By CLAIRE BICKLEY
Sun Media
HOLLYWOOD - Michael J. Fox is making ready to turn in his maple leaf.
After living 20 of his 38 years in the U.S., the Edmonton native is
planning to become an American citizen.
"I am, and for three really important reasons. I have three children,"
explains the star of the political comedy Spin City, who has,
ironically,
never voted anywhere at any level. He was too young before he moved from
Canada and has never had the citizenship that would allow him to cast a
ballot in the U.S. Fox is married to American actress Tracy Pollan and
their children are all U.S.-born.
"It bothers me a lot. I pay a lot of taxes ... and I'd like to say where
they go and I'd like to be able to vote on my children's issues and
things
that will affect them," he says.
"And I love this country. It's been absolutely great to me. I love the
country that I was born in as well, but the United States has been very,
very good to me."
Fox, who revealed a few months ago that he has Parkinson's disease,
plans
to stay with Spin City for four more seasons then devote his time to the
research cause.
The tremor-causing condition hasn't affected his ability to do his job,
he
says, but taping was moved from Friday nights to Tuesdays so that he
could
have a full weekend to rest and be with his family. It has put other
opportunities beyond his reach, such as fulfilling prolific TV
miniseries
Robert Halmi's desire that Fox star in a Jimmy Cagney biography.
"That'd be hard now. That does get into the area of yeah, I may not be
able
to do that," says Fox. "Dance is such a big part of who he was that if
you
don't know how to do it, you're just going to look like an idiot."
Fox still finds time to strap on his skates to play hockey.
"Not well," he says. "You know, the thing is, in dealing with a physical
condition, I'm also in my late thirties. So do I not play hockey as well
because I have Parkinson's, or do I not play hockey as well because I'm
38
years old?"
For its fourth season, Spin City is adding Heather Locklear to its cast
as
campaign manager to N.Y. Mayor Randall Winston (Barry Bostwick) as he
runs
for Senate, timing that parallels the real-life state Senate race. But
that's where the versimilitude will end - Winston will compete with
fictional candidates, not against Hillary Clinton and Rudy Giuliani.
And don't expect Spin City ever to air a heartwarming storyline
reflecting
its star's real-life medical challenge.
"We have a thing, you know," says Fox.
"We say, `If we ever do a show that ABC promotions can say, `A very
special
episode of Spin City,' we're all supposed to be beaten with hammers."
--
Judith Richards, London, Ontario, Canada
[log in to unmask]
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