Michael J. Fox: Out of `Spin City' and Onto a New Stage

May 24, 2000 - In an odd way, Michael J. Fox said the other day, he feels liberated by his decision to reveal his nearly decade-long battle with Parkinson's disease.

"For me personally, it's been a gift, and I don't mean, 'Hey, rah, I have this thing,' " he said quietly on the eve of his departure from the ABC show "Spin City," which is broadcasting his final episode of the season tonight.

"In terms of my own evolution, against the context of my life, it's somehow easier to deal with. It's led to me to deeper thought, a greater sense of compassion, a greater sense of acceptance of things, of realizing what is my fight and what isn't my fight."

His life now has a focus, he said as he sat in his production office at Chelsea Piers: contributing to the search for a cure for Parkinson's, the degenerative illness that causes tremors and muscle rigidity.

"The deck has really been cleared for me to help," said the actor, who is 38. "The fact is I don't have financial burdens. I'm not worried about feeding my family. A lot of people can't tell anybody. I can. They can't risk losing their insurance. They can't risk opening themselves. I can."

Sitting at a conference table, Mr. Fox gripped his left hand and arms tightly. He spoke somberly and candidly. At times he rocked forward in his chair and sipped diet soda. His recent final episode of "Spin City" was painful and tearful for the cast that Mr. Fox helped recruit. The tributes from Heather Locklear, the campaign finance manager and love interest; Barry Bostwick, the slightly goofy mayor; and the other actors afterward had plainly touched Mr. Fox. "I'll miss them," he said, blinking hard.

Mr. Fox said he was resolved to stay upbeat. He said that the impact of the illness, coupled with the suspension of his acting career, had left him without the depression that often strikes people with Parkinson's. In fact the actor, who is wiry and a bit nervous, said he had never been engulfed by despondency.

"There's unquestionably loss, there's unquestionably compromise, there's unquestionably, if one wanted to look forward, a reason to be worried," he said. "But I don't get depressed. I don't think that way. Maybe it's chemical. I mean, I think that's why I got on a bus at 18 and went to L.A. Everybody thought I was crazy."

"You know, none of us are entitled to anything. I mean, I have clarity and I still laugh a lot. That's saying something about my life."

Ten years ago, while making the film "Doc Hollywood" in Florida, Mr. Fox had a persistent tremor on the pinky of his left hand. He saw a local neurologist who told him the problem was a sports injury caused by years of playing ice hockey while growing up in Canada.

The next year his shoulder became rigid and his hand periodically shook. Jogging one afternoon in Martha's Vineyard, Mr. Fox was stopped by his wife, the actress Tracy Pollan, who had become alarmed. Mr. Fox recalled her saying: "Get in the car. You don't know what you look like. Your left side is not moving. Only the right side is moving. It doesn't look good."

Within days Mr. Fox was seeing a neurologist in Manhattan, where the couple live with their three children. The diagnosis was immediate.

Parkinson's, which may affect as many as a million Americans, is often treated with the drug levodopa, or L-dopa, and other medications to limit the symptoms.

The diagnosis stunned the actor. For one thing, the disease most often strikes people over 40.

"I had no clue; he could have spoken to me in Latvian," Mr. Fox related. "It took awhile for me to process it. I went for second opinions."

He shook his head. "It's belligerent; it's a bear. But if I start whining, please, somebody, hit me with a hammer. My life has been front-loaded with blessings."

Mr. Fox, who became a television star in the 1980's sitcom "Family Ties," has been the anchor of "Spin City" on ABC for four years, playing a hard-driving New York City deputy mayor. Although he will continue as a producer and may appear on one or two episodes next year, "Spin City" will now be made in Los Angeles, and Charlie Sheen will take his role.

Mr. Fox said that the physical strain of the disease and his weariness at hiding it from the public led to his decision. "This big idea that the show must go on -- after a while it just didn't seem as compelling an idea," he said. "It just seemed like the right time."

He said he had made his decision to leave and focus on fighting the disease, both personally and with fund-raising and public awareness, when the show reached its 100th episode. "I never envisioned myself as the poster boy for anything," he said. "I hope I'm not doing that now. I hope it's more thoughtful than that. Would I rather be on magazine covers now for a big opening weekend or something like that as opposed to having a degenerative brain disease? Yeah. But it's part of my life, part of my family's life."

Generally, Parkinson's is far more common among people over 55, affecting slightly more men than women. It is caused by the death of nerve cells and the depletion of a neurotransmitter in the brain. According to the Harvard Medical School Family Health Guide, "There is no cure for Parkinson disease, but medicine and surgery can be beneficial." The problem is that after five years or so, drug combinations often lose their effectiveness, leading to greater tremors.

Mr. Fox said he had decided late in 1998 during a vacation with his family on St. John's to disclose the illness and end his acting involvement on "Spin City."

He said his condition, mostly tremors, had worsened since 1992 despite brain surgery in 1998 to ease the tremors. He said that the stress of starring in a television series and producing it probably worsened his condition and that he didn't need as much medication on vacation.

"I'd go on these respites and cut back on medication and not be as symptomatic," he said. "And then I'd come back and by the third day it was a similar struggle. But I can't live on the beach. I don't want to be Robinson Crusoe."

In his years making "Spin City," only a few people were aware of his condition. These included Gary David Goldberg, a creator of the show, and Jeffrey Katzenberg, a founder of DreamWorks, which produced the show, its only television success so far.

Mr. Katzenberg said that Mr. Fox had told him and Mr. Goldberg of the illness about two years ago. "There were a number of adjustments we needed to do to help him do his work," Mr. Katzenberg said. There was the schedule he worked, and there was managing his medical treatment, which must be regular. "He didn't want people to know, he didn't want people feeling sorry for him."

Mr. Fox's career has been more successful in television than in movies. Like some other television stars, his efforts in feature films left him disappointed despite the huge success of the "Back to the Future" series. In recent years his films have included such mishaps as "Life With Mikey" and "Greedy." But he was also the voice of Stuart Little in the recent hit of that name.

He is now focusing on the creation of the Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson's Research and its Web site, www.michaeljfox.org. "Not in any way do I think I'm bringing any kind of great intellect or insight to Parkinson's," Mr. Fox said. "But there's just this weird energy called celebrity that I bring to it. And while that's happening, I'm learning and understanding." He said that as long as he takes his medication, he can still play sports and fully participate in the physical life of his family, which includes a boy, Sam, 10, and twin 5-year-old girls, Aquinnah and Schuyler. But he said that his family has faced an adjustment.

He said that when his daughters ask him to comb their hair before school, he tells them, "I can't do your hair in the morning because my hands don't work as well in the morning."

The actor said that what worried him about going public with the illness was pity. "Pity to me is a step away from abuse," he said. "I don't trust it. I don't know how I would do the things I wanted to do where people saw me differently, saw me as someone to be pitied. That ended up not being an issue."

Mr. Fox said he would most certainly seek to raise money among his wealthy friends and associates in the entertainment industry. But he also said he was uncomfortable with the notion of picking up the phone and asking for contributions.

Speaking of his new work, he said: "It's not about being noble, it's not about being anything. It just seems like this is the right thing to do. You know, it's not denial but I feel okay now. And things are good."


By BERNARD WEINRAUB
Copyright 2000 The New York Times Company

janet paterson
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