Passion or Profession: Actor

Period: 1961–to-date

Fox grew up in Canada and had early successes on television there. At age 18, he moved to Los Angeles and started auditioning for bigger roles. His breakthrough part was as Alex Keaton on the series Family Ties. He went on to star in a number of movies, including the Back to the Future series. He later returned to television with the show Spin City. However, he went into early retirement in 2000, after announcing that he had been suffering from Parkinson’s disease since 1991. He now spends much of his time campaigning for Parkinson’s research.