During an emotional interview with Nate Burleson on CBS Mornings in 2023, Back to the Future star Michael J Fox lifted the lid on his longtime marriage to Tracy Pollan, and how his Parkinson’s disease diagnosis plays into it.
He made no secret of the challenges they have faced – both individually and as a couple.
“I love Tracy. She’s an amazing person,” he said. But he was sure to add that she also “has a life separate from me having Parkinson’s”.
Michael J Fox would have forgive wife for leaving him
Canadian-American actor and Parkinson’s activist Michael J Fox – on screen with Back to the Future today (July 26) – told Nate Burleson he and his wife “had no idea what to expect” about how his Parkinson’s would develop. Or how it would affect their relationship.
“But for better for worse… in sickness. She was going to stick with me and she has for 35 years,” he said.
“We knew the bus was coming, but we didn’t know when or how fast it was coming before it hit us. At any time, she could be forgiven for saying, I just want to step out. But she didn’t do that.”
Astonishingly, he has helped to raise over $2 billion (£1.5bn) towards research for the disease, which currently has no known cure.
Until the day he runs out of gas, he will continue to be ‘tough’
One day, Michael – now 64 – said, he will “run out of gas”. But in the meantime, he’s happy to refer to himself as a “tough son of a [bleep]”.
“One day I’ll just say: ‘It’s not going to happen. I’m not going out today.’ If that comes, I’ll allow myself that. I’m 62 years old,” he told Town & Country magazine around the same time as his CBS interview.
“Certainly, if I were to pass away tomorrow, it would be premature, but it wouldn’t be unheard of. And so, no, I don’t fear that.”
In fact, the only thing he fears is anything that would put his family in jeopardy. He said he has nightmares about falling into Tracy, or one of the kids on the street, and them consequently being struck by a passing bus.
But he does not fear for himself, nor the future.
Back to the Future is on BBC One at 4.10pm on Saturday (July 26).
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