Alan Alda is sharing a health update on how he manages his Parkinson’s disease, which he was first diagnosed with in 2015
Alda says he’s always finding “a new way to do something” because of challenges from the disease
Alda also reveals how his wife of 68 years, Arlene, has been there every step of his health journey
At 89, Alan Alda is as quick-witted as ever. Just ask him how he’s doing.
“Making progress,” he tells PEOPLE with a sly smile over a recent Zoom call. He pauses before adding, “I didn’t say in which direction.”
Since being diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease in 2015, the beloved M*A*S*H star and father of three — who also has face blindness, or prosopagnosia, which makes it difficult for him to recognize people — says life has been a never-ending series of puzzles.
“Almost every day I’m finding a new way to do something,” he says. “It’s a little like a game. I’ve found whatever the little problem is, if I keep at it, I can eventually solve it, and then I feel like a million bucks. It’s a way to have a good time under poor circumstances.”
Through the years, Alda says managing his Parkinson’s has “gone from a part-time job to almost a full-time job keeping track of all these little solutions. But it keeps me always looking for the funny side.”
Netflix
Alan Alda in ‘The Four Seasons’
If managing his Parkinson’s is a full-time job, then acting could be considered Alda’s side gig — and it’s certainly keeping him busy. Alda recently made a scene-stealing cameo on Tina Fey’s Netflix series adaptation of his 1981 film The Four Seasons, which follows three pairs of couples as their relationships and friendships evolve over the course of a year. Fey’s series has already been renewed for a second season.
“I’m so happy for Tina,” says Alda. “The movie meant a lot to me, and people are reacting to her work very much as they did to mine.”
In the original film Alda plays controlling lawyer Jack Burroughs. On Fey’s series Will Forte plays a reimagined version of Alda’s role, while Alda appears as one of the character’s fathers.
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Tina Fey and Alan Alda attend a special screening of the 1981 original ‘The Four Seasons’ film at Paris Theater on April 27, 2025 in New York City
During a scene with Fey and Colman Domingo, Alda’s character offers them some hilarious marriage advice: “Every once in a while … [my wife would] say, ‘Congratulations! Take off your pants, it’s a sex day.’ You might think of trying that with your spouse.”
Like his character, Alda regularly calls upon advice from his own wife of 68 years, Arlene.
“She always says, ‘The secret to marriage is a short memory,’” he says. “We both try to practice being there when we’re there: listening, answering, taking an interest. You can get used to somebody no matter who it is. I’ve always thought if the Pope and Mother Teresa were a couple, after a few years, they’d have to work it out.”
Alda famously met Arlene, 92, during their college days in New York City in 1956, at a mutual friend’s party. They were the only two guests who didn’t hesitant to eat the rum cake after it fell on the floor.
“[I knew she was the one] when we ate the cake off the floor,” Alda says. “There’s something about flirting over food, and that she laughed at my jokes meant a lot. We still laugh at each other’s jokes a lot, and she’s getting funnier every day.”
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Alan Alda and his wife Arlene in 2016
Through his journey with Parkinson’s, which has caused body tremors visible in his Four Seasons cameo, Alda says Arlene has been present every step of the way.
“I don’t have dexterity with my fingers the way I used to, so sometimes she has to tear a package open for me,” he says. “She’s so good-natured about it. I’m always saying, ‘Thank you.’”
It’s that sense of gratitude that has continued to carry him through every era of his life. No matter what he accomplishes, he says: “I don’t get proud. I get glad that I can do something. Proud seems like a waste of time.”
The Four Seasons is streaming now on Netflix.
Read the original article on People
