Michael J. Fox
Fox in 2013, photo by Prphotos
Birth Name: Michael Andrew Fox
Place of Birth: Edmonton, Alberta, Canada
Date of Birth: June 9, 1961
Ethnicity: English, Northern Irish/Irish, some German, Dutch, and Scottish, remote French
Michael J. Fox is a Canadian and American actor, writer, producer, and activist. His roles include the films Midnight Madness, Class of 1984, Back to the Future, and its sequels; Teen Wolf, Light of Day, The Secret of My Success, Bright Lights, Big City; Casualties of War, The Hard Way, Doc Hollywood, Life with Mikey, For Love or Money, Where the Rivers Flow North, Greedy, Blue in the Face, The American President, The Frighteners, and Mars Attacks!, and, in voice performance, the Homeward Bound: The Incredible Journey, Stuart Little, and A.R.C.H.I.E. franchises, and Atlantis: The Lost Empire; the series Leo and Me, Family Ties, Spin City, The Good Wife, The Michael J. Fox Show, and Designated Survivor; and the made-for-tv movies High School U.S.A., Poison Ivy (1985), and Don’t Drink the Water.
He is the son of Phyllis Evelyn, a payroll clerk, who also acted, and William Nelson Fox, a member of the Canadian Forces who became a police dispatcher. His family moved often for his father’s military career, eventually settling in Barnaby, outside Vancouver, British Columbia, in 1971. Michael is married to American actress Tracy Pollan, with whom he has four children. Tracy is Jewish, and their children were raised in the faith.
Michael has Parkinson’s disease. In 2000, he founded the Michael J. Fox Foundation, for Parkinson’s research.
Michael’s paternal grandfather was William Fox (the son of Andrew Fox and Esther Agnes Hellem/Hellam). William was born in Dalton-in-Furness, Barrow-in-Furness, Cumbria, England. Andrew was the son of John Fox and Ann. Esther was the daughter of William Hellam/Hellem and Agnes.
Michael’s paternal grandmother was Bertha Dolly/Dahlie Van Arsdalen/Vanarsdalen (the daughter of Clarence Nelson Vanarsdalen/Van Arsdalen and Sarah Edith Nixon). Bertha was born in Vegville, Alberta, Canada, to American parents. Clarence was born in Michigan, the son of Cornelius Van Arsdalen, who was of Dutch, English, and distant French, ancestry; and of Mary Emily Lape, whose parents were German. Sarah was born in South Dakota, the daughter of Northern Irish parents, from Antrim, Samuel David Nixon and Jane Elisabeth Tate, who was born in Belfast.
Michael’s maternal grandfather was Henry/Harry George Joseph Piper (the son of Walter Stephen Piper and Sarah Ann/Annie Bird). Henry was born in Greenwich, London, England. Walter was the son of Joseph Piper and Elizabeth Bowers. Sarah was the daughter of George Bird and Elizabeth Moy/Curtis.
Michael’s maternal grandmother was Jane/Jenny Nelson Scott (the daughter of William John Scott and Jane Nelson). Michael’s grandmother Jane was born in Belfast, Ireland, now Northern Ireland. William was the son of Robert Scott and Sarah Young.
Sources: http://abcnews.go.com
https://www.youtube.com
https://parade.com
Genealogies of Michael J. Fox – https://www.geni.com
https://gw.geneanet.org
Genealogies of Michael’s parents – https://www.findagrave.com
Obituary of Michael’s mother – https://www.legacy.com
Death record of Michael’s maternal grandfather, Henry/Harry George Joseph Piper – https://www.familysearch.org
Death record of Michael’s maternal grandmother, Jane/Jenny Nelson (Scott) Piper – https://www.familysearch.org
https://gw.geneanet.org/tdowling?n=fox&oc=0&p=william+nelson&type=tree
https://www.familysearch.org/tree/pedigree/landscape/LVNR-TQB
Michael’s paternal grandfather was William Fox (the son of Andrew Fox and Esther Agnes Hellam). William was an English emigrant from Dalton in Furness, Cumbria. Andrew was the son of John Fox and Ann. Esther was the daughter of William Hellam/Hellem and Agnes.
Michael’s paternal grandmother was Bertha Dahlie Van Arsdalen (the daughter of Clarence Nelson Van Arsdalen and Sarah Edith Nixon). Bertha was born in Vegreville, Alberta, Canada. Clarence was the son of Cornelius Van Arsdalen, who had deep lines in America of mostly Dutch descent, and Catherine Walker, whose father was an English emigrant and mother had deep lines in America, also of mostly Dutch descent. Sarah was the daughter of immigrants from County Antrim, Northern Ireland, Samuel David Nixon and Jane Elisabeth Tate, from Belfast.
There are small amounts of French in those Dutch lines. I would put “distant French”
Sorry, I made a mistake with the generations, Catherine Walker was Cornelius’ mother, not his wife.
Here it is again:
Michael’s paternal grandmother was Bertha Dahlie Van Arsdalen (the daughter of Clarence Nelson Van Arsdalen and Sarah Edith Nixon). Bertha was born in Vegreville, Alberta, Canada. Clarence was the son of Cornelius Van Arsdalen, who was approximately of three-quarters Dutch and one-quarter English descent, with some deep lines in America, and Mary Emily Lape, the daughter of German emigrants. Sarah was the daughter of immigrants from County Antrim, Northern Ireland, Samuel David Nixon and Jane Elisabeth Tate, from Belfast.
Michael’s ethnicity: English (mostly), Scot-Irish/Northern Irish, some German and Dutch, distant French
Do you know for sure these are Fox’s paternal grandparents? His grandparents are also cited as Robert William Fox and Lillian Agnes “Dolly” Atley.
https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/55141983/lillian-agnes-fox
Well, this is the grave and obituary of Michael’s mother, who passed away last september:
https://es.findagrave.com/memorial/244457825/phyllis-evelyn-fox
And this is the grave and obituary of Michael’s father:
https://es.findagrave.com/memorial/172165263/william-nelson-fox
“Resides Burnaby with wife Phyllis Evelyn nee Piper. Son of William Fox, born England and Damlie Bertha Ann Van Arslalen, born Red Deer, Alberta. Retired police dispatcher.”
The grave of Michael’s paternal grandfather is also attached.
The name of Michael’s grandmother is misspelled here.
It does say it on the findagrave page, but those pages are user-edited.
It seems findagrave is saying that both William Fox and Bertha Dahlie Van Arsdalen and Robert William Fox and Lillian Agnes “Dolly” Atley had children named William Nelson Fox and Douglas Dale Fox. I kind of doubt both couples had children with both names, although maybe. The error must stem from there.
Well, considering the amount of information and how it corresponds with Michael’s biography, I think the publisher must be related to the Fox/Piper family.
On the other hand both William Robert Fox and Lillian Agnes Atley (the couple you propose) were born and died in Toronto, Ontario; while William Fox died in Vancouver, British Columbia, the place where both of Michael’s parents died and where the family resides since 1971 (wikipedia). In addition, Michael was born in Alberta, where Bertha Dahlie Van Arsdalen was also born.
I think it is much more likely that Michael’s grandparents were William Fox and Bertha.
OK, I took a look at Fox’s autobiography Lucky Man, and the details about his father’s family there make it clear the Fox-Van Arsdalen lineage is right.
Great! Glad to know.
Beliefnet.com says Michael J. Fox’s religion is Judaism
He looks very Irish.
he is a mixture of irish and english
Just like Ryan Reynolds he is a mixture of Irish and English a very common mix in America Britain and Canada and also Australia and New Zealand it’s also very common for people in America Britain Canada Australia and New Zealand too have all 4 ethnicities English Irish Scottish and Welsh ancestry.
he is irish borreby short headed