Michael J. Fox, Tracy Pollan Reveal Sweet Marriage Secret As They Celebrate 30-Year Anniversary
Actors Michael J. Fox and Tracy Pollan have revealed the marriage secret that keeps their bond strong after 30 years together. after they tied the knot in a small ceremony held in Vermont in July 1988.
In an interview with People Magazine, the couple revealed what has kept their love alive throughout both personal and professional highs and lows.
“Big families, middle children,” Fox said to People. “Sense of humor. Both our families had that.”
“It was us against the world,” says Pollan of the couple’s marriage. “That’s exactly what we’ve created.”
The couple met in the summer of 1985 when Pollan auditioned for the uber-successful NBC series Family Ties for the role of Ellen Reed. Fox starred on the series from 1982-1989.
Pollan starred in the series for one season, later appearing with her future husband in the feature film Bright Lights, Big City in 1987. The couple’s attraction for one another was apparent to viewers of the sitcom, who desperately wanted their on-screen relationship to continue.
“People got tired of all those glitzy, power-hungry people jumping in the sack,” Pollan told People in 1986. “Alex and Ellen have an old-fashioned relationship. It’s unjaded and optimistic with the sweetness of a first love.”
At the time the couple rarely spent time together off-set because, as Pollan also told People in that same interview, “I fly home to Kevin the second filming shuts down.”
Kevin was Kevin Bacon, Pollan’s then-boyfriend of five years, whom she’d met doing a play in New York and with whom she shared a Manhattan apartment and a Connecticut farmhouse.
“It sounds really horrible, but it was one of those things,”Fox told People in 1989 of the couple finally coming full-circle in their union. “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?'”
The couple eventually tied the knot in a small ceremony held in Vermont in July 1988.
Asked about the key to a successful and long marriage not only in Hollywood but for any married couple, Pollan said, “Just give each other the benefit of the doubt. He assumes I’m doing the best I can.”
Added Fox, “Find the best things about you and the best things about life and celebrate them.”
Michael J. Fox & Tracy Pollan Share the Secret to Their 30-Year Marriage: 'Us Against the World' https://t.co/Fm1XoKVqi4 pic.twitter.com/u2sEWER43G
— People (@people) August 15, 2018
In 1991, Fox was diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease, a disorder that causes tremors, stillness and, ultimately, the loss of motor skills. Pollan has stood by Fox as he works towards a cure through his Michael J. Fox Parkinson’s Foundation.
The couple weathered not only Fox’s Parkinson’s diagnosis but a battle with alcoholism and depression soon after learning he had the disease. Through therapy and Pollan’s support, Fox stopped drinking and used therapy to help him adjust to his family’s new normal.
The couple shares four children together: Sam, 29, twin daughters Schuyler and Aquinnah, 23, and daughter Esmé, 16.
