Michael J. Fox Says Meeting Wife Tracy Pollan on “Family Ties” Was His 'Greatest Gift' at Actor Awards 2026
Michael J. Fox Says Meeting Wife Tracy Pollan on “Family Ties” Was His 'Greatest Gift' at Actor Awards 2026
Tommy McArdleMon, March 2, 2026 at 1:31 AM UTC
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Michael J. Fox at the Actor Awards on March 1, 2026Credit: Netflix -
Michael J. Fox made a special presentation at the 2026 Actor Awards when he stepped out for the show's opening moments on Sunday, March
The legendary actor spoke to his experience meeting wife Tracy Pollan, on the set of his breakout television role on Family Ties during the show's "I Am an Actor" segment
Fox is currently performing in a guest role on the third season of Apple TV's Shrinking
Michael J. Fox stepped out for the 2026 Actor Awards.
Fox, 64, spoke to the audience assembled in Los Angeles on Sunday, March 1, as the Actor Awards kicked off with the show's annual "I Am an Actor" segment.
"When I left school, I moved from Canada to LA to try to make it as an actor," Fox said, after receiving significant applause from the audience when he appeared on camera. "A teacher of mine told me, 'Fox, you're not going to be cute forever.' I didn't know what to say to that, so I said, 'Maybe just long enough, sir.' "
Michael J. Fox on March 1, 2026Credit: Netflix
"After three years of dumpster diving in LA, I ended up on Family Ties, where I received the greatest gift of my career. I met my wife, the actor Tracy Pollan, who played Ellen, my girlfriend, and she gave me four gifts: our kids Schuyler, Aquinnah, Esmé and Sam. Sometimes I like to remind them, if it weren't for acting, they wouldn't be here."
"By the way, he's not an actor, he's just my date," Fox said, gesturing to son Sam, 36, seated at his side, which drew more laughter from the audience. "I'm Michael J. Fox. I'm a dad, and I'm an actor."
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Fox appeared at the awards show in recognition of his recent appearances on the Apple TV series Shrinking; he is making a guest appearance in the show's currently-airing third season while Harrison Ford’s therapist character, Dr. Paul Rhoades, continues his journey with Parkinson’s, the neurodegenerative disease Fox was diagnosed with in 1991. (Ford, 83, is receiving the Actor Awards' Life Achievement Award statue on March 1.)
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Back in 2020, Fox wrote in his book No Time Like the Future that he intended to stop working on screen amid health struggles related to Parkinson’s, but he told Shrinking creator and Spin City colleague Bill Lawrence he wanted to appear on the show after learning it centered Parkinson's.
See PEOPLE's full coverage of the 32nd annual Actor Awards Sunday, March 1 as they air live on Netflix.
on People
Source: “AOL Entertainment”
