Editing Michael J. Fox (section)

=== 1985–1990: ''Back to the Future'' and stardom ===
[[File:Michael J Fox 1988-cropped1.jpg|thumb|upright|Fox at the [[40th Primetime Emmy Awards]] in August 1988]]

In January 1985, Fox was cast to replace [[Eric Stoltz]] as [[Marty McFly]], a teenager who is accidentally sent [[Time travel|back in time]] from 1985 to 1955 in ''[[Back to the Future]]''. Director [[Robert Zemeckis]] originally wanted Fox to play Marty, but [[Gary David Goldberg]], the creator of ''[[Family Ties]]'', on which Fox was working at the time, refused to allow Zemeckis even to approach Fox. Goldberg felt that, as [[Meredith Baxter]] was on maternity leave at the time, Fox's character [[Alex Keaton]] was needed to carry the show in her absence. Stoltz was cast and was already filming ''Back to the Future'', but Zemeckis felt that Stoltz was not giving the right type of performance for the humor involved.<ref name="Making">"Back to the Future: Making the Trilogy: Chapter 1 (DVD Documentary)"</ref>

Zemeckis quickly replaced Stoltz with Fox, whose schedule was now more open with the return of Baxter. During filming, Fox rehearsed for ''Family Ties'' from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.; he then rushed to the ''Back to the Future'' set, where he would rehearse and shoot until 2:30&nbsp;a.m. This schedule lasted for two full months. ''Back to the Future'' was both a critical and commercial success. The film spent eight consecutive weekends as the number-one movie at the US box office in 1985, and it eventually earned a worldwide total of $381.11 million.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.boxofficemojo.com/movies/?id=backtothefuture.htm |title=Back to the Future |publisher=[[Box Office Mojo]] |access-date=August 25, 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100918012246/http://boxofficemojo.com/movies/?id=backtothefuture.htm |archive-date=September 18, 2010 |url-status=live}}</ref> ''[[Variety (magazine)|Variety]]'' applauded the performances, opining that Fox and his co-star [[Christopher Lloyd]] imbued Marty and [[Emmett Brown|Doc Brown]]'s friendship with a quality reminiscent of [[King Arthur]] and [[Merlin]].<ref>{{cite news |magazine=Variety |url=https://www.variety.com/review/VE1117788826 |date=July 1, 1985 |title=Back to the Future |access-date=October 9, 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110828084007/http://www.variety.com/review/VE1117788826/ | archive-date=August 28, 2011 |url-status=live}}</ref> Fox's performance in particular was praised, earning him a nomination for [[Golden Globe Award for Best Actor in a Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy|Best Actor in a Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy]] at the [[43rd Golden Globe Awards]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=Michael J. Fox |url=https://goldenglobes.com/person/michael-j-fox/ |access-date=2025-01-16 |website=Golden Globes |language=en-US}}</ref> The film was followed by two successful sequels, ''[[Back to the Future Part II]]'' (1989) and ''[[Back to the Future Part III]]'' (1990), which were produced at the same time but released separately.<ref name="dvdint2">{{cite video |people=Bob Gale, Robert Zemeckis |title=''Back to the Future Part III''. Special Features: Making the Trilogy: Chapter Three |medium=DVD |publisher=Universal Studios Home Entertainment |date=2002 |display-authors=etal}}</ref> While filming the scene where [[Buford "Mad Dog" Tannen]] tries to hang Marty in ''Part III'', Fox was allowed to perform the stunt himself as long as he knew where to put his hand on the noose to keep himself from choking; however, on the third take, Fox accidentally placed his hand in the wrong spot, which resulted in him choking, passing out, and nearly dying until Zemeckis noticed him in peril and had him cut down.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Stolworthy |first=Jacob |date=May 27, 2024 |title=37 actors who almost died on set |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/films/news/actors-stunts-accidents-died-dangerous-b2552100.html |access-date=August 25, 2024 |website=[[The Independent]]}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Van Horn |first=Shawn |date=August 31, 2023 |title=This Back to the Future Stunt Almost Killed Michael J. Fox |url=https://collider.com/back-to-the-future-michael-j-fox-stunt/ |access-date=August 25, 2024 |website=[[Collider (website)|Collider]] |language=en}}</ref>

[[File:Michael J. Fox (cropped).jpg|thumb|upright|left|Fox at the [[39th Primetime Emmy Awards]] in September 1987]]

As a result of working on ''Family Ties'', and his back-to-back hit performances in ''Back to the Future'' and ''[[Teen Wolf]]'' (1985), Fox became a [[teen idol]]. The [[VH1]] television series ''[[The Greatest (TV series)|The Greatest]]'' later named him among their "50 Greatest Teen Idols".<ref>{{Cite web |title=Episode 080: 50 Greatest Teen Idols |url=http://www.vh1.com/shows/the_greatest/episode.jhtml?episodeID=67297 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120209143618/http://www.vh1.com/shows/the_greatest/episode.jhtml?episodeID=67297 |archive-date=February 9, 2012 |access-date=October 21, 2015 |publisher=[[VH1]]}}</ref>

During and immediately after the [[Back to the Future (franchise)|''Back to the Future'' trilogy]], Fox starred in ''[[Teen Wolf]]'' (1985),'' [[Light of Day]]'' (1987), ''[[The Secret of My Success (1987 film)|The Secret of My Success]]'' (1987), and ''[[Bright Lights, Big City (film)|Bright Lights, Big City]]'' (1988). In ''The Secret of My Success'', Fox played a recent graduate from [[Kansas State University]] who moves to New York City, where he deals with the ups and downs of the business world. The film was successful at the box office, grossing $110 million worldwide.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://boxofficemojo.com/movies/?id=secretofmysuccess.htm |title=The Secret of My Success |publisher=Box Office Mojo |access-date=September 1, 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091203000815/http://boxofficemojo.com/movies/?id=secretofmysuccess.htm |archive-date=December 3, 2009 |url-status=live}}</ref> [[Roger Ebert]] in the ''[[Chicago Sun-Times]]'' wrote, "Fox provides a fairly desperate center for the film. It could not have been much fun for him to follow the movie's arbitrary shifts of mood, from sitcom to slapstick, from sex farce to boardroom brawls."<ref>{{cite news |url=http://rogerebert.suntimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/19870410/REVIEWS/704100301 |title=The Secret of My Success Review |newspaper=Chicago Sun- Times |first=Roger |last=Ebert |date=April 10, 1987 |access-date=September 1, 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110927205538/http://rogerebert.suntimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=%2F19870410%2FREVIEWS%2F704100301 |archive-date=September 27, 2011 |url-status=live}}</ref>

In ''[[Bright Lights, Big City (film)|Bright Lights, Big City]]'', Fox played a fact-checker for a New York magazine who spends his nights partying with alcohol and drugs. The film received mixed reviews, with Hal Hinson in ''The Washington Post'' criticizing Fox by claiming that "he was the wrong actor for the job".<ref name="hinson">{{cite news| last=Hinson| first=Hal| title='City' Blight| newspaper=The Washington Post| date=April 1, 1988| url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/lifestyle/1988/04/01/city-blight/1688b77d-e98e-4849-9369-105b835cf059/| access-date=June 9, 2021| archive-date=February 19, 2022| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220219102454/https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/lifestyle/1988/04/01/city-blight/1688b77d-e98e-4849-9369-105b835cf059/| url-status=live}}</ref> Meanwhile, Roger Ebert praised the actor's performance: "Fox is very good in the central role (he has a long drunken monologue that is the best thing he has ever done in a movie)".<ref name="ebert">{{cite news |last=Ebert |first=Roger |title=Bright Lights, Big City |website=[[RogerEbert.com]] |date=April 1, 1988 |url=https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/bright-lights-big-city-1988 |access-date=December 26, 2024}}</ref> During the shooting of ''Bright Lights, Big City'', Fox co-starred again with [[Tracy Pollan]], his on-screen girlfriend from ''[[Family Ties]]''.<ref>{{cite news |last=Benson |first=Sheila |date=April 1, 1988 |title=Movie Review: Passions Dim in 'Bright Lights, Big City{{'-}} |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1988-04-01-ca-446-story.html |work=Los Angeles Times |access-date=September 1, 2010 |archive-date=September 4, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220904014245/https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1988-04-01-ca-446-story.html |url-status=live }}</ref> 

Fox won three [[Emmy Award]]s for ''Family Ties'' in 1986, 1987, and 1988.<ref name="Emmy">{{cite web |title=Emmy Award History |url=http://www.emmys.com/award_history_search?person=michael+j+fox&program=&start_year=0&end_year=2010&network=All&web_category=All&winner=All |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120404094337/http://www.emmys.com/award_history_search?person=michael+j+fox&program=&start_year=0&end_year=2010&network=All&web_category=All&winner=All |archive-date=April 4, 2012 |access-date=August 24, 2010 |website=[[Academy of Television Arts & Sciences]]}}</ref> He won a [[Golden Globe Award]] in 1989,<ref name="globes">{{cite web |title=Golden Globe Awards for Michael J. Fox |url=http://www.goldenglobes.com/person/michael-j-fox |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160418092738/http://www.goldenglobes.com/person/michael-j-fox |archive-date=April 18, 2016 |access-date=April 14, 2016 |website=[[Golden Globe Awards]]}}</ref> the year the show ended.<ref name="slate" /> When Fox left the television series ''[[Spin City]]'' in 2000, his final episodes made numerous allusions to ''Family Ties'': [[Michael Gross (actor)|Michael Gross]] (who played Alex's father Steven) portrays Mike Flaherty's (Fox's character's) therapist,<ref>{{cite news |last=Wallace |first=Amy |date=March 20, 2000 |title=Putting His Own Spin on 'City's' Season Finale |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2000-mar-20-ca-10674-story.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100221085727/http://articles.latimes.com/2000/mar/20/entertainment/ca-10674 |archive-date=February 21, 2010 |access-date=August 23, 2010 |newspaper=[[Los Angeles Times]]}}</ref> and there is a reference to an off-screen character named "[[Justine Bateman|Mallory]]".<ref>[[Tom Shales|Shales, Tom]] (May 24, 2000). "Michael J. Fox, Playing 'Spin City' to a Fare-Thee-Well". ''[[The Washington Post]]''. C1.</ref> Also, when Flaherty becomes an environmental [[lobbyist]] in Washington, D.C., he meets a conservative senator from [[Ohio]] named Alex P. Keaton,<ref>{{cite web |last=Abilock |first=Genni |date=June 14, 2022 |title={{-'}}Family Ties': The Hit American Sitcom that Defined the 80's |url=https://www.heraldweekly.com/family-ties-the-hit-american-sitcom-that-defined-the-80s/37/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220904014244/https://www.heraldweekly.com/family-ties-the-hit-american-sitcom-that-defined-the-80s/37/ |archive-date=September 4, 2022 |access-date=June 14, 2022 |website=Herald Weekly}}</ref> and in one episode [[Meredith Baxter]] played Mike's mother.<ref>{{cite magazine |last=Fretts |first=Bruce |date=November 21, 1997 |title=''Family Ties'' lives on with ''Spin City'' |url=https://ew.com/article/1997/11/21/family-ties-lives-spin-city/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151120141229/https://ew.com/article/1997/11/21/family-ties-lives-spin-city/ |archive-date=November 20, 2015 |access-date=August 23, 2010 |magazine=[[Entertainment Weekly]]}}</ref>

Fox then starred in ''[[Casualties of War]]'' (1989), a dark and violent war drama about the [[Vietnam War]], alongside [[Sean Penn]]. ''Casualties of War'' was not a major box office hit, but Fox was praised for his performance. Don Willmott wrote: "Fox, only one year beyond his ''Family Ties'' sitcom silliness, rises to the challenges of acting as the film's moral voice and sharing scenes with the always intimidating Penn."<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.filmcritic.com/reviews/1989/casualties-of-war/ |title=Casualties of War Review |website=FilmCritic.com |date=January 4, 2006 |access-date=September 1, 2010 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101113234717/http://www.filmcritic.com/reviews/1989/casualties-of-war/ |archive-date=November 13, 2010}}</ref> While ''Family Ties'' was ending, his production company Snowback Productions set up a two-year production pact at [[Paramount Pictures]] to develop film and television projects.<ref>{{cite news |date=January 18, 1989 |title=Michael J. Fox's Snowback in Par pact |page=14 |magazine=Variety}}</ref>