Actor Michael J. Fox, 65, is the 2026 recipient of the Lasker~Bloomberg Public Service Award, an honor announced Sept. 9, 2026, the same day People published an exclusive interview in which Fox said his Parkinson’s disease has gotten harder over the years.
“Of course, things have gotten harder over the years,” Fox told People. He added in the same interview: “I’m privileged to commit my time and energy to bringing everything I’ve got to help cure this disease.”
America’s Nobel for Advocacy
The Lasker Foundation citation credits Fox with dispelling the stigma of the disease and spearheading a revolution in Parkinson’s research. The award is sometimes called America’s Nobel. The foundation has awarded more than 400 prizes since 1945, and each category carries an honorarium of $250,000. Past public service award recipients include Bill and Melinda Gates and the late Christopher Reeve.
The 2026 Lasker prizes were to be presented at a gala in New York City on Sept. 17.
Randy Schekman, the Nobel and Lasker laureate, nominated Fox and wrote about him in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. “Fox’s commitment and integrity have altered the landscape of inquiry into the clinical and basic science of PD,” Schekman wrote.
“Receiving a Lasker is humbling,” Fox said, adding that he shares the honor with the scientists, policymakers, patients and families working alongside him.
Decades With the Disease
Doctors diagnosed Fox with Parkinson’s in 1991, at age 29, and he disclosed the diagnosis publicly in 1998. A doctor told him at the time of the diagnosis that he had about a decade of acting left. His symptoms over the years have included tremors, rigidity and difficulty speaking.
Parkinson’s is a disorder of the nervous system that affects movement, gets worse over time and affects people in different ways, according to the U.S. National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke.
Federal health authorities continue to state that Parkinson’s has no cure and that available treatments manage symptoms. At the Emmy Awards, Fox said his foundation is close to a cure. He gave People no timetable, saying researchers cannot pinpoint when a cure might arrive.
Fox told People that living with the disease gave him a direct understanding of the urgency patients and families feel. He said he began speaking publicly because his name could draw attention to the cause.
Emmy Awards Honor and New Campaign
On Sept. 14, Fox accepted the Bob Hope Humanitarian Award at the 78th Emmy Awards. He said there that he had initially kept his diagnosis secret, fearing what it would do to his work, and he thanked audiences for standing by him.
On Sept. 17, The Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson’s Research (MJFF) launched a campaign called “All Grit. No Quit.” to raise another $2.5 billion. The campaign launched with more than $1.75 billion already raised.
Fox co-founded the foundation in 2000 with Debi Brooks, now its chief executive. The organization has funded more than $3 billion in Parkinson’s research worldwide, some of it in partnership with the Aligning Science Across Parkinson’s initiative, which the Sergey Brin Family Foundation supports. The foundation says the research ecosystem it backed contributed to 23 new drug approvals over the past decade, with 175 more currently in clinical testing. Its community has grown to an audience of nearly four million people, including 1.2 million donors.
Fox testified before Congress in 1999, urging greater federal investment. The foundation later mobilized advocates behind the National Plan to End Parkinson’s Act, which became law in July 2024.
A Way Back to Acting
Fox stepped away from full-time acting in 2000, after leaving “Spin City.” By 2020 he said memorizing lines had become a new obstacle. Apple TV’s “Shrinking” gave him a way back.
He guest-starred in the third season as Gerry, a man living with Parkinson’s, opposite actor Harrison Ford, whose character, Paul Rhoades, also has the disease. Fox told People that the part let him show up on set as himself, and he called the experience insanely fun.
Bill Lawrence, Brett Goldstein and Jason Segel co-created “Shrinking.” The third season was released from Jan. 28 through April 8, and the show has been renewed for a fourth.
Fox earned a 2026 Emmy nomination for outstanding guest actor in a comedy series for the role. The award went to actor Rob Reiner for “The Bear.”