M*A*S*H star Alan Alda shares how he’s managing his Parkinson’s diagnosis with resilience

Beloved actor Alan Alda has shared an update on how he’s navigating life with Parkinson’s disease, a condition he was diagnosed with in 2015.

During a recent interview with People magazine, the M*A*S*H icon described his journey as one filled with constant challenges and adaptations.

“Making progress,” he told the publication, before joking, “I didn’t say in which direction.”

“Almost every day I’m finding a new way to do something. It’s a little like a game. I’ve found whatever the little problem is, if I keep at it, I can eventually solve it, and then I feel like a million bucks. It’s a way to have a good time under poor circumstances.”

He adds that managing his Parkinson’s has evolved over time, revealing that it’s become “almost a full-time job keeping track of all these little solutions. But it keeps me always looking for the funny side.”

Alda’s update comes as he recently delivered a moving and deeply personal tribute to his longtime M*A*S*H co-star Loretta Swit, reflecting on her extraordinary talent and pivotal role in transforming one of television’s most iconic characters.

Swit, who won two Emmy Awards playing Major Margaret Houlihan on the pioneering hit TV series sadly passed away at the age of 87. Publicist Harlan Boll said Swit died on Friday, May 30 at her home in New York City, likely from natural causes.

Alda, who worked alongside Swit throughout the show’s 11-year run, took to social media to honour her legacy.

“Loretta was a supremely talented actor,” he wrote.

“She deserved all her 10 EMMY nominations and her 2 wins. But more than acting her part, she created it. She worked hard In showing the writing staff how they could turn the character from a one joke sexist stereotype into a real person — with real feelings and ambitions.

“We celebrated the day the script came out listing her character not as Hot Lips, but as Margaret. Loretta made the most of her time here.”

Swit and Alda were the longest-serving cast members on M*A*S*H, which was based on Robert Altman’s 1970 film, which was itself based on a novel by Richard Hooker, the pseudonym of H. Richard Hornberger.