Alan Alda, 90, calls Parkinson's 'just a hobby' and explains why laughter is his treatment

Alan Alda has survived polio, a mother with schizophrenia, eleven seasons of a Korean War operating room, and nearly a decade of Parkinson's disease. At 90, his preferred treatment for the last of those is a joke.

In an October 4 interview with CBS News, the actor best known for playing Captain Benjamin Franklin 'Hawkeye' Pierce on M*A*S*H described his approach to the degenerative neurological disorder with characteristic economy: 'I don't let Parkinson's define me. It's not who I am. It's just a hobby.'

The best way to deal with anything that's a little bit of a problem is to find out what's funny about it and laugh at it.— Alan Alda, actor

Alda was diagnosed in 2015 and publicly revealed the news in 2018, according to Fox News. The first sign was not a tremor or a twitch but something then little-known as a Parkinson's symptom: acting out his dreams. He told CBS News he once dreamed someone was attacking him, grabbed what he thought was a sack of potatoes, and hurled it — waking to find he had thrown a pillow at his wife, Arlene.

I had no twitch, no tremor, no problems with my voice.— Alan Alda, actor

He was 79 at the time of the dream incident. Now, a decade on, the physical effects are real and daily. Arlene helps him button his shirt each morning — something he admits he hates. But even that, he says, becomes a puzzle rather than a defeat.

I do hate it, but the only thing that's helpful is: what haven't I tried? And pretty soon, you get the feeling, 'If I keep looking for new ways to try this, I'll get a solution.' It's a puzzle. Will I be able eventually to put my socks on? The last time I put my socks on was a tremendous moment to celebrate!— Alan Alda, actor

His most vivid illustration of humor as coping mechanism involves the computer. When Parkinson's makes his hand move involuntarily across the keyboard, Alda doesn't fight the frustration — he gives it a character.

I'll be at the computer keyboard writing an email, and Dr. Parkinson is moving my hand all over the screen. I have the mouse, and he's eliminating things and he's deleting things that I need. Once in a while I get frustrated. But I find what makes me laugh about it, and then I go tell Arlene.— Alan Alda, actor

That instinct — to reframe, then share — is one a neuropsychiatrist finds clinically sound. Dr. Chadrick Lane, director of the geriatric and neuropsychiatry clinic at UT Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas (who has not treated Alda), told Fox News Digital that humor works through 'cognitive reframing': it doesn't change a person's reality but shifts the emotional weight they assign to it.

Humor is often shared. It brings us together. We are meant to share our lives with others. The importance of having a sense of belonging and humor can be a glue in that way, bringing us closer with others so that one does not go on the journey alone.— Dr. Chadrick Lane, neuropsychiatrist and director of the geriatric and neuropsychiatry clinic, UT Southwestern Medical Center

Lane also told Fox News Digital that Alda's acceptance of his condition is 'enormously empowering,' describing it as recognizing what choices remain available in any given moment rather than mourning what cannot be controlled.

I really think reality is my friend. I don't want to wish it away. I can't wish it away. I can't hope for a better future. I gotta accept what is.— Alan Alda, actor

The philosophy tracks closely with how Alda has lived the rest of his life. He grew up watching his father, Robert Alda, perform in vaudeville, burlesque, and Broadway — standing in the wings every Saturday during the original run of Guys and Dolls. His mother, Joan, a former beauty pageant winner, had schizophrenia and was paranoid, which Alda told CBS News forced him as a child to constantly evaluate what was real. 'I think it made me more observant,' he said, adding in the same breath that he was realizing this for the first time as he spoke. At age seven, before a vaccine existed, he contracted polio; his parents administered the treatment — near-scalding hot wool packs on every limb — themselves.

M*A*S*H, which aired on CBS for 11 seasons beginning in 1972, earned Alda five of his six Emmy Awards — for acting, writing, and directing. More than 100 million people watched its final episode, according to CBS News. He has since played Senator Arnold Vinick on The West Wing and lawyer Jack Burroughs in The Four Seasons, among many other roles.

In 2009, Stony Brook University in New York founded the Alan Alda Center for Communicating Science, built on his belief that scientists and health professionals too often speak in language the public cannot access. Since 2018, he has hosted the podcast Clear+Vivid, interviewing guests including Paul McCartney, Michael J. Fox, Noah Wyle, and Joy Behar, according to CBS News.

Through all of it, the constant has been Arlene. Alda told CBS News that he first noticed her at a dinner party because she laughed at his jokes — and that laughter, he said, is what brought them together. In March, they will have been married 70 years. They have three daughters and eight grandchildren.

Laughing first brought us together.— Alan Alda, actor

There is currently no cure for Parkinson's disease, though medications and other treatments exist. For Alda, the management strategy is less pharmaceutical than philosophical: keep looking for what's funny, keep telling Arlene, keep solving the puzzle of the socks.

Why it matters — Alda's public, detailed account of living with Parkinson's at 90 — and the clinical endorsement of his humor-based approach — offers a practical framework for patients and caregivers navigating a disease that affects nearly one million Americans.

Reported by cbsnews.com, foxnews.com, people.com