Michael J. Fox is a successful Canadian celebrity who has spent much of his career in the United States. A familiar face on both the big and small screen, he has starred in a number of movies and series. Fox’s professional life started in 1970.
However, it was his role on the immensely successful NBC comedy Family Ties that propelled him to fame in the early 1980s (1982-1989). In the 1980s, he had an appearance in the middle film of the now-iconic Back to the Future trilogy (1985-1990). Fox’s starring role in the movie catapulted his stardom.
Early Years
Michael Andrew Fox was born on June 9, 1961, in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada to parents William and Phyllis (née Piper). Phyllis worked as a payroll clerk and actor, while William served for 25 years in the Canadian Armed Forces before becoming a police dispatcher. Fox’s family tree includes the United Kingdom and Ireland. His paternal grandmother hailed from Belfast, Northern Ireland.
His father’s business has required the family to relocate frequently across Canada, thus he has spent much of his life living in a variety of urban and rural settings. In 1971, after his father’s retirement, the family moved to Burnaby, a sizeable suburb of Vancouver. His dad had a heart attack and died on January 6th, 1990. Fox, who went to Burnaby Central Secondary, now has a theatre at Burnaby South Secondary dedicated after him.
Fox, at 15 years old, appeared in an episode of Leo and Me a Canadian television sitcom produced by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. In 1979, when he was just 18 years old, Fox moved to Los Angeles to pursue an acting career. He moved back to Vancouver soon after tying the knot.
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What is Michael J. Fox’s Net Worth and Salary?
Canadian-American Michael J. Fox has earned $65 million as an actor, comedian, author, film producer, and campaigner. His film and TV career began in the 1970s, and he is perhaps most well-known for his part as Marty McFly in the “Back to the Future” trilogy.
Real Estate
While the family’s primary residence is in the Big Apple, they also have a home they bought in Quogue, New York (the Hamptons) in October 2007 for $6.3 million.
Michael and Tracy built a 5,000-square-foot, custom home on 72 acres near Sharon, Connecticut, in 1997. Initially asking $4.25 million, they lowered their asking price to $3.9 million in October 2017.
Career Beginnings
At the age of fifteen, he made his debut in the entertainment industry. The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation’s sitcom “Leo and Me,” in which he starred, aired throughout Canada. The series’ production and filming began in 1976, but it didn’t premiere until 1981. Twelve installments made up the whole series. Letters from Frank, a television film, was his first appearance on American screens (1979).
When he went to join the Screen Actors Guild, however, he found out that someone else had already claimed the name, Michael Fox. After considering the names “Andrew” and “Andy,” he decided on a different middle initial since he did not like the way “Michael A. Fox” sounded. In honor of the late actor Michael J. Pollard, he decided on the initials “J.”
Back to the Future
Fox got the part of Marty McFly in the 1985 time-travel movie “Back to the Future” in January. Director Robert Zemeckis had always intended to cast Fox in the role of Marty, but the show’s creator, Gary David Goldberg, would not let him because he required Fox to replace Meredith Baxter while she was on maternity leave.
Even though “Back to the Future” production had already begun with Eric Stoltz in the role of Marty, Zemeckis eventually replaced Stoltz with Fox after Baxter’s return to “Family Ties” opened up some scheduling time for Fox. Fox had to put up with a demanding schedule so that she could work on both the movie and the TV show at the same time.
On a typical day, he would start at 10 a.m. and work on “Family Ties” until 6 p.m. before heading to the set of “Back to the Future” for more rehearsals and filming until 2:30 a.m. In total, this routine lasted for two whole months! However, his efforts were validated by “Back to the Future’s” critical and commercial success.
It was the highest-grossing film of 1985 in the United States, bringing in $381.11 million worldwide and holding the top spot for eight straight weekends. Fox went on to star in both “Back to the Future Part II” (1989) and “Back to the Future Part III,” both of which were also huge box-office successes (1990).
Other Film Work
Fox’s filmography includes the likes of “Teen Wolf” (1985), “Light of Day” (1987), “The Secret of My Success” (1987), “Bright Lights, Big City” (1988), and “Casualties of War” (1989), all of which were released during or shortly after her time on the “Back to the Future” trilogy (1989). Fox starred in the films “Doc Hollywood” and “The Hard Way” in 1991.
In the same year, he learned he had Parkinson’s disease from a private doctor. Fox quickly accepted a three-film contract after being told he probably had “10 solid working years remaining.” For Love or Money (1993), Life With Mikey (1993), and Greedy (1993) are all products of this trend (1994). The Frighteners, directed by Peter Jackson and starring Fox in 1996, was her final significant film performance.
Fox has contributed his voice to a number of films in addition to his acting appearances. In the live-action Disney movies “Homeward Bound: The Incredible Journey” (1993) and “Homeward Bound II: Lost in San Francisco” (1996), he provided the voice of Chance the American Bulldog (1996).
Milo Thatch in Disney’s “Atlantis: The Lost Empire” was also voiced by him, as was the title character in “Stuart Little” (1999), “Stuart Little 2” (2002), and “Stuart Little 3: Call of the Wild” (2005). (2001).
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Personal Life
In July of 1988, Fox wed actress Tracy Pollan They have four children as a couple. His goal with the Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson’s Research is to develop a treatment for Parkinson’s disease through embryonic stem cell research. The foundation has raised more than $300 million towards Parkinson’s disease study to this point.
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