With films like "Back to the Future" and "Teenwolf" Michael J. Fox became a youth icon.
Due to illness, he can no longer be seen on the screen.
Today he turns 60.
It almost vanished into thin air in 1955.
Because if the parents do not fall in love with each other in the past, he cannot exist.
This is how “Back to the Future” explained the rules of time travel to us.
Marty McFly almost became a lost time traveler - but then his plan worked out and he was able to travel back to the present, to 1985.
Today Michael J. Fox turns 60 years old.
While his adventures in “Back to the Future” three decades later can still ensure successful film evenings, the life of the actor, who has now retired, was not always so easy.
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Drawn by Parkinson: Michael J. Fox.
© Andy Kropa
Born as Michael Andrew Fox in western Canada, he grew up near Vancouver from the age of ten.
Not a bad prerequisite for an acting career, as Vancouver is known for its film studios and has made a name for itself with Toronto as "Hollywood North".
After his first roles on Canadian television, little Fox goes to real Hollywood in Los Angeles at the age of 18 and 1.63 meters.
He made his US debut in the TV film "Letters from Frank" - in the credits he was still called "Michael Fox".
He later notices that there is already a Michael Fox in the film business.
Instead of calling himself "Michael Andrew Fox" or "Michael A. Fox", he pays tribute to Michael J. Pollard (CW Moss from "Bonnie and Clyde"), adding a "J." to his name.
When Robert Zemeckis calls you don't say no
After first film roles, Fox made his breakthrough in the sitcom "Familienbande". The series is about an American family in a generation conflict. Originally the parents should take center stage, but Fox's acting performance as son Alex thwarts the plans of the producers and writers. One of them wanted to replace Fox at the beginning of the shooting because he was too small for the role. Fox proves otherwise, earns three Emmy Awards for his performance and becomes so indispensable to the show that the producers refuse to allow him to play on "Back to the Future" at first.
But when a certain Robert Zemeckis actually calls, you don't say no. And so Fox is cast in the production for the lead role Marty McFly. He now works in two sets at the same time, shoots “Familienbande” from morning to afternoon and then plays for Zemeckis until late at night. Now he's finally arrived in Hollywood.
More films will follow.
Comedies like “Teenwolf”, “The Secret of My Success” or the two “Back to the Future” sequels make Fox a teenage icon.
The native Canadian tries out other genres as well, playing a fact checker in the melodrama “The bright lights of the big city”, who likes to abuse alcohol and other drugs after work.
In Brian De Palma's Vietnam War film “The Damned of War”, he proves once again - despite the box office flop - that this little man can also be serious.
Honorary doctorate from the Karolinska Institute
Things got serious for Fox in the early 1990s when he first noticed symptoms of Parkinson's. At first just a tremor of the little finger. In 1998 he went public with his illness after his condition worsened and he fell victim to alcohol and depression. But he gets help and now begins to work for research on the incurable disease. In 2000 he founded the Michael J. Fox Foundation, with which he raised hundreds of millions of dollars in donations. For his commitment he received an honorary doctorate from the Swedish Karolinska Institute. When the symptoms can no longer be suppressed, he limits himself to smaller guest appearances or synchronized roles, such as in the "Stuart Little" trilogy. In 2020 he will end his acting career for good.
Marty McFly didn't fade into thin air on Back to the Future.
Michael J. Fox has disappeared from the canvases.
You will probably not see the 60-year-old in new films.
But one option always remains for his fans: back to the television - and watch the film.
Mayl's Majurani
