Star Reaches Acceptance on Retiring From Acting

Michael J. Fox will focus on writing instead of memorizing scripts
By Bob Cronin,  Newser Staff
Posted Nov 19, 2020 5:10 PM CST
Star Reaches Acceptance on Retiring From Acting
Michael J. Fox attends a Michael J. Fox Foundation benefit in November 2019.   (Photo by Greg Allen/Invision/AP)

"My short-term memory is shot," Michael J. Fox said in announcing that he is stepping away from acting. "My time of putting in a twelve-hour workday, and memorizing seven pages of dialogue, is best behind me," the 59-year-old writes in his new book, No Time Like the Future. Fox was diagnosed with Parkinson's disease in 1991. He had to learn to walk again in 2018 after surgery for a noncancerous tumor on his spine, People reports. Fox plans to continue writing, and he explained his thought process, saying it involved more than the state of his health. "I’m down to this. My guitar playing is no good. My sketching is no good anymore, my dancing never was good, and acting is getting tougher to do. So it's down to writing," he said. "Luckily, I really enjoy it."

Fox cautioned that he could change his mind about acting. But for now, he said, "in fairness to myself and to producers, directors, editors, and poor beleaguered script supervisors, not to mention actors who enjoy a little pace, I enter a second retirement." The Golden Globe-winning actor reached stardom on the TV series Family Ties, then made the successful Back to the Future and Teen Wolf films, per CNN. He discussed accepting such a major change in his life. "It doesn't mean you have to accept it as a punishment or a penance, but just put it in its proper place," Fox said. "Then see how much the rest of your life you have to thrive in, and then you can move on." (More Michael J. Fox stories.)

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