Photo by Ilya S. Savenok/Getty Images(NEW YORK) — Legendary stage and screen actor Alan Alda announced Tuesday that he has Parkinson’s disease.
Alda — the Emmy award-winning performer who starred as the long-running series M.A.S.H. as beloved combat doctor Hawkeye Pierce — said in an interview on CBS This Morning that he was diagnosed with Parkinson’s in 2015.
“I was diagnosed three-and-a-half years ago and I’ve had a full life since then,” the 82-year-old Alda said. “I’ve acted, I’ve given talks, I help at the Alda Center for Communicating Science at Stony Brook [University], I’ve started this new podcast.”
Alda, who has appeared in movies including Woody Allen’s Crimes and Misdemeanors and Steven Spielberg’s Bridge of Spies, added that he’s had hardly any symptoms other than noticing “my thumb twitch.”
“I thought it’s probably only a matter of time before somebody does a story about this from a sad … point of view, which is not where I am.”
The actor confirmed the condition — and his positive outlook — to his Twitter followers, along with a video of him juggling. “If you get a diagnosis, keep moving!” he posted.
“I take boxing lessons 3 days a week, play singles tennis twice a week, and take a mild pill – all Dr. recommended. I even juggle a little. And I’m not entering dementia. I’m no more demented than I was before. Maybe I should rephrase that. Really, I’m good,” he joked.
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