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Inside Michael J. Fox's Life and Career | ET Evolution | career, evolution | Inside Michael J. Fox's life and career. | By Entertainment Tonight | Facebook | Tonight, ET presents Michael J
Fox from Teen Idol to Advocate. It's all been one kind of great
ride. We celebrate the man living life with no regrets.
I'm just having a good time. Why acting wasn't his first
career choice but superstardom was his destiny. I think I'm a
one-in-one shot where it paid off. What you never knew about
Michael's private life. Are you guys dating tonight? We're
married. You said you weren't going to tell. No. And public
battles. Progressive, degenerative, incurable, very
rare. We open the ET Vault revealing four decades worth of
never before seen interviews. Who is or was your favorite
close starter kiss? My wife. That's easy. Our time with the
husband, the father, and the fighter. I've had to kind of
make adjustments in my life to be able to do my work still.
Was now focused on changing the world. It's a bright future
ahead. ET starts now. I From Alex P Keaton to Marty McFly,
tonight we celebrate the one and only Michael J Fox. Welcome
to Entertainment Tonight. Of course, April's Parkinson's
Awareness Month and Michael's new Apple TV plus documentary
still drops May 12th but until then, we're looking back at
ET's 40 plus years of interviews with the beloved
actor, writer, and producer turned Parkinson's advocate. Oh
yeah, but let's not forget his first ever title, Boy Prince of
Hollywood. I'm 22 and my energy is right
now focused on on my career and trying to figure out who I am
I'm probably the most anxious to see what is going to happen
I added it up on the way home Leo I've been in seven jams in
two weeks Michael was just 15 years old when he landed his
first major role in the Canadian sitcom Leo and me but
acting wasn't his first choice for a career I wanted to play
professional hockey and my size seem to be the biggest barrier
and then I got into drama and and I found if you made girls
laugh you know, you collected more phone numbers. I was real
lucky and that I latched on to acting and really devoted
myself to it. His devotion led to a crossroads in nineteen
seventy-nine. Should he finish high school or chase his dream.
With the support of his family, Michael dropped out and swapped
the suburbs of Vancouver for the bright lights of Hollywood.
I came down to the States when I was 18, living on my own and
and and trying to make it as an actor and playing, you know,
dodge the landlord and you know, borrowing people's phones
and selling furniture and eating plain wrapped tuna and
all that stuff. I think I'm a one in a million shot where it
paid off. It took Michael a few years to see the payoff. In
1982, he got his big break as Alex P Keaton on family ties.
Well, how do I look? Middle aged. By 8five, the sitcom was
one of the most watched shows on TV. Teen Wolf and Back to
the Future were released the same year and Michael went from
TV star to Teen Idol almost overnight. When is the first
time you got sort of mobbed by fans? I was in New York when I
was walking down the street and this little girl, she wanted to
marry me and all she was weeping. So, I'm trying to calm
her down and finally, I looked to her mother for support and
her mother was weeping and so I thought, I'm in trouble. The
new found attention led to a roster of high-profile
girlfriends including Jennifer Gray, Sarah Jessica Parker, and
Facts of Life star Nancy McKeon then at the 1986 Oscars. You're
dating Michael Fox tonight? Tonight. Are you guys dating
tonight? Rumors even swirled about his
Family Ties love interest Courtney Cox. He's a really
nice person to work with anyway and so I I feel the chemistry's
there. In terms of you know Michael Fox and and Courtney
Cox having an affair. That's so predictable and untrue that
it's boring and just laughable. Oh no my dear you're going to
sit down right now and tell me exactly where you've been for
the past 2 hours. ET was on set with the Family Ties cast
during season 1 in 1982 where we first saw Michael up close
and personal as everyone's favorite young Republican Alex
P Keaton. But get this, he had to fight an audition. They had
made an offer to Matthew Driver who turned it down. NBC's
executives were a tough sell too. They thought at five foot
four, Michael was too short to be believable as the son of his
TV dad, Michael Gross, who stood a foot taller but Fox's
Fresh Face made it possible for him to play a high schooler
even though he was twenty-one. I think there there are
limitations with my size and with the way I look but there
there aren't any limitations with the things I want to do,
you know. Michael's boy's charm made family ties must-see TV.
The show's momentum even helped launch the careers of guest
stars like Tom Hanks, Christina Applegate, Julia Louie Dryfus,
and Gina Davis. Was that cool to kiss her? Once I get off the
ladder. Another on-screen love interest, his future wife,
Tracy Pollen. She played Allen who was Alex's first real
serious girlfriend. Oh, what was your first impression of
each other? You have said you thought he was cocky? No, he
was. That was a fact. He was. That
was a fact. He was very young and he was very very
successful. Yeah. He had like three cars. Yeah. You know. Uh
five. I've ever seen you in the waiting room and I want to just
walk in and said cast her. Sure. Alright, she looks great.
Family Ties collected a total 5 Emmy Awards, three of which
went to Michael. He also earned his first Golden Globe for the
show's final season in nineteen eighty-nine. More than 36
million fans tuned in for the series finale. What an what an
incredible gift this has been. Thank you to all the people
who've watched the show. You know, you've you've made my
life right? And I appreciate it. But one little known fact,
during the height of his family ties fame, Michael started
working on his movie career, shooting back to the future. It
happened so quick. Certainly, it was a big step to do
feature-length multi-million-dollar film.
Michael actually wasn't the first one cast as teenage time
traveler Marty McFly. Nope, that was his look alike, Eric
Stoltz, who got fired several weeks into filming. As dramatic
method actor, he just wasn't a good fit. There was so little
time to really think a lot about replacing another actor,
maybe what he did and what I shouldn't do. Boomer was there
and and and doing it and then it was just staying awake. Yep,
staying away was the tough part. Michael was pulling
double duty working on family ties from 10 to six then
driving to the movie set where he'd work until two AM. That
went on for 3 months. In between takes I was sleeping. I
was working day sixteen, 18, 20-hour days. With two hundred
twenty-two million at the box office Back to the Future
became the highest grossing movie of nineteen eighty-five
worldwide. Turning Michael into one of the most in-demand stars
of the decade. Every year we talk to you, you
become a bigger and bigger star. Nope, still five four.
No. Between nineteen eighty-four and the time family
ties ended in nineteen eighty-nine, Michael's career
hit a break neck pace. Eight major movies in five years
including the Back to the Future sequels which shot
simultaneously over nearly a year. ET was on set. Action.
Originally, it was all one script and it was just too much
stuff and so they man it into two. You got to come back with
me. We're back to the future. It basically continues where it
left off last time. We're going to the future because something
has to be done about my kids. In a part three, it gets even
weirder. There's a lot of character work and a lot of
makeup. I play my son. I play my father. Mom. Mom, is that
you? Playing a teenage girl, you know, and I don't know. I
thought it was kind of cute. Yeah, Michael dressed in drag
to play his own daughter in Back to the Future too. He went
outside his comfort zone again in a handful of dramatic roles.
There was an upside to a drug addicted writer in the 1988
drama Bright Lights Big City reuniting with his future wife
Tracy Pollen. Are you sure you're alright? Well, my brain
is trying to find a way out of his skull. The fact that Tracy
is my girlfriend was nice. The fact that she's an incredibly
gifted actress who I've been lucky enough to work with
before was better. Who is or was your favorite co-star to
kiss? My wife. That's easy. I just remember that terrifying
first week on family ties and being more scared than anything
else I'd ever done. I am a very nice person except when I'm
around people like you. Oh, people like me, people like me.
I happened to like people like me. I didn't start seeing her
when she was on the show. Yes, it wasn't love at first sight.
Miss Nancy McKeon and Mr. Michael Fox. In fact, at the
time, Michael was dating the facts of Life Star and Tracy
was in a long-term relationship with Footloose's Kevin Bacon.
So, a couple years later when I ran into her again and we
started seeing each other of all the great things that have
come from the show. Tracy obviously is by far and away
the best. Michael Rankins ET was there for the couple's
first red carpet together at the Emmy's. The following July,
their Vermont wedding created a media frenzy. Photographers
staked out the ceremony on the ground and in the sky. So our
wedding was another whole surreal thing but it was great
and it stuck. It took which is all that matters. And it's hard
to believe but this summer they'll celebrate their 35th
anniversary. She's great. She's she's she's my best friend and
and she's so sexy as hell and she But as much as those two
are couples goals, wait til we tell you about their family.
Fox Party of six. I mean, I see people with their little
toddlers and I want to grab them and say, you don't know
how fast this will go. Yeah. This goes so fast. Our favorite
thing is just spending time together as a family and they
would say the same thing. Yeah, it's definitely true. It's
really nice to be with both my parents. Home-cooked meals are
really big thing in our family so just like sitting down at
the dinner table and like talking about our day. Twins,
Skylar, and a make up half the squad. They both work for media
companies. Esme, the youngest is at Duke. Elvis Sam who could
totally pass as his dad's doppelganger is in show
business too. Sam works in film production and got a taste of
the business early on. It's been fun doing definitely more
behind the scenes stuff and and being a part of the industry
but in a way that's that's different from what I grew up
with. I didn't bust my **** so he could bust his **** bust my
**** so he could take a break. I think that generational can
racial vacation. Last month, Michael introduced fans to the
newest edition, this adorable pup, Blue. Yep, his family ties
are strong and his kids say it all comes down to two words,
dad jokes. He definitely has a problem where he can't resist
making a pun if it's available to him. He looks like he's in
pain trying not to say it. You think he's corny and he
embarrasses you? Yes. Absolutely. Uh fatherhood, the
greatest gig in the world. We go from Michael the dad to
Michael the Spin Doctor. This is like stepping back in time.
Men like us have to keep looking to the future. All
roads lead back to the future. Yes, Christopher Lloyd guest
starred on Michael's hit sitcom Spin City back in nineteen
ninety-nine. Now, the show was Fox's big TV comeback since
leaving family ties and you know that ET was always invited
on set. And two, take one. And action. Every week is an
accomplishment. Every week is a new little 22minute movie. Am I
better at it? I don't know. Do I have more fun? Yeah, this is
great. Michael's inspiration to return to the small screen came
from an unlikely place. I was watching, I said, man, TV has
changed. You can really, you can really bust the form and I
and all of a sudden, I realized that that Jerry Seinfeld was
the smartest guy in the world. All of a sudden, it just all
started, you know, click in my head that that was a thing to
do. I feel good. Thank you. Oh. I'm having a blast. I'm having
so much fun. The show was a hit from the start and Michael was
nominated for four straight Emmys winning one. Oh and since
he was also the show's executive producer, you can bet
Michael had a say in casting. I can't believe you're standing
here. He did this kissing scene last night. It was like
especially sexy, yeah. It was pretty cool. At the height of
the show's popularity in nineteen ninety-eight, Michael
publicly announced he had been secretly battling Parkinson's
disease for 7 years. Two years later, he announced he'd be
leaving the show. It's bittersweet but but I feel good
about the choice and and yeah, people couldn't have been more
loving and supportive. He also kept his final season
with a Golden Globe. Michael J Fox. To go up on that stage and
to I mean you know who's out there and to see those people
stand up. Promised myself that I wouldn't do this. Um it's
great. Oh, so deserving. Now, while Hollywood continues to
celebrate Michael, his mission moving forward was clear. Find
a cure for Parkinson's. You make, you're making me
shake. 7. Now, I definitely can't walk and carry this
thing. So, I asked Tracy to once again carry the weight.
She is his rock. Michael J Fox was awarded the Gene Hershold
Humanitarian Oscar at the 2022 Governor's Awards for his
efforts in fighting Parkinson's Disease. Yeah, it was presented
to him by his long time friend and former co-star, Woody
Harrison. Now, the duo worked together on Michael's 199-one
movie, Doc Hollywood. I really like that movie. And that was
the same year Michael was diagnosed with young onset
Parkinson's at just 29 years old. Canadian life insurance.
What? Woody just came on the it and said, I am Woody and I
think you're great and I think you're really funny and I said,
well, this is the beginning of a very nice friendship. We just
been hanging out ever since. Michael was out partying with
his friend and co-star the night before he noticed his
first symptom. I was feeling a little disoriented. That's when
I noticed my pinky. It was trembling, twitching, auto
animated. How long this had been going on? I wasn't exactly
sure but now that I noticed it, I was surprised to discover
that I couldn't stop it. Initially, he blamed it on his
hangover but a few months later, Michael's doctor gave
him the diagnosis that would change his life for good. I
don't think said anything. I don't think I felt anything.
The doctor said some more words like young onset, progressive,
degenerative, incurable, very rare, your age, new drugs, new
hope, brain surgery. The air was sucked from my lungs. What
was I going to tell my wife? I kept it to myself for 7 years.
No, Michael didn't hit the breaks on his career, he hit
the gas. Taking any job he could get against the wishes of
his wife Tracy. In those 7 years of silence, he appeared
in 12 movies and made a return to prime time TV in the
physically Spin City. Every time he stepped on set, he did
everything he could to keep his Parkinson's a secret. I'm
always calculating. I'm always figuring out how am I going to
do this thing that I need to do. You know, when do I take a
pill? So, it's a whole bag of tricks. Before the public knew
ET's cameras caught Michael using those tricks to mask the
symptoms of the incurable brain disorder. Here, you can see him
holding props to slow his tremors. His pockets became a
tool to conceal his hands. It's hard for me to stay still until
it's for the people to move. Stress is a symptom multiplier.
Your brain just goes, no, you know, we're in deceit. The most
dangerous crutch of all, alcohol. He drank to
disassociate, hiding empty bottles from Tracy at home and
the habit took a toll on their marriage. One time, I woke up
with a hangover and I expected Tracy to be mad at me. She
wasn't angry. She was just bored and and that to me was
more frightening than anything. I was kind of feeling done and
I just thought, you know what, this is now on you and you're
either going to do what you need to do or you're not.
Today, Michael is more than three decades sober. Once I
looked at it, went just a direct reaction to this this
diagnosis that I haven't dealt with. I haven't really looked
at that. If I look at that, then everything else will fall
into place. I don't think you helped someone get through
that. That's that's a road that everybody has to sort of go on
themselves but I was always there for him. Michael stepped
back from acting full time in two thousand to focus on a
bigger mission, finding a cure. His foundation's annual gala
has helped raise more than one point five billion dollars for
high-impact research programs. Well, the B word is nice. The C
word is going to be better than cure. I've described
Parkinson's is having Parkinson's as being a gift and
people think I'm nuts and you know, yes, the gift that keeps
on taking but but what it's what it's brought into my life,
the giving and the thoughtfulness and the empathy
and the and the desire to take action to help others to be a
witness to that is a great privileges. You know, his fight
has inspired so many others. Well, that was a moment.
Twenty-five years after Back to the Future three, Marty and Doc
made a surprise visit to Jimmy Kimmel Live back in twenty
fifteen, DeLorean and all. And although Michael retired from
acting back in 2020 due to his declining help, he never missed
an opportunity to reunite with his Back to the Future family.
I love that cast so much. I could watch that movie. Can we
get a DeLorean? Over. Can we get. Here you go. Can we get a
good night everybody? When I saw Chris at this I just threw
my arms around this because I was so happy to see him. He's
gone to being this anxious, being a guy who's kind of like
my brother, being a guy who's really a father figured. What's
fun about Chris is that you never know what Chris is
going to do. Rose, where we're going, we don't need Rose it's
a match made in heaven. We have a good chemistry. It's
automatic. We all feel collectively that we're
involved with something that's bigger than we are. None of us
expected this.
Love Michael he is such a wonderful amazing person Thank you E.T. FOR Honouring him in the special show he is a brilliant actor and fantastic husband and father God bless him and his beautiful family