Bold, Beautiful, Big and Little Foxes

Some social media buzz got created late last year that took us – sort of – Back to the Future. I would prefer it to take us forward to the past.

Multi-award-winning Michael J. Fox is noted for his legendary role as the character Marty McFly in Back to the Future and for his run as Alex P. Keaton in the popular TV series Family Ties, as well as other engaging portrayals in television and film. After revealing, in 1998, that he had been diagnosed with Parkinson’s Disease a few years earlier, Fox became—in addition to a hard-working actor—a famous advocate. At the website of his Michael J. Fox Foundation for awareness of the disease, it was the profile “Michael’s Story” that got the social media sensation started. The buzz wasn’t about Parkinson’s; it was about his middle initial.

The story goes that when the 17-year-old Canadian actor Michael Andrew Fox landed in Los Angeles and attempted to join the Screen Actors’ Guild (SAG), he couldn’t register as “Michael Fox” because there was already a Michael Fox guild member. The profile states, “He ruled out ‘Michael A. Fox’ for obvious reasons” (though it’s not so obvious to me, unless the implication is “Michael, a fox”). It goes on to say, “and instead adopted the middle initial “J” as an homage to his favorite character actor, Michael J. Pollard.”

When fans caught on to that story, Reddit users, in particular, let loose a plethora of good-humored, tongue-in-cheek outrage about feeling “betrayed” by the revelation. Celebrity Tattler and other internet sources got in on the fun of reporting the response—but no one seemed to find it mattered to talk about the other Michael Fox.

Michael J. Fox is a star, beloved by pretty much everybody. Michael Fox was a character actor beloved, probably subconsciously, by certain generations.

Michael Fox has well over 200 screen credits including guest appearances as well as regular cast roles in television series. For example, he played the recurring coroner in many episodes of the omnipresent Perry Mason and appeared in 3 episodes of the equally omnipresent Twilight Zone playing a psychiatrist, an MD, and an antenna-sporting Martian. On the big screen, he had minor roles in mostly minor movies from the early 1950s until the mid ‘50s, when television began to dominate his work. Aficionados of later vintage fare can see him in such cinema classics as Whatever Happened to Baby Jane and Young Frankenstein.

It was The Bold and the Beautiful, however, that cemented Micheal Fox into most fans’ hearts, even if they didn’t know the actor’s name. Fox was the loveable Saul Feinberg, long-time friend and colleague of the original Sally Spectra (an indomitable character played by an unforgettable actress, Darlene Conley). It was refreshing to see an expressly Jewish character in a soap opera and Fox played the role from 1989 until the character was killed-off due to the death of the actor in 1996.

Now, the story of the Foxes doesn’t end there. Downton Abbey fans, did you realize that the compassionate Andrew Parker, who married Daisy in season 5, was played by an actor named Michael Fox (pictured far right in the cast photo)? So, why is this young Michael Fox able to use his name when Michael J. Fox wasn’t? Obviously, this actor is British and is, no doubt, a member of UK Equity. But he is also surely a member of SAG-AFTRA (formerly SAG). Union members are allowed to use the same name as another performer if the original has been deceased for at least 3 years. I’m wondering though…could there ever be another Marilyn Monroe or Brad Pitt? SAG-AFTRA hasn’t gotten back to me on that issue, but I’d say, fat chance!

If you can take one more quirk in this story, note that the British Michael Fox was born Michael Collin Fox and is occasionally referred to in write-ups as—though never billed as—”Michael C. Fox”. But Michael C. Fox is the name of another barely known, barely credited actor.

Enough.

Thank you, Michael J. Fox, for treating us to some iconic performances and helping us gain increased awareness of the need to find a cure for a lifelong progressive disease estimated to affect 6 million people worldwide. Thank you, Michael Fox of Downtown Abbey, for being part of Downton Abbey. Thank you, Michael C. Fox, for…something. And thank you, “original” Michael Fox for being a timeless actor under the stars.

~ FW