Michael J. Fox: "Back to the Future" star turns 60

True height has nothing to do with height. Actor Michael J. Fox (60), with his 1.63 meters, conveyed this message at an era in which testosterone-sweating muscle mountains were booming – the 1980s and 1990s. His characters, above all the charmingly rebellious Marty McFly from "Back to the Future", were mostly granted happy endings despite some hopeless situations. Not the star himself, who celebrates his 60th birthday on June 9th. At least not in the dream factory.

Michael J. Fox: That was the beginning of his acting career

Michael J. Fox was already 15 years old. was so adamant that acting was his future that he dropped out of high school. At the age of 18 (1979), the native Canadian moved to the USA to seek his fortune there – and he found it relatively early. He landed his first major roles in the comedy Midnight Madness (1980) and the thriller The Class of 1984 (1982).

In 1985, Fox finally got the part that made him a part of film history forever. As Marty McFly, he travels the year 1955 with his iconic DeLorean time machine in the clever and entertaining sci-fi film "Back to the Future". The first part was the actor's breakthrough and had two worthy sequels in 1989 and 1990. Marty's journey into the past, future and even more distant past alongside Christopher Lloyd (82) as Emmett "Doc" Brown is still considered the perfect trilogy and should not be missing from any time travel movie night. Along with the sentence: "Nobody calls me a cowardly pig!"

Much more than just Marty McFly

In the same year as "Back to the Future" Fox was seen in another film. In the youth comedy "Teenwolf", 17-year-old Scott Howard (Fox) learns that he is the son of a werewolf and has supernatural powers. And of course the skinny teenager promptly uses it to get off to a flying start on his school's basketball team. Here, too, the predicate: Charming coming-of-age story with a nice message at the end.

But Fox can also be serious. In 1989 he proved that with the haunting anti-war film The Damned of War. He plays the soldier Eriksson alongside Sean Penn (60), who witnesses a bestial crime committed by his entire unit against a young local woman during the Vietnam War. Should he report the incident and risk becoming a victim himself - or save his life and lose his conscience in the process?

Probably the most unusual film in Michael J. Fox's résumé is the 1996 sci-fi horror comedy "Mars Attacks!" As a weird answer to Roland Emmerich's (65) "Independence Day" from the previous year, Tim Burton (62) lets the sadistic Martians loose on an absolute star ensemble. In addition to Fox, Jack Nicholson (84), Pierce Brosnan (68), Glenn Close (74) and Danny DeVito (76), to name just a few.

The horror comedy "The Frighteners" was also released in 1996, which was shot by the later "Lord of the Rings" director Peter Jackson (59). In it, Fox plays a man who, since the death of his wife, has had the gift of seeing and communicating with spirits. It was to be the last strip Fox starred in. That's 25 years ago now.

What if...?

Now 60 years old, the star has been suffering from Parkinson's disease for half of his life. He noticed the first symptoms in 1991 while filming "The Hard Way", which he covered up for years. It was only in 1998 that he made his illness public after the signs could no longer be concealed.

"What if?" questions are usually pointless. Every now and then, even the most rational person cannot help but face it. For example at Fox. If he were currently fighting for roles with actors like Tom Hanks (64), Tom Cruise (58) or Sean Penn, would he never have been afflicted by the insidious neurodegenerative disease?

End of career

In the meantime, the sad realization is that Fox will never act in a movie or series again. In 2020 he revealed to the US site "People" that due to Parkinson's, in addition to all the physical limitations, his short-term memory is now "over". He can no longer remember texts and is therefore forced to give up his acting career for good.

If you disregard a few exceptions before "Back to the Future" and some guest appearances, dubbing work or TV engagements in the past 25 years, Fox's great career is limited to just over ten years - from 1985 to 1996 .

His low point and new hope

The most recent turning point was also his darkest hour and happened in 2018, Fox also revealed to "People" magazine. At that time, a tumor was discovered on his spine. "I was at risk of paraplegia if I hadn't had surgery," Fox said. A highly risky operation, since the operation had to be performed directly on the star's spinal cord. Although the surgery was successful, Fox had to go through four months of rehab to learn to walk again.

But just as he was fighting his way back to normal, Fox fell badly in his kitchen and broke his arm. "That was definitely my darkest moment," recalls the now 60-year-old in an interview. "I was freaking out. I was leaning against the wall in my kitchen waiting for the ambulance and I was like, 'This is it, I can't get any lower.' I questioned everything [...] There was no bright side to it, no positive perspective. Only regret and pain." The star's boundless optimism seemed broken.

As a result of the fall, Fox was again bedridden. But instead of despairing any further, he used the time to go deep into himself. In doing so, he realized: "Optimism is rooted in gratitude." And he has so much to be thankful for. About his wife Tracy Pollan (60), with whom he has been happily walking through life since 1988 and has four children together. Or his new career as a book author, which has already produced four works, the last of which was only published in 2020.

Michael J. Fox's Hollywood career may not have had a well-deserved happy ending. This is not the case in his life. "I have the optimism of a 60-year-old man," Fox summed up in the "People" interview. And some people, for whom fate played a better part, can't say that about themselves.

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Lorraine Baines also turned 60. Similar to co-star Michael J. Fox, the actress is still inseparably linked to her role in the cult film series "Back to the Future".

"Teenwolf" actor James Hampton died at the age of 84. The reason was the consequences of years of Parkinson's disease.

Comedian Markus Maria Profitlich talks in an interview about his Parkinson's disease, which not only affects him.

It's been a few years since the '80s, and our favorite stars have undergone some glaring transformations too. Here you can see which ones.