Alan Alda is talking openly about life with Parkinson's disease, and his message is simple: keep laughing.
In a profile on CBS News Sunday Morning that aired October 4, the 90-year-old MASH* star told chief medical correspondent Dr. Jon LaPook that he won't let the condition take over his identity. "I don't let Parkinson's define me," he said.
How old is Alan Alda? He is 90.
How is he coping? Mostly with humor. Alda said the best way to handle a problem is to find the funny side of it. He joked that the disease scrambles things on his computer screen. He also admitted that getting help from his wife, Arlene, with small morning tasks like buttoning his shirt isn't something he enjoys.
He recalled that one early warning sign was acting out vivid dreams in his sleep.
Alda first shared his diagnosis publicly in 2018, saying he had known for about three and a half years and had stayed busy since. He has kept up his podcast, Clear+Vivid, and his support for the Alda Center for Communicating Science at Stony Brook University.
Alda is best known as Hawkeye Pierce on MASH* and won six Emmy Awards, five of them for work on the show.
Parkinson's affects each person differently. Alda's comments reflect his own experience.
