The Transformation Of Michael J. Fox From 10 To 60 Years Old

Among the biggest stars of the '80s, Michael J. Fox is best known for his role in the "Back to the Future" trilogy. The original film was one of the best, if not the best, sci-fi movies of all time. It jumps between the year it was released, 1985, and 1955, while the 1989 sequel, "Back to the Future II," showed what the world could look like in 2015. It gave an eerily accurate prediction. Biff Tannen, the movie's corrupt villain, ruled the fictional town of Hill Valley after gaining political power. Screenwriter Bob Gale told The Daily Beast that the character was based on future president Donald Trump, and Fox noted the similarities between the two men. "Every worst instinct in mankind has been played on [by Trump], and for me that's just anathema. Biff is president!" he told The Guardian in 2020. The movie also featured futuristic Nike sneakers, which the footwear company ended up producing. Nike dropped its first version of the "Back to the Future" Mags in 2011. The release was in partnership with the Michael J. Fox Center for Parkinson's Research, which the actor founded in 2000 after he was diagnosed with Parkinson's disease at a young age.

Despite his health setback, Fox continued to act while pursuing a cure for Parkinson's through his philanthropic efforts. He also became an author, writing multiple memoirs about his incredible life full of fame, tragedies, and hope. Let's hop in the DeLorean to see the transformation of Michael J. Fox.

According to Michael J. Fox, he had a tough time in school as a teen. In the actor's memoir "A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Future," he admitted, "Throughout junior high, my academic grades continued to plummet." He revealed that he was an A student when it came to creative classes like writing, drama, and art. However, STEM-related courses like math and physics dragged his grade point average down. He seemed to reference this academic deficiency during a 2020 interview with The Guardian when he compared walking while struggling with the effects of Parkinson's to "a frigging math problem."

Fox became more disinterested in making good grades in high school — he joined a nearby theater company and shifted his focus to acting instead. "During much of the fall of 1978, I was going to school by day and performing at night in a long-running hit play at the Vancouver Arts Club," he wrote. He remembered often staying at the theater until after midnight, even on school nights. As a result, he admitted that he was only going "through the I'm-off-to-class motions" when he was supposed to be preparing to spend his day trying to improve those bad grades. Looking back on his one-minded focus, the actor revealed that he partly regretted his grade school experience. "I always felt that I came up short in the education department," he confessed during a 2010 NPR interview.

While Michael J. Fox didn't take the traditional route of high school followed by college, he compared his move to California to pursuing higher education. In "A Funny Thing Happened On The Way To The Future," he revealed that he set himself a four-year goal to make it as an actor. He recalled how his early years in California "provided as intense an undergraduate experience as one would expect from any college career, replete with parties and heavy workloads." He also became close friends with three frat members at UCLA who lived in the apartment next door (via NPR). This allowed Fox to experience parts of college culture that he would have missed out on otherwise, like "free beer and college girls."

Fox was having fun socially but struggling to make ends meet. "I was getting all these great letters from collection agencies saying 'This is your last chance' in big red letters," he told The New York Times during a 1985 interview. Fortunately, he soon landed his breakthrough role as Alex P. Keaton in the TV sitcom "Family Ties." The actor said of his first big acting opportunity, "It's funny, because at a time when I was so low I would have taken any role, the role came around." In fact, he was so broke that he ended up negotiating his life-changing contract "from a phone booth in front of the Pioneer Chicken."

Few stars were hotter than Michael J. Fox in the late '80s. In addition to the first "Back to the Future" movie, the actor also starred in "Teen Wolf" in 1985. At one point, both films "held down the top two box-office spots," per The New York Times Magazine. Plus, he was still starring in the "top-rated" sitcom "Family Ties." The television series also introduced Fox to his future wife, actor Tracy Pollan. She joined the show to play Fox's on-screen girlfriend thanks in part to the actor himself. "Fox, after reading with five finalists, voted decisively for her," People reported in 1986. He said of his co-star, "Tracy had strength but she wasn't overbearing." In the beginning, both actors denied any speculation that they were involved in a real-life romance. Pollan lived on the East coast with her significant other at the time, Kevin Bacon, whom she expected to marry someday. However, she said of their relationship, "But I feel like we're kids still, and marriage is such a grown-up thing."

Fox also had marriage on his mind at the time thanks to his infatuated fans. He confessed to The New York Times in 1985, "I've gotten a lot of marriage proposals lately." He admitted of the admiration, "I'm not complaining." But by 1988, he and Pollan were husband and wife, per People. The couple went on to have four children together — son Sam, twins Aquinnah and Schuyler, and daughter Esmé.

In addition to his sci-fi work, Michael J. Fox starred in a variety of other films, including "Doc Hollywood," "Casualties of War" with Sean Penn, and the Walt Disney tear-jerker "Homeward Bound: The Incredible Journey," per IMDb. Then, following a string of unmemorable performances on the big screen, Fox returned to scripted television — the medium that first made him a star. Starting in 1996, he played New York City's Deputy Mayor Michael Flaherty in the ABC series "Spin City." The comedy, co-created by Bill Lawrence, who later helped create "Scrubs" and "Ted Lasso", was a huge success. The role was perfect for Fox, who earned "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," per his "Back to the Future" bio.

Behind the scenes, Fox was dealing with his Parkinson's disease diagnosis. According to the actor, the initial shock caused confusion about how to best balance his health and his acting career. He told The New York Times Magazine that it took about three years from initially learning about his diagnosis to accepting his health situation. He explained, "Acceptance doesn't mean resignation. It means understanding and dealing straightforwardly. When I did 'Spin City,' I started to do that."

At the start of the new millennium, Michael J. Fox announced his retirement from "Spin City." According to the actor, one of the reasons he decided to step away was due to increased physical difficulties. He spoke to The New York Times Magazine about his later years in the series, saying, "I felt my face hardening. My movements were constricted." He added that while filming, "I would anchor myself against a desk or the wall. Eventually it was too burdensome. So I left."

As recapped on his bio for the Michael J. Fox Center for Parkinson's Research, which he founded in 2000, Fox wanted to ceremoniously leave "upon the completion of his fourth season and 100th episode" of the sitcom. The actor announced that his health issues and "new priorities made this the right time to step away from the demands of a weekly series." While speaking to The New York Times after founding his research foundation, Fox said, "Not in any way do I think I'm bringing any kind of great intellect or insight to Parkinson's." Instead, he hoped to use his celebrity status to bring awareness to the cause, in addition to learning more about the disease himself. Twenty years later, his foundation would be one of the leaders in helping people affected by the disease. As of 2020, it "has funded more than $1 billion in Parkinson's research," The New York Times reported.

Over a decade after announcing his diagnosis with Parkinson's disease, Michael J. Fox was still proving that he was one of the best actors around. In 2009, he guest-starred on the FX drama "Rescue Me." For his portrayal of the "embittered, drug-addicted Dwight," Fox won his fifth Emmy award, according to his Michael J. Fox Center for Parkinson's Research bio. The following year, Fox joined the TV series "The Good Wife." In the series, he played Louis Canning, an attorney "who used his tardive dyskinesia to his clients' advantage." He was once again captivating on-screen, and he continued the role from 2010 to 2016. He stepped back into the character's shoes in 2020 for the spin-off series "The Good Fight."

One of the most impressive aspects of all Fox's acting work during these years was how he dealt with the unpredictability of his disease. According to The Guardian, he wouldn't know "when his daily meds will kick in" to help lessen his symptoms. Reportedly, he could easily become "'akinetic', seized by tremors and stiffness." Alternatively, he could also become "'dyskinesic', sending him 'rocking, dipping, diving.'" But through all the tough days, Fox continued to stay positive. In 2009, he followed up his 2003 best-selling memoir "Lucky Man" with his second book, "Always Looking Up: The Adventures of an Incurable Optimist." Plus, Fox continued to advocate for research on Parkinson's, even once appearing "unmedicated before Congress, to illustrate the terrible effects of the disease," per The Guardian. 

In 2018, Michael J. Fox started a limited run on the TV series "Designated Survivor" starring Kiefer Sutherland. It was a reunion for the two actors, who were both leads in the movie "Bright Lights, Big City," which came out three decades earlier. Speaking about what it was like having the big '80s stars back together, one of the show's actors and directors, Timothy Busfield, told TV Insider, "It was great watching two old friends with such history play off of each other." In his opinion, Fox and Sutherland "clearly loved each other from their experiences decades ago."

As if dealing with the effects of Parkinson's disease wasn't difficult enough, Fox sadly faced another health setback in 2018 when he had to undergo surgery for a recurring spinal cord issue. "I was told it was benign but if it stayed static I would have diminished feeling in my legs and difficulty moving," he told The New York Times Magazine. Fox said his breaking point came when he suddenly "started falling" so much that "It was getting ridiculous." But things were looking up again post-operation, with the actor successfully completing physical therapy. Then disaster struck. "I woke up, walked into the kitchen to get breakfast, misstepped and I went down. I fractured the hell out of my arm. I ended up getting 19 pins and a plate," Fox recalled. Before the accident, he had decided "to do some acting," but the injury "was such a blow" to his progress.