Michael J. Fox Thanks Wife Tracy For ‘Bearing The Burden’ Of His Parkinson’s: She ‘Dealt With A Lot’
While discussing his battle with Parkinson’s Disease in a new documentary, Michael J. Fox praised his wife, Tracy Pollan, for always being by his side.
After nearly 35 years of marriage, Michael J. Fox and his wife, Tracy Pollan, are as in love as ever. In the actor’s new Apple TV+ documentary, Still: A Michael J. Fox Movie, he opened up about the relationship, and showed how supportive Tracy has been amidst his grueling Parkinson’s Disease. Michael was diagnosed with the illness in 1991, just three years into his marriage. When he told Tracy the news, he said he remembered her whispering, “In sickness and in health.” She has held strong to that vow for more than three decades.
“Tracy’s the smartest person I know,” Michael admitted. “She’s learned to deal with a lot of stuff. How frustrating it must be to have to bear the burden of something that isn’t her burden. She shares it with me. She not only shares it with me, she takes on more than I take on. Everything I go through, she goes through.”
The documentary showed footage of Tracy accompanying Michael to a doctor’s appointment. She listened intently as they discussed his medications and treatment, and offered her two cents at times, as well. Ther was also clips of Michael enjoying downtime with Tracy and their four children, giving a glimpse of what the family’s life is like. The actor praised his family for not letting his disease take a toll on them on a day-to-day basis. “When I’m with my family, there’s not ‘Poor baby, I feel your pain, you’re a saint among men,'” Michael said. “That would be the worst thing.”
Michael also opened up about how Tracy and his family were the reason he decided to get sober in 1992. He said he “drank to disassociate” and “escape” having Parkinson’s. However, after one particularly long night of partying, something clicked. “[Tracy] was meeting my sorry state with indifference,” Michael explained. “‘Is this what you want?’ she said. ‘Is this what you want to be?’ I’ve never been so frightened in my life.”
He described his first years of sobriety as a “knife fight,” and started taking movie roles in other parts of the world because he wasn’t able to face things at home. “Tracy was having a hard time and really getting to the end of her rope,” Michael shared. “Now, we had twins. I had to get back to my family.” That’s when he “made up [his] mind” and decided to return to television with Spin City. “The schedule matched perfectly with the rhythm of my family,” he added.
The documentary also featured a look into the early days of Michael and Tracy’s relationship. They met when she starred on Family Ties, and Michael recalled the moment he fell for her. It happened when they filmed a scene together after a lunch break. “The moment she said her first line, I detected a little garlic, and I seized the opportunity to have a little fun at her expense,” he said. “‘Who, a little scampi for lunch, babe?’ At first she said nothing. Her expression didn’t even change. But looking me in the eye, she said slowly, ‘That was mean and rude and you’re a complete f****** a******.’ Nobody talked to me that way. This woman was completely unintimidated by whoever I thought I was. A pig is a pig no matter how many hit movies he’s just had. She was joking, but I didn’t get it because no one would ever joke with me like that. I was never the butt of any jokes. She just poked through that and called me out. In that moment, I fell in love with her.”
He gushed that he was “the most in love person” once he and Tracy finally got together, and added, “I still am.” Michael also praised Tracy for her honesty. “Who she is is so locked in because she’s so honest,” he said. “I could be the King of England and she’d be her. I could be Elvis and she’d be her.”