Michael J. Fox has been promoted to the highest Canadian civilian honor for his Hollywood success and Parkinson’s advocacy, it was announced Friday.
Canadian-born Fox in 2011 first received the Order of Canada for his acting and raising money and awareness for Parkinson’s disease. His promotion to the Companion of the Order of Canada was given as Fox “is in a remarkable chapter of his life, blending selective acting with powerful global advocacy and unflinching honesty about Parkinson’s. Through his foundation, he drives transformative research and hope,” Mary Simon, Canada’s governor general, said in a statement.
Emmy Award winner Fox grew up in Burnaby, Canada, before cementing his Hollywood career with star turns inFamily Tiesand theBack to the Futuremovie franchise. He does occasional acting gigs from his home in New York City while continuing to raise money and awareness through his The Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson’s Research.
Also Friday, longtime kids TV producer Roger Damon Price was named as a Member of the Order of Canada. Damon Price is considered the father of Nickelodeon’s iconic green slime TV gag, and co-founded YTV, Canada’s cable kids TV network.
A castmember getting slimed first happened onYou Can’t Do That on Television,a Canadian kids sketch comedy series Damon Price created and wrote for five seasons from 1979. The green goop eventually became a Nickelodeon signature when the Canadian series landed on the American kids channel in 1982 and helped define the U.S. cable TV brand.
New talent discovered on You Can’t Do That on Television included writer Bill Prady, an eventual co-creator of The Big Bang Theory, and a young Alanis Morissette, who appeared in five episodes. Niv Fichman, a Canadian film producer of titles like The Red Violin and Blackberry, also made it onto the latest Order of Canada list as an Officer.
The kids’ sketch comedy show You Can’t Do That on Television slimed anyone who said, “I don’t know.”
Courtesy of Nickelodeon