Michael J. Fox - Letterman - 2015.04.15

thank you our first guest is a five-time Emmy Award winner and a noted philanthropist his foundation has raised more than 450 million dollars 450 million dollars to fund the Parkinson's disease research so please welcome our good friend Michael J Fox are you doing Michael how you doing alright thank you that's a what a lovely introduction that that's a fantastic thing that you have done for the world and it's reflected in how you're introduced I always say I only had to be smart enough to find people that were smarter than me and I found them it was easy and we put them to work on it and and and we're doing well good you you've been on the show over 40 times in 49 times and just I mean I can't believe this is uh it's just like the last time I'll be on Shah but I just wanted to thank you for for everything you've done for me and for infer of television and just I will say that you are better doing what you do than I am at what I do you're taller hey that going for you do we have mind if we look at an older picture it said I don't know what year this is from roughly 85 yeah those glasses are incredible they're like I got it from Charles Nelson Reilly I mean my god were you were you still in high school is that I was like 23 or 24 oh my god I had a if you could get whiter you see the sleeves of the Blazer rolled up yeah there's a big thing you gotta get it all going on and and now you have kids almost that age I have kids silver net oh my good night my son is 26 26 years old well what tell me what life is like to have a 26 he's not in the house anymore no he's not even has to be if we've got him out of the house good he lives in Brooklyn he's a hipster oh my son the hipster it's there's good money in being a hipster isn't it's a growth industry yeah and and my daughter's I have twin daughters at our 20 mm-hmm and they're in college and um and and I have a daughter who's 13 are there they are the twin daughters in college together no there they go they're on different coasts ones in Carolina and ones in California yeah and what was that a problems separating twins like that oh no they they couldn't they couldn't get to their respective coasts fast enough toys all right they love each other but but they've spent their whole lives in everything they hit that twin-tuition so like one falls down their own bleeds and and so I just think they need the space so so ones in California kind of she just got a long board to get the classes and the other one I last I saw a few shoes her face was painted blue and she was cheering for her for college basketball team I understand her college basketball team did pretty well this year now you've got an assortment or were you know enough of each raising girls versus raising a boy well your boy is easy I mean it kiss cuz they know it's a tough time where the boy is is is right around 4 when they realize you're sleeping with their mothers may be a little tricky I get it wait wait what's happening but but girls are having drills that you looking girls at girls are great and love their dads but just when they're arguing with their mother or with each other just get the hell out just just make make make as much distance much space between you in it as he can there's no way you can make it better you can't make it better you can just get hurt let's get hurt it's bad oh my god kind of thing it's like cops breaking up a domestic dispute you know they they both turn on the cop let's talk about are you tired of talking about back to the future is it like an anniversary is it the is it the 30th anniversary whoever is the two nice anniversary it's also the the like thing about back the futures there's a date for everything like every random Tuesday is like this is a day that doc went and got its cheese sandwiches and then this is a day that I need to a couple of her guests or whatever I mean and and and so so this is now 2015 which is where they went to in the futures as far as they went in the future so we should be out of dates now that's that's crazy now is the time now is the time and energy and look around they get they had something right they get the most impressive thing they got raised my receding hairline and they get the corners um but but it's crazy they're people that are so devoted to that to that movie and in that in a trilogy and it's nice it's kind of like when I was a kid and we watched Wizard of Oz I mean just kind of has that kind of resonance and and people are people are nuts they they know everything about the thing they asked me about it sure they say like the doc you know right this man I don't know I was just there at the time yeah but but the guys if I'm falling at the last minute to a come wha Iowa or whatever and they'll get to the airport and they'll be people there with with with Dorian's and guitars and and hoverboards and sports Almanac scent and and I'll sign them and I realize there's something on eBay so I'm standing there in the airport missing my flight right and checks to people yeah it's just the kind of guy you are I tell you what we'll be right back here with Michael J Fox April is awareness month Parkinson's disease awareness month of doing its what yeah and I'm not fully aware of it it's locked in with me but do you remember the diagnosis does how do you look back on that was that what had been a dark time cloudy times it really scary I mean I was at 29 years old and and so the last thing I expected here I mean I thought I'd hurt my shoulder cuz I did twitch in my pinky and I thought I'd hurt my shoulder doing some stunts or something and and the doctor said you have Parkinson's is easier he said the good news is you have about 10 10 years of work left and that was a 22 years old I'm still working 20 is it is it a difficult diagnosis or an easy diagnosis well it's I mean anything is easy I mean there's certainly there are things that on the face are much worse I mean much dire they're terminal and in in and really hopeless situations and and it wasn't that it was just it was just I just knew I didn't have to make adjustments and I didn't know what it was I had to just - right but but I mean to be kinda corny about it once once you accept it and you learned about it and you realize you're part of a community and then you realize you're in a position to do something and to make a difference in the help well then it's just it's just like quit your bitching again on with it yeah okay they turn it is it that event to me personally I mean other people have had their own experiences I'm not saying that the people sure are bitching I'm just saying I was I was whining and whinging and and and I needed to get myself and and and getting back to the diagnosis is it done with a neurological checkup is it done with the blood do they do as well or don't you say that they right now the standard test is the same as a drunk-driving test it's just you know you do this thing if you fail it right then then you diagnosed it but but it seems like and I liked it all I did was this and you're talking about yeah um but but what we're trying to do in our foundation is is return front biomarkers and in ways to identify the disease before before its its present its symptoms are present and we're trying to in connection with that we're trying to find genetic links to it and we know for example it astronaut a Jews have a have a higher likelihood of get having this gene Cutler to gene which we're working on doing research into that Lincoln and and encouraging that community to call Fox five travel finder and attitudes go online to Fox Trot winery get of all the trials but we're also we have a couple things in the pipeline immune uh I'm you know I can't remember the word but but um vaccine to to with anybody's that'll counteract it then you know instead of the disease so we get a lot of irons in the fire what I understand about your foundation you you have to fund give this money to drug companies so then they will do the heavy lifting they will then do the research and the trials and on and on have have there been trials where you thought oh this is closer than we've ever been and then some disappointment or does it not work that way well certainly there's disappointment all the time there's a science is hard and and I mean I'm uh I'm not a MD or PhD or MBA Emma GED with P PD and hi Tina Q but but but it's it's uh it's it's um just a lot higher than the fire in a lot of in a lot of stuff when I'm sure why are you guys raise that question here the the question of my story yeah the question was Oh many attempts like a pharmaceutical company will say we're getting pretty good results early on so and so and then it doesn't turn out what we'll do is we D risk for the largest companies we will say here's a compound that we're interested in we think could be a possible therapy we will fund you the first four million dollars to start the work and then what's happened a couple of times is that work is has those trials run so well that other companies have come in and attached huge amounts of money to that because they can throw more money at it by accident that we can on purpose but if we can get them interested in in and maintaining a focus on a compound and showing it it may be profit for them down the line is this is this a Parkinson's disease on a percentage basis the same around the world or is it located one continent to another continent now is about five million people around the world I don't think there's an area of the world isn't affected by it I think there's some pockets uh where it's a little higher but nothing nothing is nothing of significance yeah yeah well a great admiration for you well thank you thank you for you to know here near the original tough guy you can go to the Michael J Fox foundation website it's Michael J Fox dot org a great pleasure and honor I'm happy you

Channel: Andrew Lynch

Views: 1,258,236

Rating: 4.9150066 out of 5

Keywords: Michael J. Fox, David Letterman, Fox, Letterman, Late Show With David Letterman, late show, 2015, April 15, Parkinson's, Parkinson's Disease, Parkinson's Awareness Month, Back To The Future

Id: Vnlj-NyiP-Y

Length: 13min 54sec (834 seconds)

Published: Sat Jul 11 2015

Reddit Comments

[u/savemejebus0]

You just have to like MJF.