There was no attempt to hide it. No dramatic entrance. Just honesty.
Kathleen Turner, 71, attended the annual Citymeals on Wheels luncheon at New York’s iconic The Plaza Hotel, arriving in a wheelchair — and speaking openly about why.
The actress, best known for her role in Romancing the Stone, revealed that she now relies on a wheelchair due to the long-term effects of rheumatoid arthritis, a chronic autoimmune disease she has been battling for more than three decades.
“Today I’m in a wheelchair because my 35 years of rheumatoid arthritis are catching up with me. But I’m here,” she said during the event.
Citymeals on Wheels, an organization dedicated to providing meals to elderly and homebound individuals, holds a special place in Turner’s life. She has served as a board member for over 30 years. Speaking at the luncheon, which gathered around 500 women from across New York, she expressed pride in the cause and the community it supports.
When asked how she manages the symptoms of her illness, Turner answered candidly. She admitted she would rather not experience them at all, acknowledging that living with chronic pain is a daily reality.
Her diagnosis dates back to 1992. Over the years, she has appeared publicly using a cane and occasionally a wheelchair for additional support. She has never concealed how deeply the disease has affected her mobility and overall health.
Turner’s openness echoes the advocacy of other Hollywood figures facing serious medical conditions. Michael J. Fox, who lives with Parkinson’s disease, founded the Michael J. Fox Foundation, which has raised more than 2 billion dollars for research and treatment development. The actor, famous for portraying Marty McFly in Back to the Future, has spoken about his own mobility challenges and fear of falling due to the progression of his condition.
For Turner, the message was simple: the disease may shape her body, but it does not define her presence.
She showed up. And that, she made clear, still matters.
