Russell Andrews has revealed he has been diagnosed with ALS.
Russell Andrews has been diagnosed with ALS
In an emotional interview alongside his fiancée Erica Tazel, the 64-year-old actor, known for his roles in Better Call Saul and Straight Outta Compton, confirmed he was diagnosed with the fatal disease, also known as Lou Gehrig’s disease, in autumn 2025.
Appearing on CNN’s The Story Is with Elex Michaelson over the weekend, he said: “I am a person living with ALS.”
The incurable disease destroys nerve cells in the spinal cord and brain, which causes slurred speech, muscle weakness and eventual paralysis.
Russell described his diagnosis as “humbling”, but noted he has found a community through the ALS Network non-profit.
He said: “There’s also something in the fact that I walked into a family of very caring people I did not know a year ago — the cliché family, but they have not let us miss a step in terms of care, the attention, the awareness and the ability to get me here today.”
Back in 2023, Russell started to notice occasional “twitches”, and believed he was “having pinched nerves in my neck”.
He added: “I was not able to do things that I normally do. I was dropping cups and glasses at night.
“It felt like things were running up and down my arm at different times and it was the nerves.”
His partner Erica recalled him taking “longer to clean the pool”, as well as other “subtle little things” like “the way he walked”.
Russell recalled seeing a doctor, who referred him to a neurologist, and “one thing led to another”.
Erica has revealed after the diagnosis she immediately told her fiancé that she still wants to get married, and everything they’re going through has made her realise that their love “is truly unconditional”.
She said: “I was uncharacteristically calm and in a way, it was an answer to a lot of questions that we had.
“[There] was not a sigh of relief, but some understanding of what was happening.
“And I looked at him across the room and I said, ‘At least now we know what it is, and I still want to be your wife.’ “
