{"id":102379,"date":"2026-10-04T14:19:22","date_gmt":"2026-10-04T14:19:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/site.itshrt.com\/worldnews\/alan-alda-on-fighting-parkinsons-with-laughter\/"},"modified":"2026-10-04T14:19:22","modified_gmt":"2026-10-04T14:19:22","slug":"alan-alda-on-fighting-parkinsons-with-laughter","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/site.itshrt.com\/worldnews\/alan-alda-on-fighting-parkinsons-with-laughter\/","title":{"rendered":"Alan Alda on fighting Parkinson&#8217;s with laughter"},"content":{"rendered":"<p> <script async src=\"https:\/\/pagead2.googlesyndication.com\/pagead\/js\/adsbygoogle.js?client=ca-pub-6606220950177433\"\r\n     crossorigin=\"anonymous\"><\/script>\r\n<!-- ItShrt World News -->\r\n<ins class=\"adsbygoogle\"\r\n     style=\"display:block\"\r\n     data-ad-client=\"ca-pub-6606220950177433\"\r\n     data-ad-slot=\"1882483372\"\r\n     data-ad-format=\"auto\"\r\n     data-full-width-responsive=\"true\"><\/ins>\r\n<script>\r\n     (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});\r\n<\/script>\r\n<br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div id=\"\">\n<p>Is it even possible to choose a favorite Alan Alda character? How about Senator Arnold Vinick on &#8220;The West Wing&#8221;? Or lawyer Jack Burroughs in &#8220;The Four Seasons&#8221;? And, of course, &#8220;Hawkeye&#8221; Pierce, the sarcastic Korean War combat surgeon, on &#8220;M*A*S*H&#8221;? \u00a0<\/p>\n<p>For his work on &#8220;M*A*S*H,&#8221; which aired on CBS for 11 seasons beginning in 1972, Alda won five of his six Emmy Awards for acting, writing and directing.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;I have doctors coming up to me on the street all the time telling me that seeing me in the show made them want to become a doctor,&#8221; Alda said. &#8220;Not a single one said it made them want to become an actor!&#8221;<\/p>\n<div class=\"embed__float-wrap\">\n<figure class=\"embed embed--type-image is-image embed--float-none embed--size-medium\" data-ads=\"{\" extrawordcount=\"\">\n<p>      <span class=\"img embed__content \"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/assets1.cbsnewsstatic.com\/hub\/i\/r\/2026\/10\/03\/157bf137-eafe-4b65-92f7-b165ed1a8ade\/thumbnail\/620x349\/3782c76dcc915330da2569b5cb8cf949\/alan-alda-b-wide.jpg#\" alt=\"alan-alda-b-wide.jpg \" height=\"349\" width=\"620\" class=\" lazyload\" srcset=\"https:\/\/assets1.cbsnewsstatic.com\/hub\/i\/r\/2026\/10\/03\/157bf137-eafe-4b65-92f7-b165ed1a8ade\/thumbnail\/620x349\/3782c76dcc915330da2569b5cb8cf949\/alan-alda-b-wide.jpg 1x, https:\/\/assets3.cbsnewsstatic.com\/hub\/i\/r\/2026\/10\/03\/157bf137-eafe-4b65-92f7-b165ed1a8ade\/thumbnail\/1240x698\/89373f1c9e11835e2ee07599ad04fe1f\/alan-alda-b-wide.jpg 2x\" loading=\"lazy\"\/><\/span><figcaption class=\"embed__caption-container\">\n<p>                  <span class=\"embed__caption\">Actor, writer and director Alan Alda.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p>                  <span class=\"embed__credit\"><\/p>\n<p>                CBS News<\/p>\n<p>                          <\/span><br \/>\n              <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p>Long before playing Pierce, Alda \u2013 now 90 \u2013 was on the other side of the stethoscope. As a seven-year-old he had polio, before there was a vaccine. &#8220;My father had just gotten a huge part in a movie, playing George Gershwin,&#8221; he said. &#8220;And about a week after he started shooting, I got polio. And he and my mother had to administer the treatment, which was almost-scalding hot packs of wool on every limb. So, they were practically torturing their kid. I remember thinking it was hard on them.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>As a boy, Alda studied his father Robert Alda&#8217;s performances in vaudeville and burlesque, and also on Broadway, when Robert starred in the original cast of &#8220;Guys and Dolls.&#8221; &#8220;I stood in the wings and watched that every Saturday,&#8221; Alan said. <\/p>\n<p>But Lady Luck dealt the family a difficult hand. His mother, Joan, a former beauty pageant winner, was complicated. &#8220;My mother was mentally ill, had schizophrenia and was paranoid,&#8221; Alda said. &#8220;So sometimes the communication would be about the crack in the wall was where they had a camera taking pictures of us. I think that contributed a lot to tools I later had, trying to figure out what&#8217;s real and what&#8217;s not real. I had to pick one reality and try to stick with that. \u2026 It made me more observant. And I think it even helped \u2013 I&#8217;m just realizing this for the first time in this moment! \u2013 I think it made me a little more curious.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>He&#8217;s been especially curious about human connection, something he fostered on the set of &#8220;M*A*S*H.&#8221; &#8220;We didn&#8217;t go back to our dressing rooms between shots,&#8221; he said. &#8220;It was just, like, an hour or two hours where they light the new set, we stayed in our chairs in a circle and made fun of one another and laughed. And that connection that we had, we carried with us onto the set.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Which had a huge impact on viewers. More than 100 million people watched the series&#8217; final episode. &#8220;They think 106. But I think it was probably more. Not that I&#8217;m greedy!&#8221; he laughed. <\/p>\n<p>For years, Alda has been concerned that scientists and health care professionals often use technical language that&#8217;s hard for the general public to understand. With that in mind, in 2009, New York&#8217;s Stony Brook University founded the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.aldacenter.org\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Alan Alda Center for Communicating Science<\/a>. <span class=\"link\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.cbsnews.com\/news\/professor-alan-alda-teaches-scientists-how-to-speak\/\" target=\"_blank\" data-invalid-url-rewritten-http=\"\">Back in 2013<\/a><\/span>, our own Tracy Smith watched Alda use methods from his own acting experience, including improvisation.<\/p>\n<p>He said, &#8220;Improvisation really puts you in touch with the other person, and that&#8217;s when I realized the value of connection.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Connecting is one of Alan Alda&#8217;s superpowers. Since 2018, on his podcast <a href=\"https:\/\/clear-vivid-with-alan-alda.simplecast.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">&#8220;Clear+Vivid,&#8221;<\/a> he&#8217;s been interviewing guests like Paul McCartney, Michael J. Fox, Noah Wyle, and recently, Joy Behar.<\/p>\n<div class=\"embed__float-wrap\">\n<figure class=\"embed embed--type-image is-image embed--float-none embed--size-medium\" data-ads=\"{\" extrawordcount=\"\">\n<p>      <span class=\"img embed__content \"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/assets2.cbsnewsstatic.com\/hub\/i\/r\/2026\/10\/03\/b6a3a5b8-1b3e-4740-a815-ffa645cffbfb\/thumbnail\/620x349\/03ff3475817620639d08895163f761fe\/alan-alda-records-podcast.jpg#\" alt=\"alan-alda-records-podcast.jpg \" height=\"349\" width=\"620\" class=\" lazyload\" srcset=\"https:\/\/assets2.cbsnewsstatic.com\/hub\/i\/r\/2026\/10\/03\/b6a3a5b8-1b3e-4740-a815-ffa645cffbfb\/thumbnail\/620x349\/03ff3475817620639d08895163f761fe\/alan-alda-records-podcast.jpg 1x, https:\/\/assets1.cbsnewsstatic.com\/hub\/i\/r\/2026\/10\/03\/b6a3a5b8-1b3e-4740-a815-ffa645cffbfb\/thumbnail\/1240x698\/b8ed697cae7e1757d8de2092a1cd6c89\/alan-alda-records-podcast.jpg 2x\" loading=\"lazy\"\/><\/span><figcaption class=\"embed__caption-container\">\n<p>                  <span class=\"embed__caption\">Alan Alda interviews comedian Joy Behar for his podcast, &#8220;Clear+Vivid.&#8221;<\/span><\/p>\n<p>                  <span class=\"embed__credit\"><\/p>\n<p>                CBS News<\/p>\n<p>                          <\/span><br \/>\n              <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p>To Alda, connecting with people means being clear and honest, which is why he will openly discuss his Parkinson&#8217;s disease. &#8220;I had a symptom, which at the time was not that well-known: Acting out your dreams,&#8221; he said. &#8220;I had a dream that somebody was attacking me. And I picked up a sack of potatoes and threw it at &#8217;em. What I was really doing was throwing a pillow at Arlene, my wife.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>At the time he had no other symptoms: &#8220;I had no twitch, no tremor, no problems with my voice.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>He was 79. A few years later, Alda decided to reveal the diagnosis. &#8220;I really think reality is my friend,&#8221; he said. &#8220;I don&#8217;t want to wish it away. I can&#8217;t wish it away. I can&#8217;t hope for a better future. I gotta accept what is.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>There&#8217;s currently no cure for the neurological disorder, but there are medications and other treatments. &#8220;I don&#8217;t let Parkinson&#8217;s define me,&#8221; he said. &#8220;It&#8217;s not who I am. It&#8217;s just a hobby.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Which brings us to what Alda considers the importance of a sense of humor: &#8220;Very important, because the best way to deal with anything that&#8217;s a little bit of a problem is to find out what&#8217;s funny about it and laugh at it.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>But what is funny about Parkinson&#8217;s? &#8220;I&#8217;ll be at the computer keyboard writing an email, and Dr. Parkinson is moving my hand all over the screen. I have the mouse, and he&#8217;s eliminating things and he&#8217;s deleting things that I need,&#8221; Alda laughed. &#8220;Once in a while I get frustrated. But I find what makes me laugh about it, and then I go tell Arlene. Laughing first brought us together. We were invited to dinner at a friend&#8217;s house. And Arlene was sitting at one end of the table, and I was sitting at the other end. And I noticed that she was laughing at my jokes. So already I was smitten. In March, we&#8217;ll be married 70 years.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>They have three daughters and eight grandchildren.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Alan Alda says he feels really good, even if Arlene has to help button his shirt in the morning, which he admitted he hated. &#8220;Of course, I feel that from time to time,&#8221; Alda said. &#8220;I do hate it, but the only thing that&#8217;s helpful is: what haven&#8217;t I tried? And pretty soon, you get the feeling, &#8216;If I keep looking for new ways to try this, I&#8217;ll get a solution.&#8217; It&#8217;s a puzzle. Will I be able eventually to put my socks on? The last time I put my socks on was a tremendous moment to celebrate!&#8221;<\/p>\n<p><strong>WEB EXCLUSIVE: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cbsnews.com\/video\/extended-interview-alan-alda\/\" target=\"_blank\" data-invalid-url-rewritten-http=\"\">Watch an extended interview with Alan Alda (Video)<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<figure class=\"embed embed--type-video embed--type-content_video is-video embed--float-left embed--size-medium\"><figcaption class=\"embed__caption-container\">\n                              <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cbsnews.com\/video\/extended-interview-alan-alda\/\" class=\"embed__headline-link\" data-invalid-url-rewritten-http=\"\"><\/p>\n<p>          <span class=\"embed__icon\"><br \/>\n            <svg viewbox=\"0 0 32 32\" aria-hidden=\"true\">\n              <use xlink:href=\"#icon-video\"\/>\n            <\/svg><br \/>\n          <\/span><\/p>\n<p>          <span class=\"embed__headline\">Extended interview: Alan Alda<\/span><\/p>\n<p>          <span class=\"embed__video-duration\">14:50<\/span><\/p>\n<p>                      <\/a><\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p><em>Story produced by Jay Kernis. Editor: Carol Ross.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n<hr\/>\n<p><strong>For more info:<\/strong><\/p>\n<section class=\"content__body--footer\">\n<\/section>\n<p>  <!-- data-recirc-source=\"chartbeat\" --><\/p>\n<aside class=\"component list recirculation component--type-recirculation  component--type-recirculation-collection\">\n<\/aside>\n<section class=\"content__body--footer\">\n      <!-- tags --><\/p>\n<section class=\"content__tags\">\n<p class=\"content__tags__label\">In:<\/p>\n<\/section>\n<\/section><\/div>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/pagead2.googlesyndication.com\/pagead\/js\/adsbygoogle.js?client=ca-pub-6606220950177433\"\r\n     crossorigin=\"anonymous\"><\/script>\r\n<!-- ItShrt World News -->\r\n<ins class=\"adsbygoogle\"\r\n     style=\"display:block\"\r\n     data-ad-client=\"ca-pub-6606220950177433\"\r\n     data-ad-slot=\"1882483372\"\r\n     data-ad-format=\"auto\"\r\n     data-full-width-responsive=\"true\"><\/ins>\r\n<script>\r\n     (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});\r\n<\/script>\r\n<br \/>\n<br \/><a href=\"https:\/\/www.cbsnews.com\/news\/alan-alda-on-fighting-parkinsons-with-laughter\/\">Source link <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Is it even possible to choose a favorite Alan Alda character? How about Senator Arnold Vinick on &#8220;The West Wing&#8221;?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":102380,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[32],"tags":[9056],"class_list":["post-102379","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-top-stories","tag-parkinson039s-disease"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v24.2 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Alan Alda on fighting Parkinson&#039;s with laughter - World News<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Alan Alda, now 90, best-known for his role as &amp;quot;Hawkeye&amp;quot; Pierce on the classic TV series &amp;quot;M*A*S*H,&amp;quot; talks about living with Parkinson&amp;#039;s disease, which he refuses to let define him.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, 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