Michael J. Fox

Michael Andrew Fox, known professionally as Michael J. Fox, is a Canadian and American actor and activist. He rose to international prominence portraying Alex P. Keaton on the NBC sitcom Family Ties and Marty McFly in the Back to the Future film trilogy. Beyond his acting career, he is widely recognized for his high-profile advocacy and research fundraising for Parkinson's disease.

Fox was born on June 9, 1961, in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada, to Phyllis Evelyn, a payroll clerk and actress, and William Nelson Fox, a soldier in the Royal Canadian Corps of Signals. The fifth of six children, he lived in various Canadian cities due to his father's career before the family settled in Burnaby, British Columbia, in 1971. Fox attended Burnaby Central Secondary School and began acting professionally at age 16 in the Canadian series Leo and Me. In 1979, he moved to Los Angeles, California, to further his acting career.

Fox made his American debut in the television film Letters from Frank. To avoid union name conflicts with another registered member of the Screen Actors Guild, he adopted the stage name Michael J. Fox, adopting the middle initial as an homage to character actor Michael J. Pollard. After early feature film appearances in Midnight Madness and Class of 1984, he secured his breakout role as Alex P. Keaton on Family Ties, which ran from 1982 to 1989. His performance earned him three consecutive Emmy Awards and a Golden Globe Award.

In 1985, Fox achieved film stardom when he was cast as Marty McFly in Back to the Future, replacing Eric Stoltz during production while simultaneously maintaining his daily shooting schedule for Family Ties. The movie became a major critical and commercial hit, grossing $381.11 million worldwide and leading to two sequels released in 1989 and 1990. During the late 1980s, Fox also starred in films such as Teen Wolf, The Secret of My Success, Bright Lights, Big City, and Casualties of War.

Throughout the 1990s, Fox continued taking lead and supporting roles in feature films, including Doc Hollywood, The Hard Way, For Love or Money, Life with Mikey, Greedy, The American President, Mars Attacks!, and The Frighteners. He also expanded into voice acting, lending his voice to characters in Homeward Bound: The Incredible Journey, the Stuart Little film series, and the animated feature Atlantis: The Lost Empire.

Fox returned to television in 1996 as Deputy Mayor Mike Flaherty on the ABC sitcom Spin City, serving as an executive producer. For his work on the series, he won an Emmy Award, three Golden Globes, and two Screen Actors Guild Awards. Privately diagnosed with Parkinson's disease in 1991, Fox publicly disclosed his condition in 1998 and stepped down from Spin City during its fourth season. In 2000, he founded The Michael J. Fox Foundation to help fund research into finding a cure.

Following his departure from full-time series television, Fox continued acting through guest roles on series such as Scrubs, Boston Legal, Rescue Me—which earned him another Emmy—The Good Wife, The Good Fight, and Curb Your Enthusiasm. He later starred on The Michael J. Fox Show from 2013 to 2014 before officially retiring in 2020 due to declining health. His accolades include five Emmy Awards, four Golden Globes, a Grammy Award, the Presidential Medal of Freedom, and the Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award.