“I love Tracy obviously and she’s an amazing person and has gone through a lot,” Fox said, “I realise she has a life separate from me having Parkinson’s, from me being Alex Keaton or Marty McFly, she’s a person. I think that’s why it’s gone OK.”

Fox has been battling Parkinson’s disease for more than three decades. According to British media, he didn’t go public with the information until 1998, seven years after he was diagnosed with the condition.

Here’s what you need to know about Michael J. Fox’s 63-year-old wife, Tracy Pollan:

Michael J. Fox and Tracy Pollan got married in 1988

According to People, Pollan and Fox first met on the set of Family Ties in 1985. Although their relationship started out as a platonic one, they eventually realised their fondness for each other a few years later when they crossed paths again to star in Bright Lights, Big City. The same source states that they got engaged seven months after they made it official, then tied the knot in 1988.

Pollan previously dated Kevin Bacon in the 1980s, and Fox used to be with Nancy McKeon.

They have four children together

Pollan and Fox are parents to four children: Sam, the eldest, twins Aquinnah and Schuyler, and Esmé. “Big families, middle children”, Michael told People in 2018 of the similarities between his and Pollan’s upbringing. “Sense of humour. Both our families had that.” Tracy added, “It was us against the world. That’s exactly what we’ve created.”

She is an actress

She wrote a cookbook

Cooking runs in her family! Pollan wrote her first book, The Pollan Family Table: The Best Recipes and Kitchen Wisdom for Delicious, Healthy Family Meals, in collaboration with her mother Corky and sisters Lori and Dana in 2014. The book won several awards, prompting the clan to release a second in 2019: Mostly Plants: 101 Delicious Flexitarian Recipes from the Pollan Family.

She has stayed by Fox’s side for 35 years

Pollan and Fox celebrated their 35th wedding anniversary earlier this year in July. In a loving tribute, Fox’s wife wrote on Instagram, “35 years!!! Happy anniversary my love. Here’s to many more glorious adventures together. I could not love you more.”

“The positivity is really sincere,” Fox told CBS of his own gratitude. “I really feel it, and it’s genuine. But it’s hard fought and it’s hard won, I should say.”

She is an activist, like her husband

Both Fox and Pollan are active in supporting research towards noteworthy causes. In 2000, Fox launched the Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson’s Research, which has reportedly raised more than US$1.75 billion to date, per the foundation. His wife Pollan has served on the board since its inception.

“Parkinson’s patients are the experts on what we have,” said Fox, on the foundation’s website. “We have a responsibility as patients to share our experience – what works for us, what we respond to, what we can contribute to research.” Per British media, the Teen Wolf actor was honoured with the Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award at the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences last year.