The character arc of Michael J. Fox
A life drawn by Character Arc from the public record
Born on 9 June 1961 in Edmonton. Between then and now sit a television debut in 1978, Family Ties from 1982, Back to the Future in 1985, a diagnosis in 1991, Spin City from 1996, a public disclosure in 1998, The Michael J. Fox Foundation in 2000, Lucky Man in 2002, a retirement from acting in 2020, a humanitarian Oscar in 2022 and the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2025. The line below draws the story so far, in order.
Tap the line to pluck it. Hover or tap any mark for its card. Drawn from the public record of his life; the sources are at the foot of the page.
Who is Michael J. Fox?
He said it out loud seven years later.
He was born in Edmonton in 1961 and made his television debut in 1978, at seventeen. From 1982 to 1989 he starred as Alex P. Keaton in Family Ties, and in 1985 played Marty McFly in Back to the Future, which was the biggest film of the year. He finished the sequels in 1989 and 1990. By any measure he had won.
In 1991, while filming Doc Hollywood, he was diagnosed with early-onset Parkinson's disease. He was twenty nine. He did not say so publicly for seven years. In that time he led Spin City, from 1996, and won awards for it. In 1998 he told everybody, which is the moment this whole line turns on, because nothing about his profession rewards that disclosure.
In 2000 he founded The Michael J. Fox Foundation, which funds Parkinson's research and has raised more than a billion dollars. That figure is the reason he is in this gallery. Lucky Man came in 2002, Always Looking Up in 2009, A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Future in 2010, No Time Like the Future in 2020 and Future Boy in 2025. He retired from acting in 2020, saying plainly that not being able to speak reliably is a game-breaker for an actor. He has five Emmy Awards, four Golden Globes, two Screen Actors Guild Awards and a Grammy, and received the Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award in 2022, the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2025 and the Bob Hope Humanitarian Award in 2026.
The moments
Michael J. Fox's timeline.
The 1970s
A debut at seventeen
Milestone, and it changed his direction. Seventeen years old, and already working.
The 1980s
Family Ties
Milestone, and it changed everything. Seven years on a network series, and the first thing everybody knew him for.
Back to the Future
Milestone, and it changed everything. The biggest film of the year, at twenty four. By any measure he had already won.
The 1990s
A diagnosis at twenty nine
Setback, and it changed everything. Twenty nine years old, at the top of a career, and told in a doctor's room.
Spin City
Milestone, and it changed his direction. Five years leading a network comedy, most of it before anybody outside his family knew.
Keep it private, or say it
Crossroads, decided.
The paths laid out: tell everybody, taken, or keep it private. He founded a research foundation two years later, and it has since raised more than a billion dollars.
He said it out loud
Milestone, and it changed everything. Seven years of keeping it, and then he told everybody. Nothing in his profession rewards that.
The 2000s
The foundation
Milestone, and it changed everything. A research charity, founded at thirty nine, two years after he said anything at all.
Lucky Man
Milestone, and it changed everything. A memoir titled Lucky Man, written by a man with that diagnosis. The title is the argument.
The 2020s
He stopped acting
Milestone, and it changed everything. Said plainly, with no self-pity in it, after forty two years of work.
A humanitarian Oscar
Milestone, and it changed his direction. An Academy award, given for what he did off the screen.
A billion dollars raised
Milestone, and it changed everything. More than a billion dollars. That figure is the reason this line is drawn.
The line reaches today still adding to itself, which is why it is drawn now rather than at the end. What it has set moving is more than a billion dollars of research funding, begun by an actor who decided that saying the thing out loud was more use than keeping it.
What he wrote
Books by Michael J. Fox
- 2002
Lucky Man
His first memoir, written four years after he disclosed his diagnosis. The title is the argument.
- 2009
Always Looking Up
The adventures of an incurable optimist, written at the point the foundation was established.
- 2010
A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Future
Short lessons, written for people at the start of a working life.
- 2020
No Time Like the Future
An optimist considers mortality, published in the year he stopped acting.
- 2025
Future Boy
His most recent book, published in the year he received the Presidential Medal of Freedom.
Your turn
Every line draws a unique story.
His carried a thing privately for seven years and then made it the work. Yours is already further along than you think, and drawing it takes about five minutes.
Michael J. Fox: frequently asked questions
What people ask about his line.
What is Michael J. Fox's character arc?
When was Michael J. Fox diagnosed with Parkinson's?
What is The Michael J. Fox Foundation?
What is Lucky Man by Michael J. Fox?
Why did Michael J. Fox stop acting?
What awards has Michael J. Fox won?
What books has Michael J. Fox written?
Where does this timeline of Michael J. Fox's life come from?
More character arcs
Lives that rhyme with his.
Sources
- Michael J. Fox, English Wikipedia biography, filed under living people.
- The Michael J. Fox Foundation, founded 2000.
- Publisher records for Lucky Man, Always Looking Up, No Time Like the Future and Future Boy.