The Hollywood star Michael J. Fox was reunited with his former Back To The Future co-star Christopher Lloyd as he was given an honorary Oscar at the 13th Annual Governors Awards on Saturday.
Michael J. Fox now has an Oscar! pic.twitter.com/ViKusgi9pC
— Kyle Buchanan (@kylebuchanan) November 20, 2022
Fox Receives Major Honor
Daily Mail reported that Fox, 61, was given the Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award, which is an honorary Oscar that is awarded to someone “whose humanitarian efforts have brought credit to the industry.” The actor has raised over $1 billion for Parkinson’s disease research through his eponymous Michael J. Fox Foundation after being diagnosed with the disease back in 1991 when he was 29 years-old.
“You guys are making me shake,” Fox joked after getting a standing ovation while accepting the award, according to The Hollywood Reporter. “This is so cool.”
“The hardest part was grappling with the certainty of the diagnosis and the uncertainty of the situation,” he added of Parkinson’s, which he described as “the gift that keeps on taking.”
Just a portion of Michael J. Fox’s powerful speech at the #GovernorsAwards, as he reflected about first disclosing to the public that he was battling Parkinson’s disease. Icon. pic.twitter.com/iXVCOI6E0b
— Kevin Polowy (@djkevlar) November 20, 2022
Fox Supported By His Family And Friends
Fox was joined at this event by his wife Tracy Pollan, who he has been married to for 34 years. The couple met on the set of his beloved sitcom “Family Ties,” which he starred on from 1982 until 1989.
“My best life now is I enjoy my family so much,” Fox told People Magazine last month. “Tracy and the kids are amazing. I know that sounds boring, it sounds like a fairy tale, but we’ve been married thirtysomething years, so we’ve got something figured out.”
Fox and Pollan share four children, and each of them were also present at Saturday’s ceremony in Los Angeles.
Michael J. Fox and his family pose on the red carpet at the Governors Awards. https://t.co/IQQFsHyRyJ pic.twitter.com/W96VqfZdqL
— Variety (@Variety) November 20, 2022
Related: Michael J. Fox Gives Sad Update About His Health After Battling Parkinson’s For Over 30 Years
The award was presented to Fox by his good friend Woody Harrelson, who starred with him in the movie Doc Hollywood back in 1991.
“This guy was a master class in comedy,” Harrelson said as he described the first time he saw Fox on “Family Ties.”
“He turned a chilling diagnosis into a courageous mission,” he added. “Michael J. Fox never asked for the role of Parkinson’s advocate, but it is his best performance.”
https://twitter.com/ScottFeinberg/status/1594178713024798721
Lloyd Attends Ceremony
Lloyd, who starred with Fox in three Back To The Future movies in the 1980s, could be seen supporting his former co-star at the ceremony. After walking the red carpet, Lloyd sat in the audience as his old friend Fox received the award.
#LisaLloyd y #ChristopherLloyd en los #GovernorsAwards
📸 Emma McIntery pic.twitter.com/UTwxsJkuCa
— en Raccord Blog De Cine (@CineenRaccord) November 20, 2022
This came days after Lloyd and Fox announced that they had teamed up on a special Back To The Future merchandise line.
“Great Scott!” Lloyd wrote on Twitter to announce this. “Our first ever Back To the Future merchandise store that @RealMikeFox and I designed is finally here!”
Great Scott! Our first ever Back To the Future merchandise store that @RealMikeFox and I designed is finally here! Shop the full collection at https://t.co/Rk0z10HAtl pic.twitter.com/NgFBdL6um1
— Christopher Lloyd (@DocBrownLloyd) November 10, 2022
Fox’s Rough Year
Fox has been open about how rough this year has been for him. Not only did his mother Phyllis pass away two months ago at the age of 92, but Fox also broke his his cheek, hand, shoulder and arm in various falls.
“I broke my cheek, then my hand, then my shoulder, had a replacement shoulder put in and broke my [right] arm, then I broke my elbow. I’m 61 years old, and I’m feeling it a little bit more,” Fox revealed last month. “I was never really a cranky guy, but I got very cranky and short with people. I try to nip it in the bud.”
“I always think of these aides who work with me,” he continued. “And I often say to them, ‘Whatever I say, just imagine I said ‘please’ at the beginning and ‘thank you’ at the end. Just take a second and absorb that I might have said that if I was more myself, but I didn’t, so I apologize.”
This is the best thing I’ve seen today…
Michael J. Fox and Christopher Lloyd reunited today at #NYCC
This duo will forever be LEGENDARY ❤️ pic.twitter.com/RKEUwlLHo9
— The Weekly Cut (@weeklycut) October 9, 2022
Fox continues to be an inspiration to us all, and there’s no doubt that nobody deserves this humanitarian award more than him. Please join us in saying a prayer for Fox that his 2023 is better than his 2022!