It’s been 37 years since the first Back to the Future film was released. The movie stars Michael J. Fox as Marty McFly and Christopher Lloyd as Doc Brown. Both actors made the film a smash success, leading to the release of two sequels.
Fox began displaying symptoms of early-onset Parkinson’s disease just six years after Back to the Future was released. He received an official diagnosis soon after, and went public with his diagnosis in 1998.
Since then, Fox has been an outspoken advocate for Parkinson’s disease research. He founded the Michael J. Fox foundation, which raises funds to help with research efforts.
The foundation hosts an annual fundraising gala called “A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to Cure Parkinson’s.” Country artist Brad Paisley participated in the gala one year, and performed “Johnny B. Goode” with Fox.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wb5l_cY7tgY
Fox announced in 2020 he was retiring from acting because his Parkinson’s was affecting his speech. As he wrote in his memoir No Time Like the Future: An Optimist Considers Mortality, “…not being able to speak reliably is a game-breaker for an actor.” Fox also said he was experiencing memory loss:
“There is a time for everything, and my time of putting in a 12-hour workday, and memorizing seven pages of dialogue, is best behind me…I enter a second retirement.That could change, because everything changes. But if this is the end of my acting career, so be it.”
After retiring, Fox went on to appear in one episode of Expedition: Back to the Future and voiced a character in the animated movie Back Home Again.
More recently, Fox and Lloyd reunited at the 2022 New York Comic Con. Videos and photos from their reunion show the two actors sharing a hug while fans cheered and applauded.
Michael J Fox and Christopher Lloyd.
This iconic duo from Back to the Future, always in my heart ❤️ pic.twitter.com/3F3reyOOjy
— Julien (@MajorDcp) October 9, 2022
Fox and Lloyd spoke how much they admired each other while working on Back to the Future. They made it clear they still respect one another just as much, if not more.
“The chemistry was there from the first scene we had, it was alive, and it remained that way for three movies,” Lloyd said, according to SYFY. “It hasn’t gone away, by the way.”
Fox said, “All I had to do was just react. Just take it in and let it wash over me. I thought he was brilliant. That was the whole thing: be with Chris and let it be Chris, and enjoy it…It was a thrill. Anytime I got to work with him, I knew it was gonna be a good day.”
It was awesome to see Fox and Llyod together again. Watch one of the videos from their reunion below.