Michael J. Fox, born June 9, 1961, in Edmonton, Canada, became a global superstar in the 1980s through his iconic roles as Alex P. Keaton in Family Ties and Marty McFly in the Back to the Future trilogy. After being diagnosed with Parkinson's disease in 1991—which he publicly disclosed in 1998—he founded The Michael J. Fox Foundation in 2000 to fund research, becoming a leading advocate for a cure. Despite his worsening symptoms, he continued acting in projects like Spin City, Stuart Little, and The Good Wife before officially retiring in 2020. His remarkable career has earned him five Emmys, four Golden Globes, and a Grammy, alongside prestigious honors like the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2025 and the Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award in 2022. Interestingly, he adopted the "J" in his stage name because the Screen Actors Guild already had a registered actor named Michael Fox, prompting him to differentiate himself.