Michael Andrew Fox OC born June 9 1961 known professionally as Michael J Fox is a retired CanadianAmerican actor Beginning his career in the 1970s he rose to prominence portraying Alex P Keaton on the NBC sitcom Family Ties 19821989 Fox is famous for his role as protagonist Marty McFly in the Back to the Future film trilogy 19851990 a critical and commercial success He went on to headline several films throughout the 1980s and 1990s including Teen Wolf 1985 The Secret of My Success 1987 Casualties of War 1989 Doc Hollywood 1991 and The Frighteners 1996 Fox returned to television on the ABC sitcom Spin City in the lead role of Mike Flaherty from 1996 to 2000 In 1998 Fox disclosed his 1991 diagnosis of Parkinsons disease He subsequently became an advocate for finding a cure and founded the Michael J Fox Foundation in 2000 to help fund research Worsening symptoms forced Fox to reduce his activities and led to his return to television in Spin City when he was still a major movie star He continued to make guest appearances on television including recurring roles on the FX comedydrama Rescue Me 2009 and the CBS legal drama The Good Wife 20102016 that garnered him critical acclaim He voiced the lead roles in the Stuart Little films 19992005 and the animated film Atlantis The Lost Empire 2001 His final major role was on the NBC sitcom The Michael J Fox Show 20132014 Fox retired in 2020 due to his declining health Fox won five Primetime Emmy Awards four Golden Globe Awards two Screen Actors Guild Awards and a Grammy Award He was also appointed an Officer of the Order of Canada in 2010 along with being inducted to Canadas Walk of Fame in 2000 and the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 2002 For his advocacy of a cure for Parkinsons disease he received an honorary doctorate in 2010 from the Karolinska Institute and an honorary Oscar in 2022