Actor and Parkinson’s activist Michael J. Fox receives honorary Oscar

The Oscar Academy recognized the 61-year-old’s campaign to fund Parkinson’s research at a gala in Los Angeles on Saturday night. Fox described the award as a “completely unexpected honor”.

Fox is best known for his role as time-traveling high school student Marty McFly in the Back to the Future films. He first became known to a wider audience in the 1980s through the American sitcom ‘Family Ties’.

In 1991, at the age of 29, Fox was diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease, a degenerative nerve disease that causes symptoms such as uncontrollable tremors and cognitive problems. In 1998 Fox made his illness public. He established a Parkinson’s Foundation and raised more than $1 billion for research.

Fox retired from acting two years ago. In recent months he has struggled with various injuries after falls.

Singer-songwriter Diane Warren, who is behind songs like Aerosmith’s “I Don’t Want To Miss A Thing,” was honored on Saturday with an honorary Oscar for her life’s work. She has been nominated for an Oscar 13 times but has never won one. “I’ve waited 34 years to say this: I want to thank the Academy,” Warren said at the awards ceremony.

Australian director Peter Weir and French director Euzhan Palcy each received an honorary Oscar.

Since 2009, honorary Oscars have not been awarded at the Oscars, but at a separate gala. Previous honorary Oscar winners for humanitarian merit include Angelina Jolie, Oprah Winfrey and Elizabeth Taylor.