M*A*S*H’s Alan Alda, now 90, says his first sign of Parkinson’s came in his sleep
At 90, M*A*S*H star Alan Alda speaks frankly about Parkinson’s — from little-known early signs he first clocked years earlier to how he’s learned to live with it.
Here’s something you don't see every day on the morning news circuit: Alan Alda, the man who made Hawkeye Pierce a household name on "M*A*S*H", has turned 90 and he’s just given a rare, properly frank interview about living with Parkinson’s disease. This isn’t the usual actor platitude parade, either—Alda actually gets into the meat of how he spotted the thing in the first place, how he’s handled it, and how it’s changed his outlook. So if you think you know all there is to know about Parkinson’s (it’s more than a tremor, folks), Alda’s had a thing or two to say.
Alan Alda was 79 when he first noticed signs of Parkinson’s.
Symptoms, and the strange beginning
Alda’s story isn’t the one you probably expect from textbook medical dramas. No shaky hands, no struggling speech, nothing dramatic—just an odd incident at home. He described a moment years back, long before any concrete diagnosis, that really set things moving. Alda had what he now knows is a classic early sign, but one nobody talks about: acting out dreams.
This is how he tells it: He had a dream in which someone was after him, so he chucked a sack of potatoes at his imaginary foe. In real life, what happened was him slinging a pillow at his wife Arlene while both were asleep. No fidgeting, no slurred speech then—just one very confused spouse and a clue tucked away for later. It’s the sort of odd detail that, once you know, seems obvious in hindsight, but at the time? Easy to miss if you're not looking.
Diagnosis and facing the facts
After the dream incident, it wasn’t some immediate, dramatic unraveling—Alda reached his diagnosis at 79 and, once the news landed, decided straight off not to keep it quiet. Instead, he’s been properly transparent about life after the diagnosis, talking openly to outlets like CBS News.
Here's how Alda put it on CBS News: "I really think reality is my friend. 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."
When it comes to what it’s like living with Parkinson’s at 90, Alda’s approach has been, unsurprisingly, about as upbeat and pragmatic as you get. He’s not letting the disease take centre stage; if anything, he’s described Parkinson’s as more of an "annoying side hobby" than some all-consuming label. That might sound glib, but he actually digs in a bit: for Alda, the trick is to find what’s funny about an otherwise tough situation and have a laugh where you can—classic Hawkeye stuff, really.
He first went public with his Parkinson’s diagnosis back in 2018, and since then hasn’t exactly slowed down his public appearances either. And before you ask: no, there’s nothing close to a definitive cure for Parkinson’s yet. What there is, though, is a raft of treatments—both medical and lifestyle—that make things manageable, even if there’s the odd pillow-flying mishap in the story somewhere.