In the entire history of Television Situation Comedy, there are three all-time greats when it comes to timing and comedic rhythm. Bea Arthur, Betty White, and Michael J. Fox. There are other standouts, but for this extremely rare talent, these 3 comic greats are the best, in my opinion.
The story of Micheal J Fox started when he was just 17 years old in 1978 and just dropped out of high school, when his father drove him from Alberta Canada to Hollywood, to take a remote shot at somehow breaking into show business. Fox lived in the worst slum in Los Angeles in a horrible tiny apartment, where he barely had any bathroom and one sink as his kitchen. From some very low-paying bit parts in several television shows and small movies, Fox was barely able to pay the rent or have any money for about 3 years. Some of the questions that most people normally ask in a dire situation like this, is how long can anyone live in horrible conditions like this before you give up the dream? How many are in the same situation for too many years and never get their lucky break? Is it worth it for anyone to go through something like this for so long, hoping for a 1-in-a-million miracle to happen? Even if you knew going in you would break through somehow, how many of us would be willing to suffer in squalor and extreme poverty for so long? Just because Micheal J. Fox was both extraordinarily fortunate and talented, still does not make his huge success as a movie and television actor an expected result. Deserving something in life is only half the battle.
After 3 years of, according to Fox, “having absolutely zero money” and living in a horrible apartment within a slum where he had to sell his furniture just to survive, an incredible miracle happened. In 1982 when Fox auditioned for the part of Alex P. Keaton for the new sitcom “Family Ties”. Despite the fact that Fox was perfect for this role and the producer of this sitcom, the late Gary David Goldberg wanted him for this part, the head of NBC, Brandon Tartikoff rejected Fox. Despite all of this, Fox prevailed and started a career in television comedy and eventually movies, including the “Back to the Future” franchise that at the time in 1985 (when Fox was only 24) was the highest level of Hollywood success ever seen. Fox received a total of 5 Emmy awards, 3 for Family Ties, and was one of the rare actors in Hollywood who had major success both in movies and television. From the millions who have appreciated Michael J. Fox’s career and his talent as a comedic actor, we can only imagine what it must feel like to be so far down in life and then reach such huge fame and wealth so quickly.
In 1985, after the producers of Back to the Future wanted to replace the lead actor Eric Stolz with Fox, it was decided that Fox would star in both Family Ties and Back to the Future at the same time. This was a risky decision and resulted in Fox getting about 3 hours of sleep a day, for almost 4 months as he worked on Family Ties during the day and then Back to the Future at night. Fox not only pulled off this amazing feat of working almost 24 hours a day, but Back to the Future was a huge #1 hit in 1985 with Family Ties one of the highest-rated shows on Television. After almost 4 months of getting almost no sleep, we will never know if this caused health damage to Fox, eventually being diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease in 1991. Fox's good fortune also includes finding his wife of 35 years during several episodes of Family Ties, actress Tracy Pollan and having 4 children with her, all of whom appear in his outstanding documentary.
In recent years Fox’s Parkinson’s has become much worse, aging him far beyond 62 and his constant shakes are both far more prevalent and hard to witness in his rare television appearances and in this new documentary. Parkinson’s is one of the most debilitating and hard-to-live-with brain diseases, with the body constantly shaking as the neurological connections with the brain break down. There is no cure for Parkinson’s and it is eventually fatal, taking the life of Muhammad Ali in 2016.
The only good part about Micheal J. Fox’s lifelong struggle with Parkinson’s is entirely about how much good he has done with the charitable organization he has founded to fight the disease, so far raising over 2 billion dollars. Christopher Reeve did the same with his spinal research organization and Olivia Newton-John with her Australian Cancer Research facility. There is no greater understanding of the irony and mystery of life when someone can be so incredibly fortunate, and then they are hit with a horrible disease like Parkinson's.
The Rotten Tomatoes rating for this great documentary is 99% with my rating of 100% and my highest recommendation.
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