People like Michael J. Fox

Michael Andrew Fox (born June 9, 1961), known professionally as Michael J. Fox, is a Canadian-American former actor, comedian, author, film producer, and activist with a film and television career spanning from the 1970s. He starred in the Back to the Future trilogy in which he portrayed Marty McFly. On television, he played Alex P. Keaton on the American sitcom Family Ties (1982–1989) and Mike Flaherty on the ABC sitcom Spin City (1996–2000). He has won five Primetime Emmy Awards, four Golden Globe Awards, a Grammy Award, and two Screen Actors Guild Awards.

Fox was diagnosed with Parkinson's disease in 1991 at age 29, and disclosed his condition to the public in 1998. He semi-retired from acting in 2000 as the symptoms of the disease worsened. He has since become an advocate for research toward finding a cure, and founded the Michael J. Fox Foundation. Sweden's Karolinska Institute gave him an honorary doctorate on March 5, 2010 for his work advocating a cure for Parkinson's disease.