The son of a Canadian military career officer, actor Michael J. Fox made his TV debut in Vancouver at age 15. Three years later he moved to the U.S., living in Spartan conditions until he was able to get his green card. Things started breaking for Fox in 1980, when he made his simultaneous American TV and movie bow, winning a regular role on the weekly series Palmerstown USA and a supporting part in the theatrical film Midnight Madness. Previously billed as Michael Fox, the actor was compelled by the Screen Actors Guild to add the "J" to his name to avoid confusion with an older character actor also named Michael Fox. At 5'4", baby-faced Fox was able to play adolescents and teenagers well into his 20s; during the early stages of his career, however, his height lost him as many roles as he won.

Fox had sold all his furniture and was subsisting on macaroni and cheese at the time he won his star-making role as junior conservative Alex Keaton on the long-running (1982-1989) sitcom Family Ties. Before the series ran its course, Fox won four Emmies, one of them for an unforgettable "one-man show" in which his character soliloquized over the suicide of a close friend. Fox' movie career caught fire after he replaced Eric Stoltz in the role of time-travelling teen Marty McFly in Back to the Future (1984), an enormous hit which spawned two sequels. Not all of Fox' subsequent movie projects have been so successful (though several, notably The Secret of My Success [1987] and Casualties of War [1988], have been commendable efforts to expand Fox's range). Though in more recent years the actor seemed to be having difficulty finding the one vehicle that would put him back on top, Fox continues to keep busy. In the fall of 1996 he returned to television in the ABC sitcom Spin City wherein he stars as Michael Flaherty (Michael J. Fox), the Deputy Mayor of New York City. Michael J. Fox is married to actress Tracy Pollan, who briefly played his girl friend on Family Ties.