Most recently seen in a couple of episodes of The Good Fight as Louis Canning, as well as in a 30-minute animated short film, Michael J Fox is an award-winning actor who spans genres from comedies to dramas. He is responsible for some of the most iconic roles of the '80s like Marty McFly and Alex P. Keaton. On top of his enviable acting career, Fox has been an outspoken advocate and philanthropist for Parkinson's research after he publicly shared that he was diagnosed with the progressive disorder in 1991.
He even launched The Michael J. Fox Foundation nonprofit that sees proceeds going to Parkinson's research and the development of improved therapies. It's safe to say that Michael J. Fox has made an immeasurable impact on pop culture, both through his memorable film roles and his activism.
He's A Proud Canadian
Born in Edmonton, Canada in 1961, Fox has lived all over the Great White North due to his childhood as an army kid. Even though he has lived in the United States for decades now, he has always proclaimed his love for his birth country.
In a 1987 interview with the CBC, Fox noted how he has always been proud to be from Canada and would always hold his home country as a part of his identity. Likewise, many years later in a 2017 article with the CBC, Fox still held dear his Canadian roots as he stated, "My reference for everything is my Canadian background."
He Plays Guitar
Fox is associated with his rock music-loving, skateboarding teen character in Back to the Future, but Fox can actually play the guitar in real life.
In an article from Guitar World, it was noted that Fox had actually auditioned for the Canadian glam metal band, Helix, when he was a youngster. Also, Fox told about how leading up to filming the Johnny B. Goode performance, he told director Robert Zemeckis that he would actually be playing, so he could show his fingers on camera at any time. Despite his guitar knowledge beforehand, he still had a guitar teacher in order for things to come out perfectly.
Role Rejection Was Common In His Early Days In Hollywood
In an article with Men's Health, Fox reminisced on how his early days in Hollywood were not easy. In 1979, Fox dropped out of high school and moved from Canada to Los Angeles, where he struggled for two years to get any acting gigs.
Casting directors turned him down for his 5-foot-5-inch stature and his Canadian accent, which was still very much audible at the time. However, his perseverance and resilience eventually resulted in him obtaining some roles until his breakout part as Alex in the successful sitcom, Family Ties.
He Was Not Wanted For His Breakout Role
Michael J. Fox auditioned for the role of right-wing teen Alex P. Keaton in Family Ties. However, the creator, Gary David Goldberg, wanted Matthew Broderick for the role, as mentioned in Showbiz Cheatsheet.
When Broderick turned down the role, the casting staff thought that Fox would be a great replacement. Yet, Goldberg resisted and originally did not want Fox. However, after a second audition, Goldberg's mind was changed and he was firmly in Fox's corner.
He Came Up With Some Of The Lines In Back To The Future
Fox is a very smart and witty actor. He was once said to be able to turn a joke on a page that would normally get one laugh, and be able to get three laughs out of it. Given Fox's comedic talents, it is interesting to note that Fox actually came up with some of the funny lines in Back to the Future.
Director Robert Zemeckis told Men's Health that it was actually Fox who came up with the "Over there—on my hope chest" line when Marty asks his teenage mother where his pants are after she rescues him after he got hit by a car. The line was originally just meant to say "Over there" but Fox's addition shows Lorraine's craziness for Marty while adding a joke to what would have been a throwaway line.
He Met His Wife On Family Ties
Michael J. Fox has been married to his wife, actress Tracy Pollan, since 1988. The pair met on the set of Fox's TV show Family Ties.
Fox played a main character, Alex, while Pollan appeared in seasons 4 and 5 of the popular NBC show playing Ellen Reed. The character of Ellen served as the love interest of Alex. While Alex and Ellen's relationship did not last, Fox and Pollan have been together for over 30 years.
He Almost Died On the Set of Back To The Future Part 3
Fox has always recounted how much fun he had shooting the Back to the Future trilogy, exhausting as they may have been to shoot. However, there was a horrible accident that nearly killed the actor when he was shooting Back to the Future: Part 3.
In his 2002 book, Lucky Man: A Memoir, Fox wrote that the hanging scene in the movie had him in a noose that was tighter than it should have been to shoot the stunt. As a result, he started to lose air and became unconscious until the director realized what was happening and then immediately got him down to safety.
He Had A Weird Thing About Identical Twins
Fox was every bit the proud and adoring father when he went on The Rosie O'Donnell Show as a guest in 1996. On the talk show, he talked to O'Donnell about his young son and toddler identical twin daughters.
This led to an interesting anecdote about how when he and his wife found out that they were expecting identical twins, Fox made a weird noise, and when the doctor asked why he made that noise, his wife told the doctor that Fox had always considered identical twins "wacky." When asked why he thought of twins that way previous to his daughters, Fox explained it was because of the twins in the classic Stanley Kubrick horror movie, The Shining.
He Loves Wilderness Survival Shows
As many people did during the pandemic, Fox found a show he became obsessed with, which he beamingly explained to a Men's Health reporter in a 2020 article.
Alone places participants in the harsh wilderness with only a backpack and Fox especially loved the eloquence of the participants' tapes they make while out in the wilderness. Amazingly, he claims it was this eloquence that helped him in the writing of his 2020 book, No Time Like the Future.
He Is The Author Of Four Books
With multiple film and TV credits under his belt, Fox added author to his long list of accomplishments when he wrote his first book Lucky Man: A Memoir in 2002, an autobiography of his life until that point,
Next came the 2009 book, Always Looking Up: The Adventures of an Incurable Optimist and only a year later came his next book, A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Future: Twists and Turns and Lessons Learned in 2010. Following this is the most recent of his works, 2020's No Time Like the Future: An Optimist Considers Mortality.