Michael J. Fox has been honored with a Lifetime Achievement Award as a renowned actor - and his family was there to support him for this significant occasion.
The 61-year-old actor has been a household name since he burst onto the scene in the '80s in Back To The Future as Marty McFly.
In 1991, Fox was diagnosed with Parkinson's disease but he chose to keep working and kept his diagnosis private for the next seven years.
According to the National Institutes of Health, the disease is: "A brain disorder that causes unintended or uncontrollable movements, such as shaking, stiffness, and difficulty with balance and coordination."
Fox has been honored at the Lifetime Achievement Awards on Tuesday (June 6) at the Spring Moving Image Awards in New York City.
When taking to the stage he was joined by his wife Tracy Pollan, 62, and twin daughters Aquinnah Kathleen Fox and Schuyler Frances Fox, both 28, who have supported him throughout his battle with Parkinson's.
Legendary movie director Martin Scorsese referred to Fox as a "powerhouse" when talking about him at the event, and was very complimentary of his work, per Variety.
"He was made for movies, he has a great genius comedy," Scorsese said. "What I want to point out though, for me, was extraordinarily impressive was the dramatic films and the intensity of his work in Light of Day, Bright Lights and Big City."
The Wolf of Wall Street director also acknowledged Fox's battle with Parkinson's, and how he has continued to work in the face of adversity.
"If you look at Michael's filmography, pay attention to the amount of work he's done since his Parkinson's diagnosis," Scorsese said. "Along the way, Michael not only started his foundation - which has raised so much money for research and raised just as much awareness - but also became a guiding light for so many others with Parkinson's."
The director thanked Fox for his support when it came to his wife's diagnosis with the disease, adding that it meant the world to him and his family.
Since disclosing his condition, Fox has worked tirelessly to campaign for increased research on the disease as he set up The Michael J. Fox Foundation.
The actor has recently starred in Still: A Michael J. Fox Movie, where he documents his life and his battles with the disease, during a recent screening at the South by Southwest (SXSW) Film Festival, he further opened up about living with Parkinson's.
As cited by PEOPLE, when asked about how he "mobilized" people to care about Parkinson's disease, Fox replied: "I didn't have a choice."
The 61-year-old continued: "This is it. I have to give everything I have, and it's not lip service. I show up and do the best I can. Pity is a benign form of abuse. I can feel sorry for myself, but I don't have time for that. There is stuff to be learned from this, so let's do that and move on."
It's evident that Fox is well deserving of this lifetime achievement award both for his on-screen work, and his off-screen advocacy for important causes!
