History Creator / MichaelJFox

* BreakoutCharacter: Alex P. Keaton was meant to contrast his parents, but effectively became the star of the show.
* CelebrityParadox: Appearing in character as Marty [=McFly=] on ''Series/JimmyKimmelLive'', he was asked to stick around at the conclusion of the bit because Michael J. Fox would be the first guest on the show that night. His reply: "Oh, the guy from ''Teen Wolf''!"
* DawsonCasting: He was 23 playing 17-year-old Marty [=McFly=], and [[OlderThanTheyLook due to his short stature and youthful face]] has almost never played a character the same age. In ''Series/SpinCity'' Michael Flaherty was established as just turning 30 just as Fox was approaching 40.
* FatalMethodActing: Almost fell victim to this in ''Back to the Future: Part III''. While shooting the hanging scene, his hand slipped and he got hanged for real, until a crewmember noticed he wasn't breathing and resuscitated him.
* NotEvenBotheringWithTheAccent: He never made any attempt at not using his native Canadian accent in Hollywood, which has both naturally softened with living in the US for so long and is [[ClosestThingWeGot more-or-less close enough]] to an American one to serve the purpose — however, anytime Alex or Marty says [[{{Shibboleth}} "sorry" or "tomorrow"]] pretty much gives the game away.
* StageNames: There was already a Michael Fox in the Screen Actor's Guild when Michael J. Fox was just starting out, so he used the middle initial "J" in homage to actor Michael J. Pollard. He chose not to use an "A", for his actual middle name "Andrew", to avoid headlines like "Michael, A Fox!" or [[CanadaEh "Michael 'Eh?' Fox"]]. Now he's taken over as videos of the other Michael Fox are impossible to find. [[note]]Fox stated in interviews that the J stands for "Jenius". [[/note]]

* WrittenInInfirmity: He's taken many roles, some major, since his "retirement." If you want to cast him, all you have to do is say the character, too, has Parkinsons (though as mentioned before, other ailments, some which do ''not'' present as Fox's Parkinsons does, have been used). Notably, he's ''not'' always the man whose disease is the main feature of the character; one line mentioning his illness lets you know why [[Series/DesignatedSurvivor that one lawyer guy]] walks like that, and on we go with the plot.

In TheNineties, he played Mike Flaherty on ''Series/SpinCity'' (1996-2000), for which he won an Emmy, three Golden Globes, and two Screen Actors Guild Awards. He was also Creator/JonStewart's first guest as host of ''Series/TheDailyShowWithJonStewart' in 1999.

In TheNineties, he played Mike Flaherty on ''Series/SpinCity'' (1996-2000), for which he won an Emmy, three Golden Globes, and two Screen Actors Guild Awards. He was also Creator/JonStewart's first guest as host of ''Series/TheDailyShow'' in 1999.

[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/michael_j_fox.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:350:[[{{Catchphrase}} This is heavy...]]]]

* DawsonCasting: He was 23 playing 17-year-old Marty [=McFly=], and due to his short stature and youthful face has almost never played a character the same age. In ''Series/SpinCity'' Michael Flaherty was established as just turning 30 just as Fox was approaching 40.

* OneSteveLimit: There was already a Michael Fox in the Screen Actor's Guild when Michael J. Fox was just starting out, so he used the middle initial "J" in homage to actor Michael J. Pollard. For the record, his middle name is actually Andrew, but he wanted to avoid headlines like "Michael, A Fox!" or [[CanadaEh "Michael 'Eh?' Fox"]]. Now he's taken over as videos of the other Michael Fox are impossible to find. [[note]]Fox stated in interviews that the J stands for "Jenius". [[/note]]

!!Tropes Associated with Michael J. Fox

* AndIMustScream: Fox describes this as what would happen if he was in a position where he couldn't take his pills.
* ArtifactAlias: He added the imaginary middle initial J because there was already a Michael Fox in the union. (His real middle name is Andrew.) When Michael Fox died, SAG offered Michael J. the opportunity to change his professional name back to his real name, but by then he and the public were used to it.

* CanadaEh: He's a native of Edmonton and an Officer of the Order of Canada. When he neglected to wear his lapel pin for an appearance on ''Series/TheLateShow'', Paul Shaffer (a proud Member who regularly wears his pin) called him out, so Fox made a point of wearing it on his next appearance.

* {{Determinator}}: He did the first ''Film/BackToTheFuture'' film while simultaneously working full-time on ''Series/FamilyTies'', effectively carrying the show himself, since his ''Family Ties'' costar Creator/MeredithBaxter was out because she was pregnant, getting at most a few hours of sleep on most days. And then there's his battle with Parkinson's disease, originally told he'd have less than 10 years before the disease would overtake him, but 25 years later, he's still working.
* FakeAmerican: Many people are very surprised to learn he is Canadian born and raised (though he holds dual US citizenship).

* HidingTheHandicap: He was diagnosed with Parkinson's in 1991, but didn't publicly reveal it until seven years later.
* {{Keet}}: He's always been quite energetic and he confessed that in more recent productions his energy is to hide the signs of Parkinson's.
* MilitaryBrat: In RealLife; he's the son of a Canadian Forces member who moved around Canada until he was 10, when his father retired and settled the family in the UsefulNotes/{{Vancouver}} area.

* OlderThanHeLooks: For many years, due to his short stature and youthful face. However, the effects of his condition have been pushing him up recently. Even still, he doesn't look to be 60.
* OldShame:
** He really hated working on ''Film/TeenWolf'' and refused to come back for the sequel.
** He regrets dropping out of high school in order to pursue his career as an actor as "a stupid youthful mistake", that he has since mandated that his children should at least finish high school and maybe one year of college themselves.
** On a recent appearance on [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nstFFtq_uE4 The Howard Stern Show]], Fox admits he doesn't like most of the films he made after his Parkinson's diagnosis, because during that time his thinking was, [[MoneyDearBoy "I'd better do as many movies as I can before I can no longer act"]], and started accepting roles for movies that, in the end, weren't very good.

* WrittenInInfirmity: He's taken many roles, some major, since his "retirement." If you want to cast him, all you have to do is say the character, too, has Parkinsons (though as mentioned before, other ailments, some which do ''not'' present as Fox's Parkinsons does, have been used). Notably, he's ''not'' always the IllBoy whose disease is the main feature of the character; one line mentioning his illness lets you know why [[Series/DesignatedSurvivor that one lawyer guy]] walks like that, and on we go with the plot.

* ''Film/{{For Love or Money|1993}}'' (1993) - Doug Ireland

[[caption-width-right:350:[[{{Catchphrase}} This is heavy...]]

* ''Film/TheFrighteners'' (1996) - Frank Bannister (His last live action staring role)

* ''Film/StuartLittle'' (and sequels) (1999) - Stuart Little (voice) (The second film is his last staring role in a theatrical film)

* DawsonCasting: He was 23 playing 17 year old Marty [=McFly=], and due to his short stature and youthful face has almost never played a character the same age. In ''Series/SpinCity'' Michael Flaherty was established as just turning 30 just as Fox was approaching 40.

* WhatCouldHaveBeen: At the hight of his stardom, he was considered to play Andrew Clark ''Film/TheBreakfastClub'', Maverick in ''Film/TopGun'' and the title character in ''Film/FerrisBuellersDayOff'' before they went to Creator/EmilioEstevez, Creator/TomCruise and Creator/MatthewBroderick respectively.

* FakeAmerican: Many people are very surprised to learn he is Canadian born (though he holds dual US citizenship).

* CanadaEh: He's a native of Edmonton.

* OlderThanHeLooks: For many years, due to his short stature and youthful face. However, the effects of his condition have been pushing him up recently. Even still, he doesn't look like he is in his fifties.

* ''Film/TheFrighteners'' (1996) - Frank Bannister

* ''Film/StuartLittle'' (and sequels) (1999) - Stuart Little (voice)

* WrittenInInfirmity: He's taken many roles, some major, since his "retirement." If you want to cast him, all you have to do is say the character, too, has Parkinsons (though as mentioned before, other ailments, some which do ''not'' present as Fox's Parkinsons does, have been used.) Notably, he's ''not'' always the IllBoy whose disease is the main feature of the character; one line mentioning his illness lets you know why [[Series/DesignatedSurvivor that one lawyer guy]] walks like that, and on we go with the plot.

* {{Determinator}}: He did the first ''Film/BackToTheFuture'' film while simultaneously working full-time on ''Series/FamilyTies'', effectively carrying the show himself, since his ''Family Ties'' costar Meredith Baxter-Birney was out because she was pregnant, getting at most a few hours of sleep on most days. And then there's his battle with Parkinson's disease, originally told he'd have less than 10 years before the disease would overtake him, but 25 years later, he's still working.

He made his return to TV with the sitcom ''Series/TheMichaelJFoxShow'', which ran from October 2013 to January 2014.

Michael Andrew Fox, [[UsefulNotes/KnightFever OC]], known as Michael J. Fox, (born June 9, 1961 in Edmonton, Alberta) is a [[UsefulNotes/{{Canada}} Canadian]]-[[UsefulNotes/TheUnitedStates American]] actor, author, [[CelebrityVoiceActor voice over artist]], and [[TheWoobie woobie]] with a face that seems born to make us laugh.

Michael Andrew Fox, [[UsefulNotes/KnightFever OC]], known as Michael J. Fox, (born June 9, 1961) is a [[UsefulNotes/{{Canada}} Canadian]]-[[UsefulNotes/TheUnitedStates American]] actor, author, [[CelebrityVoiceActor voice over artist]], and [[TheWoobie woobie]] with a face that seems born to make us laugh.

Despite his "retirement", he has guest starred on various television shows and also some voice acting work, most notably ''Film/StuartLittle'' and ''Disney/AtlantisTheLostEmpire'', where his distinctive boyish voice adds to the generally benign nature of his characters. Some of his guest spots have him [[DisabledCharacterDisabledActor pigeon-holed as a man with an illness]]; when he guested on ''Series/BostonLegal'' he had lung cancer, when he guested on ''Series/{{Scrubs}}'' he had OCD and when he guested on ''Series/TheGoodWife'' he had a neurological disorder.

* ''Disney/AtlantisTheLostEmpire'' (2001) - Milo Thatch (voice)

* UsefulNotes/KnightFever: Was made an Officer of the Order of Canada (OC) in 2010.