Canadian actor Michael J. Fox turned sixty on June 9, 2021. Entertainment blogger Trav S.D. reported in Travalanche that Fox was retiring from acting. Fox had hinted at retirement plans in his fourth memoirs, No Time Like the Future: An Optimist Considers Mortality.
In addition to hitting the big Six-Oh, Fox suffers from Parkinson’s disease. He was diagnosed with the condition in 1991, although he did not choose to share that diagnosis publicly until 1998. He originally retired in 2000, but it only lasted four or five years.
Science Fiction Roles
Michael J. Fox starred in the time travel trilogy Back to the Future. He starred in Teen Wolf and appeared in The Frighteners. Fox played Jason Stone in Mars Attacks! After he contracted Parkinson’s disease, he decreased the amount of before-the-camera roles and concentrated on voice acting: Stuart Little in three films, one of the dogs in Homeward Bound, explorer Milo Thatch in Disney’s Atlantis: The Lost Empire, a robot dog in A.R.C.H.I.E.
Twelve Hour Workday, Seven Pages of Dialogue
“There is a time for everything, and my time of putting in a twelve-hour workday, and memorizing seven pages of dialogue, is best behind me,” wrote Fox. “At least for now… I enter a second retirement. That could change, because everything changes. But if this is the end of my acting career, so be it.”
This retirement is only for his work as an actor. He will continue to work as an advocate for people with Parkinson’s disease, and fundraising for research. He established the Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson’s Research in 2000. He became a U.S. citizen in 1999 and currently has dual citizenship: USA and Canada. He is married to actress Tracy Pollan. They have a son and three daughters. Fox has three honorary doctorates. During his thirty year career, 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 Canada’s Walk of Fame in 2000 and the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 2002. For his work advocating a cure for Parkinson’s disease, he received an honorary doctorate in 2010 from the Karolinska Institute, which awards the Nobel Prize in medicine.
Final Role
Appropriately for the man who became famous for Back to the Future, Fox’s final acting role before retirement was in the time travel film See You Yesterday.
-30-
Susan Macdonald is the author of the children’s book “R is for Renaissance Faire”, as well as 26 short stories, mostly fantasy in “Alternative Truths”, “Swords and Sorceress #30”, Swords &Sorceries Vols. 1, 2, & 5, “Cat Tails” “Under Western Stars”, and “Knee-High Drummond and the Durango Kid”. Her articles have appeared on SCIFI.radio’s web site, in The Inquisitr, and in The Millington Star. She enjoys Renaissance Faires (see book above), science fiction conventions, Highland Games, and Native American pow-wows.
