Michael J. Fox
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Michael Andrew Fox, known to the world as Michael J. Fox, a name synonymous with charisma and resilience. Born in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada, on June 9, 1961, his journey began as a child actor in the 1970s, a prelude to a career that would redefine stardom.
His breakthrough came with the iconic role of Alex P. Keaton on the NBC sitcom *Family Ties*, a performance that captured the zeitgeist of the 1980s. But it was Marty McFly, the time-traveling teenager in the *Back to the Future* film trilogy, that cemented his place in cinematic history. These roles, alongside unforgettable turns in *Teen Wolf*, *The Secret of My Success*, and *Casualties of War*, showcased his versatility and undeniable charm.
Fox returned to television with a leading role in the ABC sitcom *Spin City*, further solidifying his status as a television titan. Yet, beneath the bright lights, a different battle was unfolding. In 1998, he courageously disclosed his 1991 diagnosis of Parkinson's disease. This revelation marked a turning point, transforming him from a beloved actor into a tireless advocate.
He founded The Michael J. Fox Foundation in 2000, a beacon of hope dedicated to funding research and finding a cure for Parkinson's. Despite the worsening symptoms that forced him to reduce his acting work, his spirit remained undimmed. He lent his voice to beloved characters in the *Stuart Little* films and the animated adventure *Atlantis: The Lost Empire*, and continued to grace television screens with memorable guest appearances.
His last major role was in *The Michael J. Fox Show*, a poignant reflection of his life. In 2020, due to declining health, he officially retired from acting, a decision made with grace and acceptance. Yet, his influence continued to resonate.
Fox's career has been adorned with accolades: five Emmy Awards, four Golden Globe Awards, two Screen Actors Guild Awards, and a Grammy Award. He has been honored with the Order of Canada, Canada's Walk of Fame, and the Hollywood Walk of Fame. In recognition of his unwavering dedication to Parkinson's research, he received the Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award and the Presidential Medal of Freedom.
Born into a military family, Fox's early life in Canada was shaped by his father's military career, leading the family to move across the country. His mother, a payroll clerk and actress, instilled in him a love for performance. He attended Burnaby Central Secondary School, where a theatre now bears his name, and at 16, he starred in the CBC series *Leo and Me*. The move to Los Angeles in 1979 was the launchpad for his American acting career.
His American debut was in the television film *Letters from Frank*, initially credited as Michael Fox. However, a prior registration with the Screen Actors Guild led him to adopt the iconic "J" in his name, a nod to his favorite character actor, Michael J. Pollard.
His early film roles included *Midnight Madness* and *Class of 1984*. But it was *Family Ties* that catapulted him to fame. Initially intended as a supporting role, his performance as Alex P. Keaton captivated audiences, making him the heart of the show. Even a producer's doubt about his "lunchbox" appeal couldn't diminish his star power.
The *Back to the Future* trilogy became a cultural phenomenon, with Fox stepping in as Marty McFly, a role that would define a generation. The demanding schedule of filming both *Family Ties* and *Back to the Future* simultaneously tested his limits, but his dedication shone through. The film's success was monumental, and Fox's portrayal earned him critical acclaim and a Golden Globe nomination. He continued to star in hits like *Teen Wolf*, *The Secret of My Success*, and *Bright Lights, Big City*, showcasing his range and captivating audiences.
*Family Ties* garnered him three Emmy Awards and a Golden Globe. His departure from *Spin City* saw poignant callbacks to his earlier work, a testament to the enduring legacy of his characters. *Casualties of War* showcased a darker, more dramatic side, earning him praise for his performance.
His film career continued with *Doc Hollywood*, a romantic comedy that highlighted his comedic timing. The diagnosis of Parkinson's disease in 1991, with the caution of limited working years, spurred him to sign a three-film contract, leading to roles in *For Love or Money*, *Life with Mikey*, and *Greedy*. He also took on supporting roles in *The American President* and *Mars Attacks!*.
His last major film role was in Peter Jackson's *The Frighteners*, where his performance was lauded. In the late 90s and early 2000s, he embraced voice acting, bringing characters like Chance in *Homeward Bound* and the titular Stuart Little to life.
*Spin City* ran for six seasons, with Fox serving as an executive producer and earning numerous awards. His announcement of his Parkinson's diagnosis during the show's run led to his retirement from the series, though he made a few final appearances. He continued to make guest appearances on shows like *Scrubs* and *Boston Legal*, earning Emmy nominations for his work.
His role in *Rescue Me* earned him an Emmy for Outstanding Guest Actor. He played a recurring role in *The Good Wife*, garnering further Emmy nominations. His portrayal of himself in *Curb Your Enthusiasm* offered a humorous, yet insightful, look at his life with Parkinson's.
*The Michael J. Fox Show*, loosely based on his life, premiered in 2013 but was short-lived. He also made memorable appearances in the *Back to the Future* video game and the TV series *Designated Survivor*.
In 2020, due to increasing speech unreliability, Fox officially retired from acting. His memoir, *No Time Like the Future: An Optimist Considers Mortality*, offered a candid reflection on his life, his challenges, and his acceptance of mortality.
In 2021, he appeared in *Expedition: Back to the Future* and the animated film *Back Home Again*. The critically acclaimed documentary *Still: A Michael J. Fox Movie* offered a powerful and celebratory portrait of his life and career. His appearance at the Glastonbury Festival with Coldplay, playing guitar on "Humankind" and "Fix You," was a testament to his enduring connection with music and his fans.
A return to acting was announced for the third season of the comedy-drama *Shrinking*, and he also participated in a video parody of *Back to the Future* for the Boston Bruins. His fifth book, *Future Boy: Back to the Future and My Journey Through the Space-Time Continuum*, was released in 2025, delving into his experiences on the set of *Back to the Future*.
Fox's activism for Parkinson's disease is as profound as his acting career. After his diagnosis, he embraced his role as an advocate, establishing The Michael J. Fox Foundation to drive research and find a cure. His memoirs, including *Lucky Man*, *Always Looking Up*, and *A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Future*, share his journey of acceptance, resilience, and hope.
He lent his voice to a powerful campaign ad for embryonic stem cell research, visibly demonstrating the effects of his Parkinson's and advocating for progress. His work has been recognized by TIME magazine as transformative, and he has received honorary doctorates for his contributions to medical research.
His organization's raffles and auctions have raised millions for Parkinson's research. The Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award and the Presidential Medal of Freedom are testaments to his profound impact. In a candid interview, he acknowledged the increasing difficulty of living with Parkinson's, yet his spirit remains unbroken.
Michael J. Fox met his wife, Tracy Pollan, on the set of *Family Ties*. Their enduring marriage, blessed with four children, has been a source of strength and support. He holds dual Canadian and US citizenship, proudly embracing his Canadian heritage.
The early onset of Parkinson's disease, first noticed during the filming of *Doc Hollywood*, marked a significant turning point in his life. While the causes remain complex, Fox has been open about his journey, including his struggles with alcohol and his eventual sobriety. His foundation's landmark observational study, the Parkinson's Progression Markers Initiative, has been instrumental in advancing research.
Fox manages his Parkinson's symptoms with medication, and his willingness to be vulnerable, even when symptomatic, has resonated deeply with millions. His testimony before the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee, deliberately unmedicated, was a powerful plea for research funding.
His filmography is extensive, spanning iconic roles in *Back to the Future*, *Teen Wolf*, and *The Secret of My Success*, to dramatic turns in *Casualties of War* and *The Frighteners*. Television audiences know him from *Family Ties*, *Spin City*, and numerous guest appearances.
His awards and honors are a testament to his extraordinary career and his unwavering commitment to making a difference. From Emmys and Golden Globes to the Order of Canada and the Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award, his achievements are far-reaching. His books offer profound insights into his life, his struggles, and his enduring optimism.
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Michael Andrew Fox (born June 9, 1961), known professionally as Michael J. Fox, is a Canadian and American actor and activist. Beginning his career as a child actor in the 1970s, he rose to prominence portraying Alex P. Keaton on the NBC sitcom Family Ties (1982–1989) and Marty McFly in the Back to the Future film trilogy (1985–1990). Fox went on to star in films such as Teen Wolf (1985), The Secret of My Success (1987), Casualties of War (1989), Doc Hollywood (1991) and The Frighteners (1996). He returned to television on the ABC sitcom Spin City in the lead role of Mike Flaherty (1996–2000).
In 1998, Fox disclosed his 1991 diagnosis of Parkinson's disease. He became an advocate for finding a cure and founded The Michael J. Fox Foundation in 2000 to help fund research. Worsening symptoms forced him to reduce his acting work.
Fox voiced the lead roles in the Stuart Little films (1999–2005) and the animated film Atlantis: The Lost Empire (2001). He continued to make guest appearances on television, including comedy-drama Rescue Me (2009), the legal drama The Good Wife (2010–2016) and spin-off The Good Fight (2020) and the comedy series Curb Your Enthusiasm (2011, 2017). Fox's last major role was the lead on the short-lived sitcom The Michael J. Fox Show (2013–2014). He officially retired in 2020 due to his declining health, though he has made periodic acting appearances since then.
Fox has won five Emmy Awards, four Golden Globe Awards, two Screen Actors Guild Awards and a Grammy Award. He was appointed an Officer of the Order of Canada in 2010 and was inducted to Canada's Walk of Fame in 2000 and the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 2002. For his advocacy of a cure for Parkinson's disease, he received the Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award from the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences in 2022 and the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2025.
== Early life ==
Fox was born in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada, on June 9, 1961. His mother, Phyllis Evelyn (née Piper; 1929–2022), was a payroll clerk and actress, while his father, William Nelson "Bill" Fox (1928–1990), served as a regular soldier in the Royal Canadian Corps of Signals. When they met each other in Ladner, British Columbia, Phyllis was working for The Ladner Optimist, a local newspaper, and Bill was serving at the nearby Vancouver Wireless Station. They married in 1950. Fox is the fifth of six children, with three sisters and two brothers. Phyllis's father was an English emigrant, and her mother was an emigrant from Belfast, Northern Ireland. Bill's mother was born in Alberta to American parents, and his father was an English emigrant.
The Fox family lived in various cities and towns across Canada due to Bill's career. Bill served in the army for 25 years, retiring in 1971. The same year, the family moved to Burnaby, a city outside of Vancouver. Bill worked as a dispatcher for the Delta Police Department from the following year to 1985. Fox attended Burnaby Central Secondary School and has a theatre named for him at Burnaby South Secondary School. At the age of 16, he starred in the Canadian television series Leo and Me, produced by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. Fox moved to Los Angeles in 1979 to further his acting career.
Fox was discovered by producer Ronald Shedlo and made his American debut in the television film Letters from Frank, credited under the name "Michael Fox". However, when he registered with the Screen Actors Guild, he discovered that Michael Fox, a veteran actor, was already registered under that name. Fox explained in his memoir Lucky Man:
The Screen Actors Guild prohibits any two members from working under the same stage name, and they already had a 'Michael Fox' on the books. My middle name is Andrew, but 'Andrew Fox' or 'Andy Fox' didn't cut it for me. 'Michael A. Fox' was even worse, the word fox having recently come into use as a synonym for attractive. (Presumptuous?) It also sounded uncomfortably Canadian – Michael Eh? Fox – but maybe I was just being oversensitive. And then I remembered one of my favorite character actors, Michael J. Pollard, the guileless accomplice in Bonnie and Clyde. I stuck in the J, which sometimes I tell people stands for either Jenuine or Jenius, and resubmitted my forms.
== Acting career ==
=== 1980–1984: Early roles and television ===
Fox's first feature film roles were Midnight Madness (1980) and Class of 1984 (1982), credited in both as Michael Fox. Shortly afterward, he began playing "Young Republican" Alex P. Keaton in the show Family Ties, which aired on NBC for seven seasons from 1982 to 1989. In an interview with Jimmy Fallon in April 2014, Fox stated he negotiated the role at a payphone at Pioneer Chicken. He received the role only after Matthew Broderick was unavailable. Family Ties had been sold to the television network using the pitch "Hip parents, square kids", with the parents originally intended to be the main characters. However, the positive reaction to Fox's performance led to his character becoming the focus of the show following the fourth episode.
Brandon Tartikoff, one of the show's producers, felt that Fox was too short in relation to the actors playing his parents, and tried to have him replaced. Tartikoff reportedly said that "this is not the kind of face you'll ever find on a lunchbox." After his later successes, Fox presented Tartikoff with a custom-made lunchbox with the inscription "To Brandon: This is for you to put your crow in. Love and Kisses, Michael J." Tartikoff kept the lunchbox in his office for the rest of his NBC career.
=== 1985–1990: Back to the Future and stardom ===
In January 1985, Fox was cast to replace Eric Stoltz as Marty McFly, a teenager who is accidentally sent back in time from 1985 to 1955 in Back to the Future. Director Robert Zemeckis originally wanted Fox to play Marty, but Gary David Goldberg, the creator of Family Ties, on which Fox was working at the time, refused to allow Zemeckis even to approach Fox. Goldberg felt that, as Meredith Baxter was on maternity leave at the time, Fox's character Alex Keaton was needed to carry the show in her absence. Stoltz was cast and was already filming Back to the Future, but Zemeckis felt that Stoltz was not giving the right type of performance for the humour involved.
Zemeckis quickly replaced Stoltz with Fox, whose schedule was now more open with the return of Baxter. During filming, Fox rehearsed for Family Ties from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.; he then rushed to the Back to the Future set, where he would rehearse and shoot until 2:30 a.m. This schedule lasted for two full months. Back to the Future was both a critical and commercial success. The film spent eight consecutive weekends as the number-one movie at the US box office in 1985, and it eventually earned a worldwide total of $381.11 million. Variety applauded the performances, opining that Fox and his co-star Christopher Lloyd imbued Marty and Doc Brown's friendship with a quality reminiscent of King Arthur and Merlin. Fox's performance in particular was praised, earning him a nomination for Best Actor in a Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy at the 43rd Golden Globe Awards. The film was followed by two successful sequels, Back to the Future Part II (1989) and Back to the Future Part III (1990), which were produced at the same time but released separately. While filming the scene where Buford "Mad Dog" Tannen tries to hang Marty in Part III, Fox was allowed to perform the stunt himself as long as he knew where to put his hand on the noose to keep himself from choking; however, on the third take, Fox accidentally placed his hand in the wrong spot, which resulted in him choking, passing out, and nearly dying until Zemeckis noticed him in peril and had him cut down.
As a result of working on Family Ties, and his back-to-back hit performances in Back to the Future and Teen Wolf (1985), Fox became a teen idol. The VH1 television series The Greatest later named him among their "50 Greatest Teen Idols".
During and immediately after the Back to the Future trilogy, Fox starred in Teen Wolf (1985), Light of Day (1987), The Secret of My Success (1987), and Bright Lights, Big City (1988). In The Secret of My Success, Fox played a recent graduate from Kansas State University who moves to New York City, where he deals with the ups and downs of the business world. The film was successful at the box office, grossing $110 million worldwide. Roger Ebert in the Chicago Sun-Times wrote, "Fox provides a fairly desperate center for the film. It could not have been much fun for him to follow the movie's arbitrary shifts of mood, from sitcom to slapstick, from sex farce to boardroom brawls."
In Bright Lights, Big City, Fox played a fact-checker for a New York magazine who spends his nights partying with alcohol and drugs. The film received mixed reviews, with Hal Hinson in The Washington Post criticizing Fox by claiming that "he was the wrong actor for the job". Meanwhile, Roger Ebert praised the actor's performance: "Fox is very good in the central role (he has a long drunken monologue that is the best thing he has ever done in a movie)". During the shooting of Bright Lights, Big City, Fox co-starred again with Tracy Pollan, his on-screen girlfriend from Family Ties.
Fox won three Emmy Awards for Family Ties in 1986, 1987, and 1988. He won a Golden Globe Award in 1989, the year the show ended. When Fox left the television series Spin City in 2000, his final episodes made numerous allusions to Family Ties: Michael Gross (who played Alex's father Steven) portrays Mike Flaherty's (Fox's character's) therapist, and there is a reference to an off-screen character named "Mallory". Also, when Flaherty becomes an environmental lobbyist in Washington, D.C., he meets a conservative senator from Ohio named Alex P. Keaton, and in one episode Meredith Baxter played Mike's mother.
Fox then starred in Casualties of War (1989), a dark and violent war drama about the Vietnam War, alongside Sean Penn. Casualties of War was not a major box office hit, but Fox was praised for his performance. Don Willmott wrote: "Fox, only one year beyond his Family Ties sitcom silliness, rises to the challenges of acting as the film's moral voice and sharing scenes with the always intimidating Penn." While Family Ties was ending, his production company Snowback Productions set up a two-year production pact at Paramount Pictures to develop film and television projects.
=== 1991–2001: Further films and acclaim ===
In 1991, he starred in Doc Hollywood, a romantic comedy about a talented medical doctor who decides to become a plastic surgeon. While moving from Washington, D.C. to Los Angeles, he winds up as a doctor in a small southern town in South Carolina. Michael Caton-Jones, of Time Out, described Fox in the film as "at his frenetic best". The Hard Way was also released in 1991, with Fox playing an undercover actor learning from police officer James Woods. After being privately diagnosed with Parkinson's disease in 1991 and being cautioned he had "ten good working years left", Fox hastily signed a three-film contract, appearing in For Love or Money (1993), Life with Mikey (1993), and Greedy (1994). In the mid-1990s Fox played smaller supporting roles in The American President (1995) and Mars Attacks! (1996).
His last major film role was in The Frighteners (1996), directed by Peter Jackson. Fox's performance received critical praise, Kenneth Turan in the Los Angeles Times wrote; "The film's actors are equally pleasing. Both Fox, in his most successful starring role in some time, and [Trini] Alvarado, who looks rather like Andie MacDowell here, have no difficulty getting into the manic spirit of things."
In the 1990s and 2000s, Fox took on multiple voice acting roles. He voiced the American Bulldog Chance in Disney's live-action film Homeward Bound: The Incredible Journey and its sequel Homeward Bound II: Lost in San Francisco, the titular character in Stuart Little and its two sequels Stuart Little 2 and Stuart Little 3: Call of the Wild, and Milo James Thatch in Disney's animated film Atlantis: The Lost Empire.
=== 1996–2020: Later career and retirement ===
Spin City ran from 1996 to 2002 on American television network ABC. The show depicted a fictional New York City government, originally starring Fox as Deputy Mayor Mike Flaherty. Fox served as an executive producer of Spin City alongside co-creators Bill Lawrence and Gary David Goldberg. He won an Emmy Award for Spin City in 2000, three Golden Globe Awards in 1998, 1999, and 2000, and two Screen Actors Guild Awards in 1999 and 2000. During the third season, Fox told the cast and crew of the show that he had Parkinson's disease, and during the fourth season, he announced his retirement from the show. A character played by Charlie Sheen replaced his, and he made three more appearances during the final season. In 2002, his Lottery Hill Entertainment production company attempted to set up a pilot for ABC with DreamWorks Television and Touchstone Television company via first-look agreements, but it never went to series.
In 2004, Fox guest-starred in two episodes of the comedy-drama Scrubs – created by Spin City creator Bill Lawrence – as Dr. Kevin Casey, a surgeon with severe obsessive-compulsive disorder. In 2006, he appeared in four episodes of Boston Legal as a lung cancer patient. The producers brought him back in a recurring role for season three, beginning with the season premiere. Fox was nominated for an Emmy Award for best guest appearance.
In 2009, Fox appeared in five episodes of the television series Rescue Me which earned him an Emmy for Outstanding Guest Actor in a Drama Series. Starting in 2010, Fox played a recurring role in the American drama The Good Wife as crafty attorney Louis Canning and earned Emmy nominations for three consecutive years. In 2011, Fox portrayed himself in the eighth season of Larry David's Curb Your Enthusiasm, in which David's fictionalized self becomes Fox's neighbour and accuses him of using his Parkinson's disease as a manipulative tool. Fox returned in 2017 for a brief appearance, referencing his prior time on the show.
In August 2012, NBC announced that Fox would star in The Michael J. Fox Show, loosely based on his life. It was granted a 22-episode commitment from the network and premiered in September 2013, but was taken off the air after 15 episodes and later cancelled.
Fox has made several appearances in other media. At the 2010 Winter Olympics closing ceremony in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, he delivered comedy monologues, along with William Shatner and Catherine O'Hara, in the "I am Canadian" part of the show.
Despite sound-alike A.J. LoCascio voicing Marty McFly in the 2011 Back to the Future episodic adventure game, Fox lent his likeness to the in-game version of Marty alongside Christopher Lloyd. Fox made a special guest appearance in the final episode of the series as an elder version of Marty, as well as his great-grandfather Willie McFly.
Fox appeared in five episodes of the second season of the ABC political drama Designated Survivor, in the recurring role of Ethan West, investigating whether the president was fit to continue in the job.
In 2020, Fox retired from acting due to the increasing unreliability of his speech. Fox's memoir, No Time Like the Future: An Optimist Considers Mortality, was released that November. In the book, Fox explained that, "not being able to speak reliably is a game-breaker for an actor" and that he was experiencing memory loss. Fox wrote, "There is a time for everything, and my time of putting in a 12-hour workday, and memorizing seven pages of dialogue, is best behind me...I enter a second retirement. That could change, because everything changes. But if this is the end of my acting career, so be it."
=== 2021–present: Still, and return to acting ===
In 2021, Fox appeared in one episode of the television series Expedition: Back to the Future, as well as in the animated film Back Home Again. On May 12, 2023, Still: A Michael J. Fox Movie, a documentary which follows his career and Parkinson's disease diagnosis, was released. The film was directed by Davis Guggenheim and made for Apple TV+. It was positively received, winning four of the seven awards it was nominated for at the 75th Primetime Emmy Awards. Stephanie Zacharek on behalf of Time wrote, "Still: A Michael J. Fox Movie reminds us that a person stricken with a disease doesn't become that disease... What's striking about Still is how celebratory it is. This isn't the story of a wonderful actor felled by an illness; it's the story of a wonderful actor," while Mark Kermode of The Guardian called it "An intimate, uplifting star portrait."
On June 29, 2024, he was featured on the Glastonbury Festival as a guest of British rock band Coldplay, playing the guitar with them on the songs "Humankind" and "Fix You". Lead singer and pianist Chris Martin mentioned during the show that "Back to the Future is the main reason we became a band".
On May 15, 2025, it was revealed that Fox had been cast in the third season of the comedy drama Shrinking, making a return to acting. In June 2025, Fox acted for the National Hockey League's Boston Bruins, playing himself in a video parodying Back to the Future to promote new uniforms for the team. Fox is a close friend of Bruins president Cam Neely, who also appeared in the video.
On October 14, 2025, his fifth book, Future Boy: Back to the Future and My Journey Through the Space-Time Continuum, co-written with Nelle Fortenberry, was published by Flatiron Books. The memoir covers his time on set while filming Back to the Future.
== Activism ==
Fox was diagnosed with Parkinson's disease in 1991. He has since become an activist and began the Michael J. Fox Foundation to increase research efforts to find a cure.
He has written several memoirs on his experiences. His first book, Lucky Man, focused on how, after seven years of denial of the disease, he set up the Michael J. Fox Foundation, stopped drinking and became an advocate for people living with Parkinson's disease. In 2006, Fox starred in a campaign ad for then-State Auditor of Missouri Claire McCaskill in her successful 2006 Senate campaign against incumbent Jim Talent, expressing her support for embryonic stem cell research. In the ad, he visibly showed the effects of his Parkinson's disease:
As you might know, I care deeply about stem cell research. In Missouri, you can elect Claire McCaskill, who shares my hope for cures. Unfortunately, Senator Jim Talent opposes expanding stem cell research. Senator Talent even wanted to criminalize the science that gives us the chance for hope. They say all politics is local, but that's not always the case. What you do in Missouri matters to millions of Americans, Americans like me.
The New York Times called it "one of the most powerful and talked about political advertisements in years" and polls indicated that the commercial had a measurable impact on the way voters voted, in an election that McCaskill won. His second book, Always Looking Up: The Adventures of an Incurable Optimist, describes his life between 1999 and 2009, with much of the book centered on how Fox got into campaigning for stem cell research. On March 31, 2009, Fox appeared on The Oprah Winfrey Show with Mehmet Oz to discuss his condition as well as his book, his family and his primetime special, which aired May 7, 2009, (Michael J. Fox: Adventures of an Incurable Optimist).
His work led him to be named one of the 100 people "whose power, talent or moral example is transforming the world" in 2007 by Time magazine. On March 5, 2010, Fox received an honorary doctorate in medicine from Karolinska Institute for his contributions to research in Parkinson's disease. He received an honorary doctorate of laws from the University of British Columbia. His third book, A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Future: Twists and Turns and Lessons Learned, was released in 2010.
On May 31, 2012, he received an honorary degree of Doctor of Laws from the Justice Institute of British Columbia to recognize his accomplishments as a performer as well as his commitment to raising research funding and awareness for Parkinson's disease. Fox recalled performing in role-playing simulations as part of police recruit training exercises at the Institute early in his career.
In 2016, his organization created a raffle to raise awareness for Parkinson's disease and raised $6.75 million, with the help of Nike, Inc. via two auctions, one in Hong Kong and the other in London.
In 2020, his fourth book, No Time Like the Future: An Optimist Considers Mortality, was released.
At the 2022 Governors Awards, Fox was awarded the Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award for his efforts in fighting Parkinson's, having raised over $1 billion for research. The award was presented by friend Woody Harrelson.
In a 2023 interview with Jane Pauley on CBS Sunday Morning, Fox said, "I'm not gonna lie. It's getting harder. Every day it's tougher." He said he has had spinal surgery for a benign tumour and has broken bones in several falls.
He was named in Time Magazine's 2024 list of influential people in health.
== Personal life ==
=== Marriage and family ===
Fox met his wife, Tracy Pollan, when she played the role of his girlfriend, Ellen, on Family Ties. The couple married on July 16, 1988, at West Mountain Inn in Arlington, Vermont. They have four children: one son and three daughters. Shortly before the couple's marriage, Fox purchased a 121-acre (490,000 m2) estate named Lottery Hill Farm in South Woodstock, Vermont, which he listed in 2012. In 1997, Fox purchased an apartment on Fifth Avenue within the Upper East Side, Manhattan, where he and his family lived primarily until 2020. The same year, Fox and Pollan built an estate on 80 acres (320,000 m2) of farmland in Sharon, Connecticut, which he listed in 2016. In 2007, Fox purchased a 7,000-square-foot (650 m2) house in Quogue, New York, where he and his family lived part-time and spent the early months of the COVID-19 pandemic. In 2021, Fox sold the house and moved to Santa Barbara, California, with his family; they took up residence in Malibu several months later.
=== Citizenship and politics ===
Fox acquired US citizenship in 2000 but remains a Canadian citizen as well. He provided a light-hearted segment during the 2010 Winter Olympics' closing ceremony in Vancouver on February 28, 2010, when he expressed how proud he is to be Canadian. On June 4, 2010, the city of Burnaby granted him the Freedom of the City. Fox endorsed Pete Buttigieg prior to the 2020 United States presidential election.
=== Parkinson's disease ===
Fox started displaying symptoms of early-onset Parkinson's disease in early 1991 while shooting the film Doc Hollywood and was diagnosed shortly thereafter. Though his initial symptoms were only a twitching little finger and a sore shoulder, he was told that within a few years he would not be able to work. The causes of Parkinson's disease are not well understood, and may include genetic and environmental factors. Fox is one of at least four members of the cast and crew of Leo and Me who developed early-onset Parkinson's. According to Fox, this is not enough people to be defined as a cluster so it has not been well researched. In 2020, he told Hadley Freeman of The Guardian: "I can think of a thousand possible scenarios: I used to go fishing in a river near paper mills and eat the salmon I caught; I've been to a lot of farms; I smoked a lot of pot in high school when the government was poisoning the crops. But you can drive yourself crazy trying to figure it out."
After his diagnosis, Fox began drinking heavily and grew depressed. In 1992, he eventually sought help and stopped drinking altogether. Fox went public with his Parkinson's disease in 1998 and has become a strong advocate for Parkinson's disease research. His foundation, The Michael J. Fox Foundation, was created to help advance every promising research path to curing Parkinson's disease. Since 2010, he has led a $100-million effort, which is the Foundation's landmark observational study, to discover the biological markers of Parkinson's disease with the Parkinson's Progression Markers Initiative (PPMI).
Fox manages the symptoms of his Parkinson's disease with the drug carbidopa/levodopa. He had a thalamotomy in 1998.
In Lucky Man, Fox wrote that he did not take his medication prior to his testimony before the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee in 1999.
I had made a deliberate choice to appear before the subcommittee without medication. It seemed to me that this occasion demanded that my testimony about the effects of the disease, and the urgency we as a community were feeling, be seen as well as heard. For people who had never observed me in this kind of shape, the transformation must have been startling.In an interview with NPR in April 2002, Fox explained what he does when he becomes symptomatic:
Well, actually, I've been erring on the side of caution—I think 'erring' is actually the right word—in that I've been medicating perhaps too much, in the sense [that] ... the symptoms ... people see in some of these interviews that [I] have been on are actually dyskinesia, which is a reaction to the medication. Because if I were purely symptomatic with Parkinson's symptoms, a lot of times speaking is difficult. There's a kind of a cluttering of speech and it's very difficult to sit still, to sit in one place. You know, the symptoms are different, so I'd rather kind of suffer the symptoms of dyskinesia ... this kind of weaving and this kind of continuous thing is much preferable, actually, than pure Parkinson's symptoms. So that's what I generally do ... I haven't had any, you know, problems with pure Parkinson's symptoms in any of these interviews, because I'll tend to just make sure that I have enough Sinemet in my system and, in some cases, too much. But to me, it's preferable. It's not representative of what I'm like in my everyday life. I get a lot of people with Parkinson's coming up to me saying, 'You take too much medication.' I say, 'Well, you sit across from Larry King and see if you want to tempt it.'
== Filmography ==
=== Film ===
=== Television ===
=== Video games ===
=== Web ===
== Awards and honours ==
Over his career Fox won five Emmy Awards, four Golden Globe Awards, two Screen Actors Guild Awards and a Grammy Award. He was also appointed an Officer of the Order of Canada in 2010, along with being inducted to Canada's Walk of Fame in 2000 and the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 2002. For his advocacy of a cure for Parkinson's disease he received the Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award from the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences in 2022.
2000: Honoured by the Family Television Awards for Acting.
2000: Inducted into Canada's Walk of Fame, located in Toronto, Ontario, which acknowledges the achievements and accomplishments of successful Canadians.
December 16, 2002: Received the 2209th Star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in recognition of his contributions to the motion picture industry, presented to him by the Chamber of Commerce.
2005: Received the Golden Plate Award of the American Academy of Achievement.
2011: Honoured with the Golden Camera Award for Lifetime Achievement – International.
2010: Appointed Officer of the Order of Canada – The Officer O.C. recognizes national service or achievement.
2010: Received the National Association of Broadcasters Distinguished Service Award.
2010: He received an honorary doctorate from the Karolinska Institute
2013: Honoured with the Golden Apple Award by the Casting Society of America.
2021: Doctor of Fine Arts, honoris causa, from Simon Fraser University.
2022: Received the Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award from 95th Academy Awards
2025: Presidential Medal of Freedom from President Joe Biden
== Books ==
Fox, Michael J. (2002). Lucky Man: A Memoir. New York: Hyperion. ISBN 978-0-7868-6764-6.
Fox, Michael J. (2009). Always Looking Up: The Adventures of an Incurable Optimist. New York: Hyperion. ISBN 978-1-4013-0338-9.
Fox, Michael J. (2010). A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Future: Twists and Turns and Lessons Learned. New York: Hyperion. ISBN 978-1-4013-2386-8.
Fox, Michael J. (2020). No Time Like the Future: An Optimist Considers Mortality. New York: Flatiron Books. ISBN 978-1-2502-6561-6.
Fox, Michael J. (2025). Future Boy: Back to the Future and My Journey Through the Space-Time Continuum. New York: Flatiron Books. ISBN 978-1-2508-6678-3.
== Explanatory notes ==
== References ==
== External links ==
Michael J Fox Theatre
The Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson's Research
Michael J. Fox at IMDb
Michael J. Fox at The Interviews: An Oral History of Television
Appearances on C-SPAN
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