The new Alan Alda Parkinson’s interview aired on CBS Sunday Morning on October 4, 2026. It has fans talking across the country. The beloved M*A*S*H star, now 90, sat down with CBS News chief medical correspondent Dr. Jon LaPook. The conversation was deeply personal, and it focused on living with Parkinson’s disease. Eleven years after his preliminary diagnosis, Alda says he has learned to accept the condition. He also refuses to let it define him.
“I really think reality is my friend,” Alda told LaPook. “I don’t want to wish it away. I can’t wish it away. I can’t hope for a better future. I gotta accept what is.”
Alan Alda Parkinson’s Interview: “I Gotta Accept What Is”
Alda first went public with his Parkinson’s diagnosis in 2018. At the time, he revealed that he had received the diagnosis three and a half years earlier. His first symptom was unusual and, back then, little known. He began acting out his dreams in his sleep, a condition doctors call REM sleep behavior disorder.
“I had no twitch, no tremor, no problems with my voice,” Alda recalled. “I had a symptom, which at the time was not that well-known: acting out your dreams.” He then described the startling moment that sent him to a doctor. In a dream, he believed someone was attacking him, so he picked up a sack of potatoes and threw it. In reality, he was throwing a pillow at his wife, Arlene.
That moment led to tests and, eventually, the diagnosis. However, Alda decided early on that the disease would not run his life. “I don’t let Parkinson’s define me,” he said in the interview. “It’s not who I am. It’s just a hobby.”
Living With Parkinson’s: How Humor Became His Medicine
One of the most moving parts of the conversation was Alda’s take on coping. He credits humor for helping him face the daily challenges of the progressive neurological condition, which can cause tremors, stiffness, and problems with movement and balance.
“The best way to deal with anything that’s a little bit of a problem is to find out what’s funny about it and laugh at it,” he said with a grin. For example, he described struggling with his computer mouse as his hand shakes. “I’ll be at the computer keyboard writing an email, and Dr. Parkinson is moving my hand all over the screen. I have the mouse, and he’s eliminating things, and he’s deleting things that I need.”
Meanwhile, his approach is simple. “I find what makes me laugh about it, and then I go tell Arlene,” he said. Laughter, in fact, brought the couple together in the first place. Alda recalled noticing Arlene laughing at his jokes across a dinner table decades ago, and he was smitten on the spot. The pair married in 1957, and next March they will celebrate 70 years together. They share three daughters and eight grandchildren.
From Hawkeye Pierce to Science Communicator: Alda’s Remarkable Journey
Most viewers know Alda as Captain “Hawkeye” Pierce on M*A*S*H, the classic CBS series that ran from 1972 to 1983. The role made him one of television’s most beloved stars and earned him multiple Emmy Awards. Since then, he has built a wide-ranging career across film, television, and theater, including memorable turns in The West Wing and Marriage Story.
Beyond acting, Alda has spent decades helping scientists and health care professionals communicate more clearly. He also hosts the podcast Clear+Vivid, where he explores the art of human connection, a theme that ran through his CBS Sunday Morning conversation as well.
The interview also touched on his challenging childhood. Alda spoke about dealing with polio as a boy and growing up with a mother who had schizophrenia. Those early hardships, he suggested, shaped the resilience he draws on today.
Why the Alan Alda Parkinson’s Interview Matters
The segment struck a chord far beyond entertainment news. Searches for the actor surged on Google Trends, with “Alan Alda” climbing past 20,000 searches and rising 500 percent in the United States. Many viewers said his honesty gave them comfort, especially those facing the disease themselves or caring for someone who is.
Parkinson’s disease currently has no cure, but medications and other treatments can help manage symptoms. By speaking openly, and with humor, Alda keeps doing what he has done for decades: making a difficult subject easier to understand and less lonely to face.
You can watch the full conversation in the CBS Sunday Morning interview on YouTube or catch the extended interview on CBS. In addition, the official CBS News Sunday Morning page has more stories from the show.
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