Michael J Fox doesn’t want a ‘dramatic’ death - Starts at 60

Michael J Fox doesn’t want a ‘dramatic’ death

Oct 14, 2025
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Michael J Fox says Parkinson's disease is mysterious and enigmatic. (AP PHOTO)

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Michael J Fox doesn’t want a “dramatic” death.

The Back To The Future star, 64, has been battling Parkinson’s disease since he was in his late 20s and the condition has now left him prone to falling over and hurting himself – and he’s now insisted he hopes he will pass away in his sleep rather than tripping over and causing a fatal injury.

“There’s no timeline [with Parkinson’s disease], there’s no series of stages that you go through – not in the same way that you would, say, with prostate cancer. It’s much more mysterious and enigmatic,” he told The Sunday Times newspaper.

“There are not many people who have had Parkinson’s for 35 years. I’d like to just not wake up one day. That’d be really cool. I don’t want it to be dramatic. I don’t want to trip over furniture, smash my head.”

“That’s another thing too, about dying. I just haven’t had time”, he joked.

Fox also opened up about his recent injuries, saying he has cut back on walking so he can “take it easy”.

“It’s absolutely incredible the stuff I broke. In a three-year period I broke my elbow, I broke my hand, I got a big infection in my hand and I almost lost my finger,” he said.

“It’s terrible. I had all these little bones broken and it got infected and they had to cut the bones out because the bones got infected …

“I broke my other shoulder, had it replaced. I broke my cheekbone.

“I take it easy now. I don’t walk that much any more. I can walk but it’s not pretty and it’s a bit dangerous. So I just roll that into my life, you know – no pun intended.”

Fox recently ended his acting retirement to appear in comedy-drama series Shrinking and he admitted the experience reignited his love of the craft.

“I see other people’s work, and it makes me think that I might be able to find something that’s for me as an actor and as a writer. And as a parent, husband and friend, I have a lot left to do,” he told Variety.

Fox acknowledged he’s still encountering “new challenges” with Parkinson’s.

“I wake up and get the message of what the day is gonna be like, and I try to adjust to it. I keep getting new challenges physically, and I get through it. I roll around in a wheelchair a lot, and it took some getting used to. You take the good, and you seize it.”

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