Bio
Michael J. Fox is a Canadian actor best known for his roles as Marty McFly in the Back to the Future movie trilogy; as Alex P. Keaton in Family Ties, for which he won three Emmy Awards and a Golden Globe Award; and as Mike Flaherty in Spin City (1996-2000), for which he won an Emmy, three Golden Globes and two Screen Actors Guild Awards.
Fox began as a professional actor at 15 years old, co-starring in the sitcom Leo and Me on the Canadian Broadcasting Corp. with future Tony Award winner Brent Carver. Over the next three years, Fox juggled local theatre and TV work and landed a few roles in American TV movies shooting in Canada.
In 1982, he won the role of lovable conservative Alex P. Keaton on NBC's popular Family Ties. During seven years on Family Ties, Fox earned three Emmy Awards and a Golden Globe, making him one of the country's most prominent young actors.
Fox returned to series television in 1996 with ABC's Spin City, portraying New York Deputy Mayor Michael Flaherty. He won critical praise as well as plenty of hardware, garnering three Golden Globe Awards, one Emmy Award, three Emmy nominations, a GQ Man of the Year Award in the TV comedy category, a People's Choice Award and two Screen Actors Guild Awards.
Fox also had time during his busy TV work to become an international film star, appearing in over a dozen features showcasing his keen ability to shift between comedy and drama.
These include the Back to the Future trilogy, The Hard Way, Doc Hollywood, The Secret of My Success, Bright Lights, Big City, Light of Day, Teen Wolf, Casualties of War, Life with Mikey, For Love or Money, The American President, Greedy, The Frighteners and Mars Attacks!.
Though he would not share the news with the public for another seven years, Fox was diagnosed with young onset Parkinson's disease in 1991. Upon disclosing his condition in 1998, he committed himself to the campaign for increased Parkinson's research.
Fox has shifted his primary focus and energies toward the Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson's Research, which he launched in 2000. Its effort is to raise much-needed awareness and research funding for Parkinson's disease.
Fox wholeheartedly believes that if there is a concentrated effort from the Parkinson's community, elected representatives in Washington, D.C. and (most importantly) the general public, researchers can pinpoint the cause of Parkinson's and uncover a cure within our lifetime.
In 2013 he returned to series television in The Michael J. Fox Show as one of NY's most beloved news anchors, Mike Henry, who put his career on hold to spend more time with his family and focus on his health after he was diagnosed with Parkinson's.
Fox married his Family Ties co-star, actress Tracy Pollan, in 1988. Together they have four children.