Michael J. Fox continued to act while his health deteriorated from Parkinson’s disease, but he kept the fact a secret from the public for years. The actor told The New York Times Magazine that he could hide his health issues somewhat by incorporating “high-level muggery.” He elaborated, “I could pull a face; I could do a double take.”
But in 1998, seven years after first receiving his diagnosis with Parkinson’s, he announced that he was living with the disease. That March, he “underwent brain surgery,” as reported by The New York Times. The goal of the procedure was to alleviate some of his symptoms, which included “stiffness and tremors in his left side.” The actor joked that the tremors were so big that he “could mix a margarita in five seconds.” With his secret out, Fox vowed to continue his work in entertainment post-surgery. His agent said that the then-37-year-old actor would be capable of “working on ‘Spin City,’ future projects and personal commitments for many years.”
Looking back on his announcement, Fox revealed that part of the reason he shared his health news with the world was due to a lack of privacy. “The paparazzi and stuff, they would stand outside my apartment and heckle at me, like, ‘What’s a matter with you?’” he recalled during an October 2021 ET interview. Per Fox, he remembered thinking, “‘I can’t be making my neighbors deal with this,’ so I came out, and it was great. It was a great thing.”