NAB To Honour Michael J. Fox

A five-time Emmy and Golden Globe winner is to be honoured at the 2010 NAB Show. Michael J. Fox, actor, author and devoted advocate for increased funding for Parkinson's disease research, will receive the NAB distinguished service award during next year's show. (Photo: Mark Seliger)
The NAB Show, the world's largest electronic media show covers filmed entertainment and the development, management and delivery of content across all mediums.
Each year the Distinguished Service award recognises members of the broadcast community who have made significant and lasting contributions to the broadcasting industry.
Previous award recipients include Mary Tyler Moore, President Ronald Reagan, Edward R. Murrow, Bob Hope, Walter Cronkite, Oprah Winfrey and Charles Osgood. 


Fox will be honoured for the impact his career has had on the television industry, as well as his commitment to raising awareness for Parkinson's disease through The Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson's Research.
The award will be presented during the all industry opening keynote address on the 12th April, 2010 in Las Vegas.


NAB President Gordon Smith commented: "Michael J. Fox is a true role model in every sense of the word, using his fame and influence as a successful actor to help fund nearly $160 million dollars in Parkinson's research.
"We are proud to honor him for his tremendous contributions to both the entertainment and medical research communities."
An international film and television star, Fox's role as the conservative child Alex P. Keaton on the hit NBC show Family Ties made him one of the country's most prominent young actors of the 1980s.
The show, which ran from 1982-1989, was a critical and commercial success, earning Fox three Emmys and a Golden Globe award.
He went on to act in a variety of comedic and dramatic movie roles, including the highly successful Back to the Future trilogy, The Hard Way, Doc Hollywood, The Secret of My Success and Mars Attacks, to name a few.
Fox returned to television again in 1996 as New York's deputy mayor on the ABC show Spin City.
He earned numerous awards for his character portrayal of Michael Flaherty, including three Golden Globes, an Emmy, a People's Choice award and two Screen Actors Guild (SAG) awards. Since his departure from the show in 2000, he has appeared in guest spots on several television programmes, most recently FX's Rescue Me, for which he received a fifth Emmy award in 2009.
Also a renowned author, Fox's Always Looking Up: The Adventures of an Incurable Optimist, and his 2002 memoir, Lucky Man, were both New York Times bestsellers.
Fox is currently working on a third book, titled A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Future: Life Lessons from a High School Dropout, to be published in the spring of 2010.
He established The Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson's Research in 2000 to raise research funding and awareness for Parkinson's disease.
For more information visit at www.nabshow.com
(BMcN/BMCC)