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Michael J. Fox says his declining health means his acting days are probably over

The Canadian actor and icon has been battling Parkinson’s disease for almost 30 years.
by Christine Estima
November 18, 2020 4:01 p.m. EST
November 20, 2020 11:00 p.m. EST
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Whether you love him from his days as Alex Keaton on Family Ties, from the legendary Back to the Future trilogy as Marty McFly, or from his countless roles in film and TV, there’s no question that you love Michael J. Fox. We all do. He’s one of the best actors to emerge from Edmonton. However, in his new memoir, entitled No Time Like The Future: An Optimist Considers Mortality, Michael drops a bombshell: that he’s retiring from acting.The Canadian icon, who has been battling Parkinson’s disease for almost 30 years, writes in his memoir with devastating effect, “There is a time for everything, and my time of putting in a 12-hour workday, and memorizing seven pages of dialogue, is best behind me.” He later adds, “If this is the end of my acting career, so be it.” Truly heartbreaking stuff. [video_embed id='2078261']RELATED: Michael J Fox continues to remain positive after 30 years of living with Parkinson's disease[/video_embed]When Michael was diagnosed with Parkinson’s back in 1991, he was told by his doctor that he might be able to work for another ten years tops. Our Delorean-loving adventurer defied those odds, but he writes that over the past three decades, his symptoms have progressed to a state that he can no longer negotiate work and health.Writing that he has experienced memory loss, confusion, delusions and dementia, he admits those symptoms were “rarely contemplated before now, much less spoke of.” In one passage in the memoir, which was released on Tuesday, he describes looking for his car keys before remembering he can no longer drive. He also writes about seeing people who aren’t there – in one incident, he mistook one of his twin daughters for the other, then uttered, “What did you think?” to “the person to my left, who isn’t there.”Elsewhere in the book, he describes feeling a kinship with the character Leonardo DiCaprio plays in Quentin Tarantino’s Once Upon A Time … In Hollywood. “DiCaprio, playing a cowboy actor who’s seen better days, keeps screwing up his lines,” he describes. “Furious at himself over his chronic inability to remember and deliver the dialogue... [he] berates himself viciously over his abject failure. I feel his pain. I’ve obviously been there.”“But weighed against everything else in my life, I don’t find it worthy of self-excoriation ... My work as an actor does not define me,” Michael concluded.When announcing the memoir on social media, Michael made no mention of the early retirement, simply saying, “Well it’s official! The book is out.”Holding up the hardcover edition, he continues, “So get it. Read it. Enjoy. And gratitude.”Parkinson’s is a neurodegenerative disease that affects movement, with many sufferers experiencing shaking and stiffness, with walking, balance, and coordination all deteriorating as time goes on. Over time, symptoms worsen, leading to a loss of motor control and even talking. There is no cure.Michael’s adoring fans, while saddened to see him dip from their screens, are showing nothing but gratitude for the years of entertainment and joy he has brought to their lives. That gratitude is something that Michael also writes about in his memoir. Taking the advice from his late father-in-law Stephen Pollan, he writes, “With gratitude, optimism becomes sustainable.”[video_embed id='2077702']BEFORE YOU GO: Man spots massive gator in Florida [/video_embed]

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