‘M*A*S*H’ Star, 90, Reveals Strange Habit Tied to Diagnosis
He didn’t experience any of the “usual” symptoms of the disease.
CBS Photo Archive/Getty Images
Alan Alda, 90, is opening up about an unusual symptom of Parkinson’s disease that he experienced before his diagnosis.
The Emmy-winning M*A*S*H actor told CBS Mornings on Oct. 4 that he was acting out his vivid dreams while asleep.
"M*A*S*H" cast members Jamie Farr, Loretta Swit, David Ogden Stiers, Harry Morgan, Mike Farrell, Alan Alda, and William Christopher in 1978.
Getty Images
“I had a dream that somebody was attacking me, and I picked up a sack of potatoes and threw it at him,” Alan said. “What I was really doing was throwing a pillow at Arlene, my wife.”
Alan and Arlene Alda, 93, have been married for nearly 70 years and share three daughters and eight grandchildren.
Alan Alda and his wife, Arlene Alda, attend the 46th Annual Primetime Emmy Awards on September 11, 1994, at the Pasadena Civic Auditorium in California.
Ron Galella, Ltd./Ron Galella Collection via Getty
But the actor’s pillow-throwing wasn’t something to just laugh off. He later learned that he was experiencing REM Sleep Behavior Disorder, which affects about one percent of people in the U.S.
The disorder happens when normal muscle paralysis fails during the REM (rapid eye movement) phase of sleep, causing people to respond to their dreams with sounds and movements.
Actor Alan Alda arrives in New York for the International Emmy Awards on November 19, 2012.
Carlo Allegri/Carlo Allegri/REUTERS
While it’s not always a symptom of Parkinson’s, Alan said it was the only symptom he experienced before his diagnosis in 2015.
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“I had no twitch, no tremor, no problems with my voice,” he said.
"M*A*S*H" cast members Wayne Rogers, Mike Farrell, Alan Alda, Loretta Swit, and William Christoper reunited in 2009 at the TV Land Awards.
Jeff Kravitz/Getty Images
Parkinson’s disease is a neurological disorder with motor and non-motor symptoms that worsen over time.
The actor, who starred alongside Leonardo DiCaprio in The Aviator, kept his diagnosis private for three years before opening up about it publicly during a July 2018 episode of CBS This Morning.
Co-stars Leonardo DiCaprio and Alan Alda during the Miramax screening and Q&A of "The Aviator" for SAG at Loews Ewalk 42nd Street Theater in New York, New York.
Sylvain Gaboury/Sylvain Gaboury/FilmMagic
“It’s common for us all to go to the worst thought, but what’s interesting is this is a disease that is different for almost everybody who has it,” Alan said on the show. “Each day is different from the next, but the main thing is there’s stuff you can do. It’s like a puzzle to be solved.”
The West Wing actor, who overcame polio at a young age, said that rather than letting the disease define him, he’s using humor to manage it.
Alan Alda as Senator Arnold Vinick, Jimmy Smits as Congressman Matthew Santos, Martin Sheen as President Josiah "Jed" Bartlet on "The West Wing."
Mitch Haddad/NBCUniversal via Getty Images
“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,” Alan said.
He added, “Once in a while I get frustrated, but I find what makes me laugh about it, and then I go tell Arlene.”
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