Michael J. Fox, OC (born Michael Andrew Fox; June 9, 1961)[1] is a Canadian American actor, author, producer, activist and voice-over artist. With a film and television career spanning from the late 1970s, Fox's roles have included Marty McFly from the Back to the Future trilogy (1985--1990); Alex P. Keaton from Family Ties (1982--1989) for which he won three Emmy Awards and a Golden Globe Award; Mike Flaherty from Spin City (1996--2000), for which he won an Emmy, three Golden Globes, and two Screen Actors Guild Awards; and Private Max Eriksson in the Brian De Palma film Casualties of War. Fox's middle initial "J" does not stand for anything. His birth name is Michael Andrew Fox but when he registered for the Screen Actors Guild, the name "Michael Fox" was already taken. Fox said he did not want to register "Michael A. Fox" because it presented a play on words, and that he was paying homage to actor Michael J. Pollard.[2] Fox was diagnosed with Parkinson's disease in 1991, and disclosed his condition to the public in 1999. He semi-retired from acting in 2000 as the symptoms of his disease became more severe. He has since become an activist for research toward finding a cure. This led him to create The Michael J. Fox Foundation. On March 5, 2010, Sweden's Karolinska Institutet awarded him a doctorate of medicine degree, Honoris causa, for his work in advocating and fundraising for a cure for Parkinson's disease.[3][4] From 2001 to mid-2013 Fox mainly worked as a voice-over actor in films such as Stuart Little and Atlantis: The Lost Empire, and taken guest TV roles and cameo appearances in shows such as Boston Legal, The Good Wife, Scrubs, Curb Your Enthusiasm and Rescue Me. He has also released three books, Lucky Man: A Memoir (2002); Always Looking Up: The Adventures of an Incurable Optimist (2009); and A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Future: Twists and Turns and Lessons Learned (2010). He was inducted as an Officer of the Order of Canada on May 27, 2011, for his outreach and fundraising work.[5] In September 2013, he began starring in the television series The Michael J. Fox Show. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_j_fox Paul Reiser (born March 30, 1957) is an American comedian, actor, television personality and writer, author and musician. He is most widely known for his role in the 1990s TV sitcom Mad About You. He is ranked 77th on Comedy Central's 2004 list of the "100 Greatest Stand-ups of All Time". The name of Reiser's production company, Nuance Productions, is inspired by one of his lines in the film Diner (1982), in which his character explains his discomfort with the word "nuance". After developing his skills as a stand-up comedian, Reiser had a breakout film role in 1982 when he appeared in Diner, a coming-of-age film directed by Barry Levinson. Reiser's character, Modell, a closet stand-up comedian, effectively brought Reiser's abilities to the attention of Hollywood. He followed this success by playing a detective in Beverly Hills Cop (1984), a role he reprised in its sequel, Beverly Hills Cop II (1987). Reiser also had roles in James Cameron's Aliens (1986), in which he played the corrupt Carter Burke; The Marrying Man (1991) and Bye Bye Love (1995). Reiser starred as one of two possible fathers of a teenage girl in the TV sitcom My Two Dads (1987--90), and later came to prominence in North America as Paul Buchman in Mad About You (1992--99), a comedy series he co-created, in which Helen Hunt co-starred as his on-screen wife. He was also the co-composer of the show's theme song, "The Final Frontier" (with Don Was), and performed the piano for the theme's recording.[5] Reiser's role in Mad About You earned him nominations for an Emmy, a Golden Globe, an American Comedy Award and a Screen Actors Guild Award. For the show's final season, Reiser and Hunt received $1 million ($1.4 million today) per episode.[6] In 2001, Reiser played a dramatic role as a man desperate to locate his biological mother, after learning he has a serious illness, in the British TV film My Beautiful Son. In 2002, Reiser made a guest appearance as himself on Larry David's HBO sitcom, Curb Your Enthusiasm.[7] In the TV comedy film Atlanta (2007), Reiser appears as one half of a couple who, after meeting at a funeral, are unable to stay away from each other.[8] In 2010, Reiser collaborated with the singer Julia Fordham to create a CD album titled Unusual Suspects, which includes the song "UnSung Hero", dedicated to American soldiers serving in Afghanistan. The two embarked on an acoustic tour after its release. photo by Alan Light [CC-BY-2.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0 )], via Wikimedia Commons

• published: 23 Jan 2014
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