Michael J. Fox received two standing ovations at the 2026 Emmy Awards as the television industry honored the actor for more than two decades of work advancing Parkinson’s disease research.
The 65-year-old accepted the Bob Hope Humanitarian Award at Los Angeles’ Peacock Theater on Sept. 14. His former The Good Wife co-star Julianna Margulies presented the honor before Fox appeared onstage in a wheelchair and the audience rose to greet him, according to PEOPLE.
Fox used the speech to revisit the period when he kept his Parkinson’s diagnosis private because he feared it could change his career and his relationship with viewers. He told the audience that their response after he eventually disclosed the diagnosis convinced him he had not lost what he loved doing.
The humanitarian honor arrived during another significant Emmy year for Fox. He earned his 19th career nomination for his return to acting in Apple TV’s Shrinking, decades after the television roles that made him a five-time Emmy winner.
Fox Receives Two Standing Ovations During His Emotional Speech
Reuters reported that the audience stood as he was brought onto the stage to receive the award. He began by talking about Bob Hope, recalling how Hope’s work entertaining military personnel had resonated with his own family. Fox said the lesson he took from Hope was simple, when circumstances become difficult, people should show up and help.
Fox then turned to the diagnosis that changed his own life. He was diagnosed with young-onset Parkinson’s disease in 1991 when he was 29 and kept the diagnosis private for years before revealing it publicly in 1998. He acknowledged that he had worried viewers might see him differently once they knew he was sick. Instead, he said their support made him believe Parkinson’s could not take his work away from him. “You stood up for me,” Fox told the room.
He then explained what that support allowed him to understand that accepting Parkinson’s did not mean surrendering to it. Fox turned toward helping other people living with the disease and funding research aimed at changing its future.
PEOPLE reported that Fox received a second standing ovation after discussing the work that followed his diagnosis and thanking those who had supported him. Fox also singled out his wife, Tracy Pollan, and their four children, Sam, Aquinnah, Schuyler and Esmé. He thanked them for their patience, love and the sacrifices they had made while he pursued both his career and his advocacy work.
The Bob Hope Award Recognizes More Than 25 Years of Parkinson’s Advocacy
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The Emmy was not given for one fundraising campaign or a single year of advocacy. The Television Academy selected Fox for what it described as his transformative contributions to Parkinson’s research and advocacy.
Fox founded The Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson’s Research in 2000, two years after publicly disclosing his diagnosis. It has since become the world’s largest nonprofit funder of Parkinson’s research and has funded $3 billion in research.
The organization funds work aimed at developing treatments, improving understanding of the disease and ultimately finding a cure. Its programs also include major clinical research infrastructure, open-access data and biological samples, and efforts to connect patients with research studies.
He told the audience he was proud of the progress made for patients and families and said the work was moving researchers closer to eradicating the disease.
The Bob Hope Humanitarian Award itself is not a routine Emmy category. Established in 2002, it is awarded by the Television Academy and the Bob & Dolores Hope Foundation to television figures whose humanitarian work has had a lasting impact. Previous recipients include Oprah Winfrey, George Clooney, Sean Penn, Danny Thomas, Ted Danson and Mary Steenburgen.
Fox Says the Search for a Parkinson’s Cure Is Getting Closer
Fox’s Emmy comments followed another major recognition for his work this month. He received the 2026 Lasker-Bloomberg Public Service Award for his contributions to Parkinson’s research, scientific collaboration and patient advocacy.
He also recently acknowledged that living with the disease has become more difficult. In an interview published days before the Emmys, Fox said things had “gotten harder over the years” but remained optimistic about the scientific progress surrounding Parkinson’s.
The foundation says it has funded $3 billion in research and continues to invest across the Parkinson’s research pipeline, including potential treatments, biological targets and large-scale research infrastructure.
Fox has repeatedly said that his celebrity gave him an opportunity to bring attention and funding to that work. At the Emmys, he also credited the foundation’s staff, donors, researchers and Parkinson’s patients.
‘Shrinking’ Brought Fox Back to Acting and Back to the Emmys
Fox’s night at the Emmys also connected his advocacy work with an unexpected return to acting. He stepped away from acting in 2020 after the progression of Parkinson’s made memorizing dialogue and completing long shooting days increasingly difficult. He later returned for Season 3 of Shrinking, created in part by his former Spin City collaborator Bill Lawrence.
Fox plays Gerry, a character living with Parkinson’s disease who appears opposite Harrison Ford’s Paul Rhoades, another character navigating the condition. Fox has said the role allowed him to arrive on set without pretending that the realities of Parkinson’s were not part of his life.
The performance earned Fox an Emmy nomination for Outstanding Guest Actor in a Comedy Series, his 19th career nomination. Rob Reiner ultimately won that category posthumously at the Creative Arts Emmys for The Bear.
Fox already had five competitive Emmy wins before this year’s ceremony. Three came for playing Alex P. Keaton on Family Ties, followed by a lead actor win for Spin City and a guest acting Emmy for Rescue Me.