the Future.”

But in 1998, while enjoying sit-com success again on “Spin City,” he revealed something he had kept secret for seven years: He has Parkinson’s disease.   Soon thereafter, Michael J. Fox was forced to sacrifice his career and bid farewell to acting, for good... or so he thought.

But Michael’s made a habit of exceeding expectations — even his own — and this past winter, he returned to television as a terminally ill corporate executive on “Boston Legal.” 

Katie Couric, NBC News: Has that been fun for you?

Michael J. Fox: It was really fun. I was really nervous about it and I didn’t really know what to expect.  Because, you know it’s this weird thing.  I show up for something and my body, if it shows up, and I never know if we’re both gonna get there at the same time. That was a process of letting that go.  This sense of privacy, of the sense of—of—

Couric: Control?

Michael J. Fox: Control.  And once I let that go, you know, it opened the door for me to do so many things. 

Michael first opened his doors to Dateline crews six years ago. We’ve watched him evolve from a Hollywood star to a selfless crusader of scientific research.

Couric: I mean, having become this very vocal and very public, which I know, hasn’t always been easy for you, by the way.

Michael J. Fox: I’m not crazy about it.

Couric: Activist and advocate for Parkinson’s.  And you know, I know you’re very humble about it, but really.  I mean a lot of people would not choose that path.

Michael J. Fox:  Well I think there was this seven years where I just didn’t talk about it.  And I’m really grateful that I took that time.  And I had some guilt about it for a while.  But I got past that. So once I started to be open about it and be public about it, then the opportunity really jumped out at me.  And that it was a chance to do something. 

It was a chance to cure an incurable disease.  Parkinson’s or P.D. is a progressive, neurological disorder affecting 1.5 million Americans, and millions more worldwide.

Parkinson’s happens when certain brain cells, the ones that control movement, decay and die.  The loss of these brain cells causes involuntary movement like tremors, shakiness, and eventually, paralysis.  Medication helps, but allows patients like Michael to function for only two or three hours at a time.

Couric: In other words, when it comes to planning for this interview—

Michael J. Fox: Yeah.

Couric: Did you have to time your medication—

Michael J. Fox: Yeah.

Couric: And say, “Okay I’ve got a—I’m gonna have a window.”

Michael J. Fox: I have to time when I wake up.  Cause once I wake up  the party starts. If I can avoid controversy in the morning-- (LAUGHTER) you know, with two with four kids it’s not as easy.  Then I’m okay.

Couric: Do you find agitation really does affect you?

Michael J. Fox: Oh yeah. Absolutely. Like sitting right here, I’m much more symptomatic right now talking to you than I was talking to you ten minutes ago--            

Couric: Because you’re a little nervous being around me? (Laughter)

Michael J. Fox: Yeah, exactly.  Well, now that you’re a big shot.

At Capitol Hill, Michael is the big shot.  Or you might say "King of the Hill."   Back in 2001, the National Institutes of Health estimated it would cost one billion dollars to find a cure for Parkinson’s disease.  The only person Michael knows with that kind of capital is Uncle Sam. So he’s testified twice before Congress for increased federal funding.  And he’s rallied support from both sides of the aisle, namely Democratic Senator Tom Harkin, and Republican senator (and cancer survivor) Arlen Specter.

Couric: You, Tom Harkin, and Arlen Specter.  You’re like tight.

Michael J. Fox: Yeah. Strange bedfellows.  But he’s been an amazing champion of medical science.

But not all politicians are on the same page as scientists.  Parkinson’s experts believe in stem cell research as a promising prospect for a cure.  But the source of those cells — human embryos — touches a sensitive nerve in the nation’s capitol.

In August 2001, President Bush announced he would permit limited federal funding for stem cell research on 60 existing stem cell lines.  But he stopped short of allowing the federal government to fund research on stem cells derived from frozen embryos, about 400,000 of which exist at fertility labs across the country.

Michael J. Fox: I mean, it was so disingenuous.  Because he knew that it couldn’t go ahead in any really kind of affective way—because he handcuffed it.  He said that “I’m giving you a car,” but he didn’t give us any gas.  So, we couldn’t get anywhere. 

Couric: I guess a lot of people worry that it’s a slippery slope.

Michael J. Fox: Getting out of bed in the morning is a slippery slope. 

Interactive An introduction to the science of controversy

So last summer, Michael went to Capitol Hill once again, this time to bolster support for a bill called HR-810. The Stem Cell Research Enhancement Act, which would expand federal funding for research on the surplus of frozen embryos.

Couric: I know it may come up for a vote this spring and the president has pledged to veto it if it passes saying quote, “Destroying nascent human life for research raises serious ethical problems.  And many millions of Americans consider the practice immoral.”  What do you make of those comments?

Michael J. Fox: I would say that, from my opinion, it’s an amazing pro-life thing to do to take those cells and to endeavor to improve the lives of millions and billions of people that are alive now and will be alive in the future by coming up with cures—and treatments for diseases.  So, this bill that you’re talking about, 810 is gonna pass. I kind of learned that we’re conditioned to wait for things to fall out of the sky.  And sometimes they do.  But sometimes you have to—you have to see the clouds.   And so I just said how can we do that?

Print this Email this Blog this  IM this

MORE FROM DATELINE

Dateline Section Front

Closing the book on comic book murder   10 messiest celebrity meltdowns Death and the Beauty Queen Reality bites for modeling hopefuls It's not easy being green Bed bugs can live in your new mattress Prime suspect: Follow the clues Murder in the family Tricks of the trade Britney's next act Dateline Section Front   Add Dateline headlines to your news reader: