Michael J. Fox
From The Art and Popular Culture Encyclopedia
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Michael Andrew Fox, OC (born June 9, 1961), known professionally as Michael J. Fox, is a Canadian-American actor, author, comedian, producer, and activist. With a film and television career spanning from the 1970s, Fox starred in the Back to the Future trilogy, where he portrayed Marty McFly. Other notable roles have included Mike Flaherty on the ABC sitcom Spin City (1996–2000), for which he won five Emmys, four Golden Globes, and two Screen Actors Guild Awards and his portrayal of Alex P. Keaton on the American sitcom Family Ties.
Fox was diagnosed with Parkinson's disease in 1991, at age 29, 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 advocate for research toward finding a cure; he created the Michael J. Fox Foundation, and on March 5, 2010, Sweden's Karolinska Institute gave him an honoris causa doctorate for his work in advocating a cure for Parkinson's disease.
