Fox was diagnosed with Parkinson's disease in 1991, and disclosed his condition to the public in 1998. Fox semi-retired from acting in 2000 as the symptoms of his disease worsened. He has since become an activist for research toward finding a cure. This led him to create the Michael J. Fox Foundation, and on March 5, 2010, Sweden's Karolinska Institutet gave him a honoris causa doctorate for his work in advocating a cure for Parkinson's disease.
Since 2000 Fox has mainly worked as a voice over actor in films such as Stuart Little and Atlantis: The Lost Empire, and taken minor TV roles such as in Boston Legal and Scrubs. He has also released three books, Lucky Man: A Memoir (2002), Always Looking Up: The Adventures of an Incurable Optimist (2009) and A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Future: Twists and Turns and Lessons Learned (2010). He was appointed an Officer of the Order of Canada in 2010.
Early life
Michael Andrew Fox was born in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada, the son of Phyllis (née Piper), an actress and payroll clerk, and William Fox, a police officer and member of the Canadian Forces. Fox's family lived in various cities and towns across Canada because of his father's career. The family finally settled in the Vancouver suburb of Burnaby, British Columbia, when his father retired in 1971. Fox attended Burnaby Central Secondary School, and now has a theatre named after him in Burnaby South Secondary.
Fox starred in the Canadian television series Leo and Me at the age of fifteen, and in 1979, moved to Los Angeles to pursue an acting career at the age of eighteen. He was discovered by producer Ronald Shedlo and made his American television debut in the television movie Letters from Frank, credited under the name "Michael Fox". He intended to continue to use the name, but when he registered with the Screen Actors Guild, which does not allow duplicate registration names to avoid credit ambiguities, he discovered that Michael Fox, a veteran character actor, was already registered under the name. As he explained in his autobiography, Lucky Man: A Memoir, and in interviews, he needed to come up with a different name. He did not like the sound of "Andrew" or "Andy" Fox, so he decided to adopt a new middle initial and settled on "J", in reference to actor Michael J. Pollard.
Acting career
Early career
Michael J. Fox with Tracy Pollan at the 40th Emmy Awards in August 1988 shortly after they were married
Fox's first feature film role was in Midnight Madness (1980) credited as Michael Fox. After this he played "Young Republican" Alex P. Keaton in the show Family Ties which aired on NBC for seven seasons, from 1982 to 1989. Fox only received the role 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. At its peak, the audience for Family Ties drew one-third of America's households every week. Fox won three Emmy awards for Family Ties in 1986, 1987 and 1988 respectively. He also won a Golden Globe Award in 1989.
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 lunch-box". After his later successes, Fox presented Tartikoff with a custom-made lunch-box with the inscription "To Brandon, this is for you to put your crow in. Love and Kisses, Michael J. Fox". Tartikoff kept the lunch-box in his office for the rest of his NBC career.
While filming Family Ties, Fox met his future wife, Tracy Pollan, when she portrayed his girlfriend, Ellen. When Fox left the TV series Spin City, his final episodes made numerous allusions to Family Ties: Michael Gross (who played Alex's father Steven) portrays Mike Flaherty's (Fox) 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.
Back to the Future trilogy
Back to the Future tells the story of Marty McFly (Fox), a teenager who is accidentally sent back in time from 1985 to 1955. He meets his parents in high school, accidentally attracting his mother's romantic interest. Marty must repair the damage to history by causing his parents to fall in love, while finding a way to return to 1985. Eric Stoltz was already filming Back to the Future when Robert Zemeckis, the director, felt that Stoltz was not giving the right type of performance for the humor involved. Zemeckis quickly replaced Stoltz with Fox. During filming, Fox would rehearse for Family Ties from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m, then rush 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 commercial and critical success. The film spent 8 consecutive weekends as the number one grossing movie at the US box office in 1985, and eventually earned a worldwide total of $381.11 million. Variety applauded the performances, arguing Fox and Lloyd imbued Marty and Doc Brown's friendship with a quality reminiscent of King Arthur and Merlin. Two sequels, Back to the Future Part II and Back to the Future Part III, were released in 1989 and 1990, respectively.
Mid-career
Fox in September 1987
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), Bright Lights, Big City (1988) and Casualties of War (1989).
In The Secret of My Success, Fox played a graduate student from Kansas State University who moves to New York City where he has landed a job as a financier. The film was successful at the box office, taking $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, Michael was reunited with his on-screen girlfriend Tracy Pollan from Family Ties.
Fox then starred in Casualties of War, a war drama about the Vietnam War, alongside Sean Penn. Casualties of War was not a box office hit, but Fox, playing a Private serving in Vietnam, received good reviews for his performance. Don Willmott on film critic’s website 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."
In 1991, he starred in Doc Hollywood, a romantic comedy about a talented medical doctor who decides to become a plastic surgeon. While relocating from Washington D.C. to Los Angeles, California, he winds up as a doctor in a small southern town. Michael Caton-Jones, from 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. Between 1992 and 1996, he continued making several films, such as For Love or Money (1993), Life With Mikey (1993) and Greedy (1994). Fox then played small supporting roles in political drama The American President (1995) and comedy Mars Attacks! (1996).
His last major film role was in The Frighteners (1996). The Frighteners tells the story of Frank Bannister (Fox), an architect who develops psychic abilities allowing him to see, hear, and communicate with ghosts. After losing his wife, he uses his new abilities by cheating money out of customers for his "ghosthunting" business. However, a mass murderer comes back from Hell, prompting Frank to investigate the supernatural presence. 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 Alvarado, who looks rather like Andie MacDowell here, have no difficulty getting into the manic spirit of things."
Fox has also done voice-over work providing the voice of Stuart Little in the Stuart Little movie and its sequel, both of which were based on the popular book by E. B. White. He also voiced the American Bulldog Chance in Homeward Bound: The Incredible Journey and its sequel Homeward Bound II: Lost in San Francisco, as well as Milo Thatch in Atlantis: The Lost Empire.
Spin City and later career
The hand prints of Michael J. Fox in front of The Great Movie Ride at Walt Disney World's Disney's Hollywood Studios theme park.
Spin City ran from 1996 to 2002 on American television network channel ABC. The show was based on a fictional local government running New York City, originally starring Fox as Mike Flaherty, a Fordham Law graduate serving as the Deputy Mayor of New York. Fox 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 of Spin City, Fox made the announcement to the cast and crew of the show that he had Parkinson's Disease. During the fourth season, he announced his retirement from the show to focus on spending more time with his family. He announced that he planned to continue to act and would make guest appearances on Spin City (he made three more appearances on the show during the final season). After leaving the show, he was replaced by Charlie Sheen, who portrayed the character Charlie Crawford.Altogether, 145 episodes were made. Fox also served as an executive producer during his time on the show, alongside co-creators Bill Lawrence and Gary David Goldberg.
In 2004, Fox guest starred in two episodes of the comedy-drama Scrubs as Dr. Kevin Casey, a surgeon with severe obsessive-compulsive disorder. The series was created by Spin City creator Bill Lawrence. 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, he appeared in five episodes of the television series Rescue Me which earned him an Emmy for Outstanding Guest Actor in a Drama Series. Since 2000 Fox has released three books, Lucky Man: A Memoir (2002), Always Looking Up: The Adventures of an Incurable Optimist (2009) and A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Future: Twists and Turns and Lessons Learned (2010). In 2010, Fox returned to television as a guest star in US drama The Good Wife.
He made an appearance at the 2010 Winter Olympics closing ceremony in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada and delivered comedic monologues, along with William Shatner and Catherine O'Hara, in the "I am Canadian" part of the show.
Along with Tatjana Patitz, Fox appears in the 2011 Carl Zeiss AG calendar, photographed by Bryan Adams in New York City in the summer of 2010.
Personal life
Fox married actress Tracy Pollan on July 16, 1988, at West Mountain Inn in Arlington, Vermont. The couple have four children: Sam Michael (born May 30, 1989), twins Aquinnah Kathleen and Schuyler Frances (born February 15, 1995), and Esmé Annabelle (born November 3, 2001). Fox holds dual Canadian-U.S. citizenship. On February 28, 2010, Fox provided a light-hearted segment during the 2010 Winter Olympics' closing ceremony which took place in Vancouver, BC, Canada wherein he expressed how proud he is to be Canadian. On June 4, 2010, the City of Burnaby, British Columbia honoured Fox by granting him Freedom of the City.
Fox started displaying symptoms of early-onset Parkinson's disease in 1990 while shooting the movie Doc Hollywood, although he was not properly diagnosed until the next year. After his diagnosis, Fox began drinking more heavily than in the past; however, he sought help and stopped drinking altogether. In 1998, he decided to go public with his condition, and since then he has been a strong advocate of 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, through embryonic stem cell studies.
Illness and activism
Fox manages the symptoms of his Parkinson's disease with the drug Sinemet, and he has also had a thalamotomy in 1998.
In his memoir, Lucky Man, Fox wrote that he did not take his medication prior to his testimony before the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee in 1998; "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".] His first book, Lucky Man focused on how after seven years of unacceptance of the disease he set up the Michael J Fox Foundation, stopped drinking and began to be an advocate of PD sufferers.
In an April 2002 NPR interview, Fox explained what he does when he becomes symptomatic during an interview: "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 times the symptoms that people see in some of these interviews that 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."
In 2006, Fox starred in a campaign ad for Claire McCaskill expressing her support for stem cell research. In the ad, he visibly showed the effects of his Parkinson's medication. "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 statistical impact on the way voters voted. 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 Dr. Oz to publicly discuss his condition as well as his book, his family and his prime time 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 the Time magazine. On March 5, 2010, Fox received an honorary doctorate in medicine from Karolinska Institutet for his contributions to research in Parkinson's disease. He also has received an honorary doctor of laws from the University of British Columbia.
Filmography
Actor
Film
Year Film Role Notes
1980 Midnight Madness Scott Fisher
1982 Class of 1984 Arthur
1985 Back to the Future Marty McFly, "Calvin Klein"
Teen Wolf Scott Howard
1987 Light of Day Joe Rasnick
The Secret of My Success Brantley Foster/Carlton Whitfield
1988 Bright Lights, Big City Jamie Conway
1989 Casualties of War PFC. Eriksson
Back to the Future Part II Marty McFly, Marty McFly Jr, Marlene McFly
1990 Back to the Future Part III Marty McFly, Seamus McFly
1991 The Hard Way Nick Lang/Ray Casanov
Doc Hollywood Dr. Benjamin Stone
1993 Homeward Bound: The Incredible Journey Chance Voice
Life with Mikey Michael "Mikey" Chapman
For Love or Money Doug Ireland
1994 Where the Rivers Flow North Clayton Farnsworth
Greedy Daniel McTeague
1995 Blue in the Face Pete Maloney
Coldblooded Tim Alexander Also Producer
The American President Lewis Rothschild
1996 Homeward Bound II: Lost in San Francisco Chance Voice
The Frighteners Frank Bannister
Mars Attacks! Jason Stone
1999 Stuart Little Stuart Little Voice
2001 Atlantis: The Lost Empire Milo James Thatch Voice
2002 Interstate 60 Mr. Baker
Stuart Little 2 Stuart Little Voice
Last Theatrical Film to Date.
2006 Stuart Little 3: Call of the Wild Stuart Little Voice
Direct-to-DVD
Last Film to Date.
Television
Year Title Role Notes
1977 The Magic Lie Episode: "The Master"
1979 Letters from Frank Ricky CBS TV-Movie
Lou Grant Paul Stone Episode: "Kids"
1980 Palmerstown, U.S.A. Willy-Joe Hall
Family Richard Topol Episode: "Such a Fine Line"
Trouble in High Timber Country Thomas Elston ABC TV-Movie
1981 Trapper John, M.D. Elliot Schweitzer Episode: Brain Child
Leo and Me Jamie Produced in 1976; was not televised on CBC until 1981
credited as "Mike Fox"
1982–1989 Family Ties Alex P. Keaton
1983 The Love Boat Episode: "I Like to Be in America..."
High School U.S.A. Jay-Jay Manners NBC TV-Movie/TV-Pilot
1984 Night Court Eddie Simms Episode: "Santa Goes Downtown"
The Homemade Comedy Special Host NBC TV-Special
1985 Poison Ivy Dennis Baxter NBC TV-Movie
1986 David Letterman's 2nd Annual Holiday Film Festival NBC TV-Special
Segment: The Iceman Hummeth
1988 Mickey's 60th Birthday Alex P. Keaton (a flashback clip) TV-Special
1990 Sex, Buys & Advertising TV-Special
1991 Saturday Night Live Host Episode: "Michael J. Fox/The Black Crowes"
Tales from the Crypt Prosecutor Episode: "The Trap"
1994 Don't Drink the Water Axel Magee ABC TV-Movie
1996–2001 Spin City Mike Flaherty Seasons 1 – 4
2002 Clone High Gandhi's Remaining Kidney Voice Role
"Escape to Beer Mountain: A Rope of Sand"
2004 Scrubs Dr. Kevin Casey Episode: "My Catalyst"
Episode: "My Porcelain God"
2006 Boston Legal Daniel Post
2009 The Magic 7 Marcel Maggot (voice only)
Rescue Me Dwight
2010 Colbert Report Himself
The Good Wife Lawyer
2010 Scream Awards Himself Back to the Future 25th Anniversary Tribute
[edit]Producer
Year(s) Film or television show Notes
1995 Coldblooded Producer
1996–2000 Spin City Executive producer
1999 Anna Says Executive producer
2002 Otherwise Engaged Executive producer
2003 Hench at Home Executive producer
Awards and nominations
Canada's Walk of Fame
2000: Inducted, Canada's Walk of Fame
Hollywood Walk of Fame
2002: Star on the Walk of Fame – 7021 Hollywood Blvd.
Emmy Awards
1985: Nominated, Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series – Family Ties
1986: Won, Outstanding Lead Actor in a Comedy Series – Family Ties
1987: Won, Outstanding Lead Actor in a Comedy Series – Family Ties
1988: Won, Outstanding Lead Actor in a Comedy Series – Family Ties
1989: Nominated, Outstanding Lead Actor in a Comedy Series – Family Ties
1997: Nominated, Outstanding Lead Actor in a Comedy Series – Spin City
1998: Nominated, Outstanding Lead Actor in a Comedy Series – Spin City
1999: Nominated, Outstanding Lead Actor in a Comedy Series – Spin City
2000: Won, Outstanding Lead Actor in a Comedy Series – Spin City
2006: Nominated, Outstanding Guest Actor in a Drama Series – Boston Legal
2009: Won, Outstanding Guest Actor in a Drama Series – Rescue Me
Golden Globe Awards
1986: Nominated, Best Performance by an Actor in a TV-Series — Comedy/Musical – Family Ties
1986: Nominated, Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture — Comedy/Musical – Back to the Future
1987: Nominated, Best Performance by an Actor in a TV-Series — Comedy/Musical – Family Ties
1989: Won, Best Performance by an Actor in a TV-Series — Comedy/Musical – Family Ties
1997: Nominated, Best Performance by an Actor in a TV-Series — Comedy/Musical – Spin City
1998: Won, Best Performance by an Actor in a TV-Series — Comedy/Musical – Spin City
1999: Won, Best Performance by an Actor in a TV-Series — Comedy/Musical – Spin City
2000: Won, Best Performance by an Actor in a TV-Series — Comedy/Musical – Spin City
Screen Actors Guild Awards[24]
1999: Won, Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Comedy Series – Spin City
2000: Won, Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Comedy Series – Spin City
Saturn Awards
1985: Won, Best Actor – Back to the Future
People's Choice Awards
1997: Won, Favorite Male Performer in a New Television Series
Satellite Awards
1997: Nominated, Best Performance by an Actor in a Television Series — Comedy or Musical – Spin City
1998: Nominated, Best Performance by an Actor in a Television Series — Comedy or Musical – Spin City
1999: Nominated, Best Performance by an Actor in a Television Series — Comedy or Musical – Spin City
Honorary Degrees
2008: Doctor of Fine Arts, honoris causa, New York University
2008: Doctor of Laws, honoris causa, University of British Columbia
2010: Honoris causa doctorate, Karolinska Institutet
Influential Canadian Expat Award
2009: Awarded "Most Influential Canadian Expat", Canadian Expat Association
Books
Fox, Michael J. (2002). Lucky Man: A Memoir. New York: Hyperion. ISBN 978-078686764-6
Fox, Michael J. (2009). Always Looking Up: The adventures of an Incurable Optimist. New York: Hyperion. ISBN 978-140130338-9
Fox, Michael J. (2010). A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Future: Twists and Turns and Lessons Learned. New York: Hyperion. ISBN 978-140132386-8
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