Michael J. Fox (born Michael Andrew Fox on June 9, 1961) is a Canadian/American film and television actor. His roles include Marty McFly from the Back to the Future trilogy (1985-1990); Alex P. Keaton from Family Ties (1982-1989), for which he won three Emmy Awards and a Golden Globe Award; and Mike Flaherty from Spin City (1996-2000), for which he won an Emmy, three Golden Globes, and two Screen Actors Guild Awards.

Fox was diagnosed with Parkinson's disease in 1991, and disclosed his condition to the public in 1998. As the symptoms of his disease worsened, he retired from full-time acting in 2000.

Born Michael Andrew Fox in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada, he adopted the "J" as an homage to character actor Michael J. Pollard. Moving several times during the course of his childhood, Michael and his family settled in Burnaby, a suburb of Vancouver. At the age of 15 he made his professional acting debut in the situation comedy "Leo and Me" (1981). Moving to Los Angeles at the age of 18, Fox appeared in several small parts and a television series, "Palmerstown, U.S.A." (1980), before landing the role that would bring him to prominence in "Family Ties" (1982). Some of his other films include Bright Lights, Big City (1988), Hard Way, The (1991), Light of Day (1987), Doc Hollywood (1991) and the three "Back to the Future" films.

Michael J. Fox was born in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada on June 9, 1961 as Michel Andrew Fox. His parents, Bill and Phyllis, moved their ten-year-old son, his three sisters, Kelli, Karen and Jacki and his brother Steven to Vancouver, British Columbia after his dad, a sergeant in the Canadian Army Signal Corps, retired. It was during these years that Michael developed his desire to act. At fifteen, he successfully auditioned for the role of a ten-year-old in a series called _"Leo and Me" (1976)_. Gaining attention as a bright new star in Canadian television and movies, Michael realized his love for acting when he appeared on stage in "The Shadow Box". At eighteen, he moved to Los Angeles and was offered a few roles in television shows but early acting success ended fast when the roles stopped coming. For a while he survived on boxes of macaroni and cheese. Then his agent called to tell him that he got the part of Alex Keaton on the TV series "Family Ties" (1982). He starred in the feature films, Teen Wolf (1985), High School U.S.A. (1983) (TV), Poison Ivy (1985) (TV) and Back to the Future (1985).