Born on this day in Edmonton, Alberta, popular actor Michael J. Fox (1961-) has been fighting Parkinson's disease (PD) since 1981. "I keep making that point that I'm highly-functional," he said. "It's all good."

Pope John Paul II, Billy Graham, Muhammad Ali, Johnny Cash, and Janet Reno also have this deadly brain affliction. For Fox to have it so young is rare.

PD was first diagnosed in 1817 by English physician James Parkinson and is a degenerative nervous-system disease which leads to a shortage of the chemical dopamine. Dopamine controls movement. Primary symptoms include muscular tremors, limited movement (Bradykinesia), and lack of balance and coordination.

"It takes 10 times more energy for me to walk across the room than it does for you," he explained with his trademark self-deprecating wit to Newsweek in 2000.

His advocacy and honesty have made a difference, "almost like a moon shot," he described. In the Fall of 1999, he testified in the Senate for $75 million more in research money. The Parkinson's Action Network has been renamed the Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson's Research.

Fox will continue to fight and give hope to others. "It's not for effect and it's not as a circus performer. It's for one million others with Parkinson's disease."

"The ten years since my diagnosis have been the best ten years of my life, and I consider myself a lucky man," he said.

Work to build something that will outlast you.