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when was michael j fox diagnosed with parkinson's

Michael J. Fox was diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease in 1991, when he was 29 years old.

Quick Scoop

  • Year of diagnosis: 1991.
  • His age at the time: 29 years old, which counts as young-onset Parkinson’s.
  • He first noticed symptoms (a twitch in his left little finger/hand) around 1990 while filming Doc Hollywood.
  • He kept the diagnosis private for about seven years and went public with it in 1998 in a People magazine cover story.

A bit of story

Michael J. Fox was at the height of his career in the early 1990s, moving from blockbuster films like Back to the Future into more leading roles when subtle symptoms began to appear on set. What started as a small twitch in his left pinkie finger grew into more noticeable tremors and stiffness, leading him to seek multiple medical opinions before finally being told he had Parkinson’s disease at just 29. For years he masked the condition with medication and careful acting tricks, continuing to work on projects like Spin City while processing the diagnosis privately with his family. In 1998 he chose to speak publicly, which eventually led to the creation of The Michael J. Fox Foundation in 2000, now a major force in Parkinson’s research and advocacy.

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Find out when Michael J. Fox was diagnosed with Parkinson’s, how old he was, how he first noticed symptoms, and how that 1991 diagnosis led to his later advocacy and foundation work.

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