Life hasn’t been easy for Michael J. Fox of late.

The much-loved actor has been locked in a battle with Parkinson’s disease for many decades now, and as one can imagine, that’s not a fight that gets easier with time.

But did you know that Michael’s childhood was quite tough – and he faced significant challenges when trying to break through in Hollywood.

Overall,Michael J FOX life has been a great success – even though his Parkinson’s Disease has taken its toll on him.

First of all, Michael’s upbringing was pretty unusual.

Born on June 9, 1961, in Edmonton, Canada, he grew up with a father who worked in the Canadian Armed Forces, and therefore, the family moved around a lot.

Michael’s mom was a payroll clerk, so she had a steady job – but Michael grew upp in a typical blue-collar home. Finally, the family settled in Burnaby, British Columbia, and Michael J. Fox found his passion for acting in junior high.

He joined the Drama division at school, and it was evident he was a talented actor. Per his WEBSITE, his theater teacher encouraged him to audition for a Canadian Broadcasting Corporation series, Leo & Me, and Fox got the part.

He got several roles on television and, at the same time, worked at the local theater in Vancouver. Michael J. Fox had decided that acting was his call in life at that point. At the age of 17, he packed his bags to pursue an acting career in Los Angeles.

“I knew that if I wanted to be someone, I couldn’t just sit on my parents’ porch and think, ‘Boy, if I was only born in the States and my parents had money and weren’t living paycheck to paycheck, I could do something with my life,’” he said.

Fox dropped out of high school, and his parents always supported his big dreams. His father even drove him all the way to Los Angeles. Speaking on LIVE with Kelly and Mark recently, Fox said he still doesn’t know how he convinced his father to do it.

“I told him that I wanted to go to Los Angeles, I knew I wanted to go to the United States, I knew I wanted to be an actor. My father, I know, thought I was a hippie. He looked me in the eyes and said, ‘If you want to be a lumberjack, you might as well go to the forest.’ So he got me in the car and drove me to California,” Michael J. Fox recalled.

Making it big in Tinseltown, though, was easier said than done. Michael didn’t have the best starting point; he came from a working-class family and didn’t have much wealth to his name.

“I was living on the margins. I was 18 years old, with no money, no connections, literally dumpster diving for food,” he told Variety in 2023

Fox fulfilled his dream of becoming an actor, and after only a few years, he got one of his most memorable roles. He was cast as Alex P. Keaton on the comedy series Family Ties, which became one of the biggest comedy series on television.

Not long afterward, he landed other parts, including his legendary role as Marty McFly in Back to the Future.