Michael J. Fox to receive Bob Hope award at 2026 Emmys
The Television Academy will honor Michael J. Fox for his Parkinson’s research advocacy during the Primetime Emmy Awards on Sept. 14.
By Georgia Hale · Staff Writer
3 min read
Michael J. Fox will receive the Bob Hope Humanitarian Award at this year’s Emmys, the Television Academy said Wednesday, adding another major honor to a year that already brought the actor his 19th Emmy nomination.
The Academy said Fox, a five-time Emmy winner, will be recognized during the 78th Primetime Emmy Awards on Sept. 14. The ceremony will air on NBC and Peacock from the Peacock Theater in Los Angeles, with Mariska Hargitay set to host.
Fox is nominated this year for his guest performance on Apple TV’s Shrinking, marking his first Emmy nomination in a decade, according to Deadline. The new honor focuses on his work away from the screen, especially his decades of advocacy and fundraising for Parkinson’s disease research.
Why is Michael J. Fox getting the Bob Hope award?
The Bob Hope Humanitarian Award is presented to a television industry figure whose charitable work has reflected well on the business and made a lasting social impact, according to the Television Academy.
Fox disclosed in 1998 that he had been diagnosed with young-onset Parkinson’s disease. Two years later, he launched the Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson’s Research, which the Academy described as the world’s largest nonprofit funder of Parkinson’s research.
The foundation has supported more than $3 billion in research, according to the Television Academy. Academy chair Cris Abrego said Fox’s work has advanced Parkinson’s research, raised public awareness and helped build global support for the search for a cure.
“Michael J. Fox is one of television’s most beloved and enduring performers whose work has left an indelible mark on generations of audiences,” Abrego said in the Academy’s announcement. He added that Fox “continues to exemplify compassion, courage and service.”
A TV favorite with a long awards trail
Fox became a television staple with his breakout role on the 1980s sitcom Family Ties, which earned him three consecutive Emmys. His career later stretched across film and television, including the Back to the Future trilogy, Teen Wolf, The Secret of My Success, Casualties of War, The American President, Doc Hollywood and the series Spin City.
The Bob Hope honor places Fox alongside past recipients including Oprah Winfrey, Danny Thomas, George Clooney, Sean Penn, and Ted Danson and Mary Steenburgen, who received the award last year.
Fox has also been recognized outside television. He received the Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award, an honorary Oscar, in 2022, and the Presidential Medal of Freedom last year.
He has written five books, with the most recent, Future Boy: Back to the Future and My Journey Through the Space-Time Continuum, published last October.
The Television Academy said the full list of 2026 Emmy nominees is available on its website.
This story draws on original reporting from Deadline.