WOW!  MJF is REALLY laying it out on the line, isn't he.  It feels
like he's done a very public "reality-check," considering the
things he said in the original People Magazine article.

In a way, as MJF said good bye to some of HIS dreams of the
future, that hit home with me.

I guess it's been an introspective summer for a LOT of us....

Barb Mallut
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-----Original Message-----
From: janet paterson <[log in to unmask]>
To: [log in to unmask] <[log in to unmask]>
Date: Tuesday, September 21, 1999 4:43 PM
Subject: NEWS: Michael J. Fox in the Ottawa Citizen


>Refusing to Yield Centre Stage
>
>Tuesday 21 September 1999 - Michael J. Fox was a television star
at 20, a
>movie star at 25, supposedly washed up at 30 and a comeback
sensation at
>35. That would be enough drama for most people's whole lives, but
at 38 the
>actor is battling Parkinson's disease.
>
>"It takes away a little of the arrogance of youth," Fox admits.
"It's never
>stopped me doing anything I wanted to do, but now I'm taking life
one day
>at a time."
>
>Fox doesn't volunteer to discuss Parkinson's, a crippling and
incurable
>nerve disorder, but he doesn't mind talking about it and its
implications
>for his career -- and for his hit political comedy Spin City,
which returns
>to ABC tonight for its fourth season.
>
>Although he admits that his illness makes him tire more easily,
Fox insists
>that he plans to continue working on the show for at least
another two
>years. After that, though -- which would give him six years on
Spin City to
>go with seven on his 1980s hit Family Ties -- he doesn't expect
to tackle
>another series.
>
>"I'd love to do this show for as many years as I did Family
Ties," Fox
>says. "Then I want to write the great American novel and sit on a
beach
>somewhere. In terms of films, maybe I'll produce -- I'd love to
do a series
>for my wife."
>
>The slender, 5-foot-4-inch, Canadian-born actor shows up for an
interview
>in Pasadena, California wearing a smart business suit, tie and
heavy black
>shoes.
>
>He downplays his illness, but it obviously plays a major part in
everything
>he does these days. Always energetic, at moments he acts a bit
overwrought,
>and his left leg seems to have a will of its own -- perhaps from
tremors,
>perhaps simply from edginess.
>
>But Fox isn't looking for sympathy. Never has, never will.
>
>The terrible irony, of course, is that Fox, who complained for
years that
>he looked too much like a kid and even into his late 20s was too
baby-faced
>to land mature roles, is now suffering from the "old man's
disease."
>
>It's extremely unusual for men under 40 to contract Parkinson's,
doctors
>say, and most sufferers are at least 50. Fox was 37 in 1998, when
he
>publicly revealed that he had suffered from Parkinson's for seven
years.
>
>"This has been a kind of maturation for me," he says. "I was in
my early
>30s, my father had just passed away. There was a lot of other
stuff it
>hastened in terms of wanting to really plan life on a day-to-day
basis and
>make the most of a lot of things."
>
>This new phase in his life began eight years ago, when he woke up
one
>morning with his little finger twitching and was unable to stop
it. He
>didn't think it was serious, but when it wouldn't go away he went
to see a
>specialist who gave him the brutal diagnosis.
>
>He kept it quiet for years -- which, some friends say, may have
contributed
>to the severe drinking problem which resulted in his early-1990s
stay in a
>rehab clinic.
>
>Now he's learning to live with the affliction, even though there
has been
>some deterioration since he went public in December. He underwent
brain
>surgery in 1998 to try to relieve some of the more severe
symptoms, and
>relies on various new drugs to retard the progress of the
disease.
>
>"I respect the fear of anyone who has it," he admits. "I had no
problem
>with the brain surgery. It was something I wanted. I had
tremendous faith
>in my doctor, faith in the science. I just knew it would be OK.
Once you
>make the decision to do it, I felt it was OK.
>
>"I feel pretty good on a day-to-day basis," he says. "You monitor
it daily
>and treat it therapeutically. I can't treat it curatively at this
point,
>although I hope that happens.
>
>"I'm following all the medical developments pretty closely," the
actor
>adds. "I think there will be a time in the future -- maybe two or
three
>years down the road, after Spin City -- when I think it will
probably be my
>sole concern and my sole activity.
>
>"There's tremendous research being done, in surgery, in
fetal-cell stuff
>and genetic stuff. So you know something could pop at any
moment."
>
>Meanwhile, he says, Parkinson's has not yet significantly
interfered with
>his acting. He looks forward to the new season of Spin City,
reinvigorated
>by the arrival of Melrose Place's Heather Locklear. "I feel
confident with
>my ability to do my job," Fox says. "That was clear to me last
year."
>
>But Parkinson's has cost him what he calls his dream role.
Producer Robert
>Halmi Sr., a close friend of Hollywood legend James Cagney,
wanted Fox for
>a movie version of the actor/dancer's life.
>
>"It would be hard to do now," Fox says regretfully. "But I never
saw myself
>as a good enough dancer to do it. I don't even know if I could
handle the
>rest of his persona -- but even if I could, dance was such a big
part of
>who he was that, if you don't know how to do it, then you feel
like an idiot."
>
>Fox has planned this season of Spin City to allow him a few days
off in the
>middle of the week to be with his wife of 11 years, actress Tracy
Pollan,
>their 10-year-old son Sam and their three-year-old twin
daughters, Aquinnah
>and Schuyler.
>
>"My greatest accomplishment in my life is my children," he says
proudly. "I
>love doing the show, but I use every bit of my time off to be
with them
>from March until August. My life has been so filled with
positives and
>blessings and things I'd never ever trade."
>
>And there's nothing like being diagnosed with a potentially fatal
disease
>to alter priorities, even those of an actor who was once
notorious for his
>drive and ambition, who leveraged his teen stardom on Family Ties
into
>big-screen success in three Back to the Future movies in 1985,
1989 and
>1990, as well as such other films as Casualties of War (1989) and
The
>American President (1996).
>
>"Obviously this has changed me a lot," he says. "I'm different
from the way
>I was 10 or 15 years ago. I don't have gigantic ambitions. I
don't want to
>take over the world, and I don't need to be the star of a
huge-budgeted movie.
>
>"I have a nice job I really love and it pays me well," Fox
concludes. "It
>allows me to be with my family and do things for my kids."
>
>photo caption:
>'My greatest accomplishment in my life is my children. I love
doing the
>show, but I use every bit of my time off to be with them from
March until
>August. My life has been so filled with positives and blessings
and things
>I'd never ever trade.' ~ Michael J. Fox
>
>
>written by Ivor Davis  Citizen Special
>Ivor Davis is a Hollywood-based reporter and columnist.
>Copyright 1999 Ottawa Citizen
><http://www.ottawacitizen.com/entertainment/990921/2886028.html>
>
>janet paterson
>52 now / 41 dx / 37 onset
>613 256 8340 po box 171 almonte ontario canada K0A 1A0
>a new voice: <http://www.geocities.com/SoHo/Village/6263/>
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