Michael J. Fox made Emmy history 40 years ago and set a standard that has yet to be broken. In 1986, Fox was nominated for a second time for playing Alex P. Keaton, the conservative-leaning eldest son of ex-hippie parents on the NBC sitcom. Family ties — and a thriving movie star in the wake of the 1980s Back to the future and Teen Wolf. At the age of 25, he won Outstanding Lead Actor in a Comedy Series, beating out veterans such as Harry Anderson, Ted Danson, and Bob Newhart, and becoming the youngest actor ever to win the award. (Second youngest winner, Bear(Jeremy Allen White was 32 when he won his first Emmy in the category in 2023.)
The episode that won Fox his award for “The Real Thing” was notable for another reason: it featured the first appearance of Tracy Pollan on the series. She and Fox played a couple who later married in real life.
The win was the first of three consecutive Emmy Awards for Fox and his work Family ties. He would go on to win two more Emmy Awards – Lead Comedian in 2000 Spin City And guest acting honor in 2009 for Save me – Out of 18 job nominations. He could be nominated for an Emmy as another guest on Apple TV Shrink. Fox has been a fierce advocate for research into Parkinson’s disease, which has afflicted him since he was 29, and played Jerry, a Parkinson’s patient who befriends Harrison Ford’s Dr. Paul Rhodes, who was also diagnosed with Parkinson’s, in the show’s final season.
This story first appeared in the June standalone issue of The Hollywood Reporter magazine. To obtain the magazine, click here to subscribe.
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