Love Story Behind Michael J. Fox and Wife Tracy Pollan

You might be surprised by the couple’s response if you asked Michael J. Fox and Tracy Pollan if they believed in the concept of love at first sight.

It’s a big deal that Michael J. Fox and Tracy Pollan have been married for more than three decades, especially in the scandal-ridden world of Hollywood! On the set of Family Ties, where they both portrayed love interests, the couple initially got acquainted. Nonetheless, the future power couple maintained a very professional connection in real life. At the time, Fox was dating Nancy McKeon from the television show Facts of Life, while Pollan was dating 1980s heartthrob Kevin Bacon.

“We will probably marry, but I feel like we’re kids still, and marriage is such a grown-up thing,” Pollan told People in an interview about Bacon.

It is speculated that Fox and Pollan finally fell for each other while filming the movie Bright Lights, Big City, which premiered shortly after Kevin Bacon met his longtime love, Kyra Sedgwick.

“It sounds really horrible, but it was one of those things,” Fox admitted to People in a 1989 interview. “Someone goes, ‘Did you hear that so-and-so aren’t together anymore?’ and you go, ‘Hmm, that’s too bad. Where’s the phone?’”

After seven months of dating, Fox proposed to Pollan on Dec. 26, 1987. At the time, The Back to the Future star admitted he was most nervous about the wedding’s secrecy. Despite the couple’s best efforts, the location of the marriage leaked. Like a spy movie plot, Paparazzi sent helicopters to crash Fox and Pollan’s wedding day in Arlington, VY. Of course, that did not stop the happy couple from having a good time!

While Fox and Pollan make marriage look easy, even their relationship has its challenges. Two years after the couple welcomed their first son, Fox was diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease at the very young age of 29. Fox recalled the day he found out about the incurable disease, which affects motor functions over time. In an interview on The Late Night Show With David Letterman, Fox explained:

“I thought I’d hurt my shoulder doing some stunt because I had a twitch in my pinkie. And the doctor said, ‘You have Parkinson’s disease.’ He said, ‘The good news is that you have ten years of work left.’”

At first, Fox kept the news about his medical condition private. The star turned to alcohol as a coping mechanism, and it was not until 1998 that Fox finally went public about his disease. Since then, Fox has tirelessly contributed to Parkinson’s disease research, and he started the Michael J. Fox Foundation.

Throughout Fox’s diagnosis, Pollan continues to stand by her man. Despite the ups and downs, Fox and Pollan came out the other side stronger than ever. Today, the power couple share four children, and Fox and Pollan does not shy away from affectionate social media posts.

At age 59, Fox retired for the second time from acting.While Fox’s career and charitable works will never be forgotten, his love story with Pollan will also remain one of the greatest of all time.