Michael J. Fox came onto the stage in a wheelchair and a black suit to accept the Bob Hope Humanitarian Award at the 78th Primetime Emmy Awards on Monday, September 14, 2026, and the crowd at the Peacock Theater at L.A. Live in Los Angeles rose to meet him.
Fox, 65, was honored for decades of Parkinson’s disease research funding and advocacy, and the ovations came both before and after his remarks. He attended with his wife, Tracy Pollan, the mother of his four adult children, in what was their first Emmys appearance together in 13 years. Julianna Margulies, his former co-star on the legal drama “The Good Wife,” presented the award. “First of all, thank you to Julianna,” Fox began. “You’re so kind. You’re such a great acting partner, and had a great time on that show.”
He then turned to the disease that reshaped his career. “Initially, I kept my Parkinson’s diagnosis a secret. I worried that it would affect my work and my relationships with audiences. Would they laugh if they knew I was sick?” Fox told the room.
The audiences themselves gave him the answer, he said. “All of you are so uplifting and just made me feel like I could keep doing this,” he continued. “I hadn’t lost what I do, and it couldn’t take it away from me. And it’s because you stood up for me.”
That response taught him that accepting Parkinson’s did not mean giving in to it, he said. He called the recognition a humbling honor and finished on his family. “Now the part where I thank Tracy and our kids for their sacrifices, for their patience, and for their love — you have no idea — and of course, my mom and dad, and my sisters and brother in Canada.”
A Diagnosis He Kept Private
Doctors diagnosed Fox with young-onset Parkinson’s disease in 1991, after he noticed a twitch in his left little finger on the set of “Doc Hollywood.” He was 29, by his foundation’s account, and his career, built on “Family Ties” and the “Back to the Future” trilogy, was at its height. He said nothing publicly for years and kept working, in films including “The American President” and the ABC series “Spin City.” He made the diagnosis public in 1998 and stepped back from his lead role in 2000. He retired from full-time acting in 2020 and returned this year for a guest run.
More Than $3 Billion in Research
Fox founded the Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson’s Research in 2000. It calls itself the world’s largest nonprofit funder of Parkinson’s research and says on its own site that it has invested $3 billion in the field. His aim, he told the audience, was to advocate for patients’ needs, raise money and search for a cure.
“I am proud of the progress we’ve made to benefit Parkinson’s patients and families,” he said, crediting the foundation’s staff, donors, researchers and the wider Parkinson’s community. A cure is close, he said, and he vowed to keep fighting to eradicate the disease. Asked by PEOPLE before the ceremony about being the public face of the disease, he said his name “could attract attention to help us achieve our goals faster. But I also have this disease. I know the issues and I share my community’s sense of urgency.” He added: “Of course, things have gotten harder over the years.”
Part of the speech belonged to the man the award is named for. His parents were born during the Great Depression, Fox said, and to them Bob Hope was more than an entertainer. “Christmases, Thanksgivings, other holidays where he could have been celebrating with his family, he was showing up for the troops in Berlin, Saigon, the Middle East, with a turkey leg and a golf club, and maybe if you’re lucky, Lola Falana,” he said. “He embodied everything I came to believe in years later. I learned from his example. When it starts to get tough, you show up, you help.” Then he looked out at the room and asked: “Now where’s Lola Falana?”
A Rare Honor, and a Near Miss
The Television Academy created the award in 2002, with the Bob and Dolores Hope Foundation, for television figures whose charitable work reflects Hope’s spirit. It is not an annual prize: a committee names a recipient only when it finds a qualified candidate, and in 24 years it has been given seven times — to eight people, since Ted Danson and Mary Steenburgen shared it in 2025. Oprah Winfrey took the first in 2002, and Fox is the eighth winner on the list. The Academy announced him in July, citing his leadership in Parkinson’s research and the humor with which he has written about his own challenges.
A five-time Emmy winner with 19 nominations overall, Fox was up for one more this year, for Outstanding Guest Actor in a Comedy Series, for his portrayal of Gerry, a man living with Parkinson’s, in Apple TV’s “Shrinking,” opposite Harrison Ford as therapist Dr. Paul Rhoades. He had already lost that Emmy by the time he took the stage: the guest acting categories were handed out at the Creative Arts Emmys on September 6, where Rob Reiner won posthumously for “The Bear.” Bill Lawrence, a co-creator of “Shrinking,” also co-created “Spin City.”
The wins go back to the 1980s: three straight for “Family Ties” from 1986, a fourth for “Spin City” in 2000 and a guest-actor Emmy for “Rescue Me” in 2009.
Mariska Hargitay hosted the night, which NBC carried live and Peacock streamed. “The Pitt” repeated as outstanding drama series, “DTF St. Louis” won outstanding limited series and the Apple TV horror comedy “Widow’s Bay” took outstanding comedy. It finished the cycle with 14 wins — eight at the Creative Arts Emmys and a sweep of all six of its categories on the night — breaking the record of 13 set last year by “The Studio.” Matthew Rhys made Emmy history, becoming the first performer to win two lead acting Emmys in a single night — for “Widow’s Bay” and the limited series “The Beast in Me.” Jean Smart won a fifth straight for “Hacks,” one for every season of the show.