Michael J. Fox accepts Emmy humanitarian award: 'I didn't have to surrender'

Michael J. Fox arrived at the 78th Primetime Emmy Awards on September 14 in a wheelchair. He left with a standing ovation, tears in the room, and the Bob Hope Humanitarian Award — one of only a handful of people to receive it since the honor was established in 2002.

Introduced by his 'The Good Wife' co-star Julianna Margulies, Fox was recognized for what the Television Academy called his 'transformative contributions to Parkinson's disease research and advocacy.' The award is presented jointly by the Television Academy and the Bob & Dolores Hope Foundation to individuals whose humanitarian work reflects Hope's legacy.

I understood that accepting Parkinson’s didn’t mean I had to surrender to it.— Michael J. Fox, actor and founder, Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson's Research

In his acceptance speech, Fox drew a direct line from Bob Hope's decades of service to military personnel to his own approach to living with Parkinson's disease — diagnosed in 1991, when he was 29, but kept private for seven years out of fear it would cost him his career and his connection with audiences.

He embodied everything I came to believe in years later. When circumstances get tough, you show up, you help, and if you can add a little joy while you're doing it, that seems better.— Michael J. Fox, on Bob Hope

Fox told USA TODAY earlier this year that after his diagnosis he 'went into a hidden retreat and hid for seven years, didn't tell anyone about it.' When he finally weighed going public — in conversations with his wife, Tracy Pollan — he came to see it differently.

I realized it was a unique opportunity.— Michael J. Fox

He went public with his diagnosis in 1998. Two years later, he co-founded the Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson's Research with Deborah W. Brooks. The foundation has since financed more than $3 billion for research into the disease, which is the fastest-growing neurodegenerative condition in the United States.

In his Emmy remarks, Fox thanked the foundation's staff, donors, researchers, and the broader Parkinson's patient community. The speech moved the audience, according to multiple outlets covering the ceremony.

The Bob Hope Humanitarian Award has been given sparingly since Oprah Winfrey received the inaugural honor in 2002. Previous recipients include George Clooney and Sean Penn. Fox, now 65, is among a small number of people to receive it.

The moment carried particular weight given Fox's trajectory — from a broke, high school dropout who auditioned for 'Family Ties' while going dumpster diving and dodging his landlord, to a five-time Emmy winner who simultaneously shot 'Back to the Future' and 'Family Ties,' to the most prominent face of Parkinson's advocacy in the world. As Fox wrote in his book 'Future Boy': 'I was used to impossible.'

I would've been thrilled if you'd told me when I was 17 that I'd be well known as a disease advocate for something I was diagnosed with.— Michael J. Fox

Why it matters — Fox's Emmy moment puts a global spotlight on Parkinson's disease — the fastest-growing neurodegenerative condition in the US — and on the $3 billion research effort his foundation has driven since his own diagnosis 35 years ago.

Reported by reuters.com, variety.com, usatoday.com, hollywoodreporter.com