Michael J. Fox calls son Sam his 'best friend': What to know about his 4 kids

The “Back to the Future” star shares four children with his wife Tracy Pollan.

Michael J. Fox calls son Sam his 'best friend': What to know about his 4 kids
Jason Davis/Getty Images
May 31, 2024, 12:28 PM

Michael J. Fox rose to fame playing Alex P. Keaton on the 1980s sitcom "Family Ties," and it was on the set of the hit series where he met co-star Tracy Pollan, his now-wife of three decades.

Today, the actor and Parkinson's disease advocate, who is also the founder of The Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson's Research, is a proud father and shares four children with Pollan, whom he called "stunningly beautiful" and a "great actress" during an interview with "The View" in 2023.

PHOTO: Michael J. Fox attends the Michael J. Fox Foundation "A Country Thing: Happened On The Way To Cure Parkinson's" at The Fisher Center for the Performing Arts, April 2, 2024, in Nashville, Tenn.
Michael J. Fox attends the Michael J. Fox Foundation "A Country Thing: Happened On The Way To Cure Parkinson's" at The Fisher Center for the Performing Arts, April 2, 2024, in Nashville, Tenn.
Jason Davis/Getty Images

Get to know Fox and his family below.

Tracy Pollan

PHOTO: Tracy Pollan and Michael J. Fox attend the 2024 Time100 Gala at Jazz at Lincoln Center, April 25, 2024, in New York.
Tracy Pollan and Michael J. Fox attend the 2024 Time100 Gala at Jazz at Lincoln Center, April 25, 2024, in New York.
Taylor Hill/FilmMagic via Getty Images

Fox opened up during that interview about the first time he met his wife and revealed it wasn't the friendliest of encounters from the get-go.

"Tracy just started the show and we were doing a scene, and we'd come back from lunch ... we met during the scene and I noticed she had … a little garlic breath," Fox recalled at the time. "And I said, 'Scampi for lunch, babe?' And it was this girl from New York who said 'You're an a------.'"

Despite the rocky start, the two hit it off, and the couple married in 1988. Pollan called Fox "the love of my life" in a July 2020 Instagram post celebrating their anniversary, and in 2023, she marked 35 years together with Fox.

"Here's to many more glorious adventures together. I could not love you more💗," Pollan wrote in part in another July 2023 Instagram post.

In addition to acting, Pollan is also a cookbook author and released "Mostly Plants: 101 Delicious Flexitarian Recipes from the Pollan Family" in 2019, which she co-authored with her siblings and mother Corky Pollan.

Sam Michael Fox

PHOTO: (L-R) Sam Fox, Esme Fox, Tracy Pollan, Michael J. Fox, Aquinnah Fox, and Schuyler Fox attend the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences 13th Governors Awards at Fairmont Century Plaza, Nov. 19, 2022, in Los Angeles.
(L-R) Sam Fox, Esme Fox, Tracy Pollan, Michael J. Fox, Aquinnah Fox, and Schuyler Fox attend the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences 13th Governors Awards at Fairmont Century Plaza, Nov. 19, 2022, in Los Angeles.
Emma Mcintyre/WireImage via Getty Images

A year after marrying, Fox and Pollan welcomed their first child -- son Sam -- in May 1989.

Fox celebrated Sam and called him his "best friend and only son" in a May 30 birthday tribute on Instagram.

"Sam, what a trip it's been. From the boy who had questions about everything to the man who has so many answers and still more questions. I love you," Fox wrote in a caption next to a photo of Sam blowing out four candles on a chocolate-frosted birthday cake.

"Oh yeah, thanks for all the laughs. You are my best friend and only son. Happy birthday!" Fox concluded.

Aquinnah Kathleen Fox

PHOTO: (L-R) Schuyler Fox, Esme Annabelle Fox, Michael J. Fox, Tracy Pollan, Sam Fox and Aquinnah Kathleen Fox attend the 2017 "A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to Cure Parkinson's" benefitting The Michael J. Fox Foundation, Nov. 11, 2017, in New York.
(L-R) Schuyler Fox, Esme Annabelle Fox, Michael J. Fox, Tracy Pollan, Sam Fox and Aquinnah Kathleen Fox attend the 2017 "A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to Cure Parkinson's" benefitting The Michael J. Fox Foundation, Nov. 11, 2017, in New York.
Roy Rochlin/FilmMagic via Getty Images

Fox and Pollan welcomed twin daughters Aquinnah and Schuyler on Feb. 15, 1995.

In a June 2020 Instagram post, Fox shared a group photo of his entire family together and referred to himself in the accompanying caption simply as a "lucky dad."

Schuyler Frances Fox

Schuyler and Aquinnah are twins. When they turned 25 in February 2020, Pollan called herself "the luckiest mom in the world" in a celebratory Instagram post.

Esmé Annabelle Fox

They youngest of the Fox kids, Esmé was born on Nov. 3, 2001.

In an Instagram post last year on her daughter's birthday, Pollan wrote, "Happy birthday to this most beautiful human, you touch everyone you meet, and make the world a better place. I love traveling the world with you, I love you so❤️❤️❤️."