Family Ties

Photo Courtesy of NBC

Family Ties follows the lives of the Keatons, a close-knit family who, despite their differences, count on each other through good times and bad.

Parents Steven (Michael Gross) and Elyse (Meredith Baxter-Birney) Keaton are former hippies and proud of it. They have been in love from almost the moment they met, and married in 1964. Steven and Elyse joined the Peace Corps immediately after their marriage, and their son Alex (Michael J. Fox) was born the next year while they were in Africa. Soon after, they started attending the University of California, Berkeley, where their second child, Mallory (Justine Bateman) was born in 1967. In 1972, Mallory was followed by Jennifer (Tina Yothers), born on the night President Richard Nixon won a second term of office.

The Keatons now live in the town of Columbus, Ohio. Steven is the station manager for a local public television station called WKS, while Elyse is an independent architect, and both love their jobs. It is the early years of the Reagan administration, and to the horror of his parents Alex has become a Young Republican and ardent supporter of “Reganomics”. Mallory too has a conservative outlook – if she ever thought about it that is; she’s much more interested in shopping and her hair. Jennifer, athletic and active and the baby of the family, is more like her parents. With views at opposite ends of the political spectrum, the Keaton household sees plenty of heated debates.

Elyse later becomes pregnant. The Keatons’ fourth child, Andy (Brian Bonsall) is adored by all the family, but is especially close to Alex. In return Alex bestows both his love and his political views on Andy, managing to mold him into a very, very young Republican!

Photo Courtesy of NBC

Main Cast

Character	Actor
Steven Keaton	Michael Gross
Elyse Keaton	Meredith Baxter-Birney
Alex P. Keaton	Michael J. Fox
Mallory Keaton	Justine Bateman
Jennifer Keaton	Tina Yothers
Andrew Keaton	Brian Bonsall

Photo Courtesy of NBC

Additional Cast

Character	Actor	Years
Skippy Handelman	Marc Price	1982-1989
Nick Moore	Scott Valentine	1985-1989
Ellen Reed	Tracy Pollan	1985-1987
Lauren Miller	Courtney Cox	1987-1989
Gus Thompson	John Hancock	1983-1989
George Bellack	Alan Blumenfeld	1984-1987
Sam	Robert Schanche	1983-1989
Phyllis	Enid Kent	1982-1988
Dr.Schulte	Terry Wills	1983-1989
Carmine	Robert Costanzo	1984-1987
Ted Waterman	John Petlock	1982-1986
Robert Keaton	Norman Parker	1985-1987
Jeff Wakefield	John Dukakis	1983-1984
Mr. Wertz	Ben Piazza	1984-1987
Oscar	David Wohl	1985-1988
Young Steven	Michael David Wright	1984-1988
Party Girl	Wendy Wells-Gunkel	1987
Ned Donnelly	Tom Hanks	1983-1984
Customer #1	Bunny Summers	1983-1985
Neil	John Putch	1982-1986
Bernice	Belita Moreno	1983-1989
Doug	Timothy Busfield	1984-1986
Karen Nicholson	Geena Davis	1984-1986
Customer #2	Denise D’Amico	1985-1989
Bill Channing	Walter Olkewicz	1984-1987
Bellhop	James N. Hamilton	1985-1987
Dr. Skip Williamson	Matthew Faison	1985-1987
Grover Garver	Michael B. Moynahan	1983-1986
Young Elyse	Margaret Marx	1986-1988
Buffaloed Bill	Raymond Singer	1986-1988
Rebecca Ryan	Melinda Culea	1986-1987
Marty Brodie	Jane Adams	1987-1989
Dr. Harrison	Philip Baker Hall	1988
Kate	Priscilla Morrill	1982-1984
Richard Grasso	Sal Viscuso	1982-1984
Carol Mannings	Mary Farrell	1983-1985
Mr. Carlyle	Richard Venture	1983
Mr. Winkler	Philip Sterling	1982-1984
Suzanne Davis	Brooke Alderson	1982-1983
Ron Davis	Jay Tarses	1982-1983
Bill	Sam Whipple	1984
Rachel Miller	Daphne Zuniga	1984
Jackie Jackerman	Rick Podell	1985
Tricia Armstrong	Suzanne Snyder	1985
James Jarrett	Jeffrey Joseph	1984-1985

Photo Courtesy of NBC

Trivia

Michael J. Fox grew up in Canada and when he was fifteen years old he was appeared in a Canadian TV series called Leo and Me. He moved to Los Angeles when he was 18 to pursue his acting.

Three members of the cast and crew of the series of Leo and Me, as well as Fox himself, have developed Parkinson’s disease in mid-life. Because of the unusually high incidence in a single group there has been some investigation into whether environmental factors played a part.

Former U.S. President Ronald Reagan said that Family Ties was his favorite show in the 1980’s.

Although he appeared in a number of other television productions and films, Brian Bonsall (Andrew) decided to retire from acting in 1995.

Tracy Pollan’s (Ellen Reed) best friend in real-life is actress Jennifer Grey. They attended the same school as teenagers.

Marc Price was childhood friends with Crispin Glover, who guest-starred on Family Ties.

The last episodes with Michael J. Fox (Alex) on the series Spin City were filled with references to Family Ties.

Both Michael Gross (Steven Keaton) and Meredith Baxter (Elyse Keaton) had guest spots on Spin City, Gross as a therapist to Fox’s character and Baxter once again playing his mother. They also use the name Mallory in reference to an off-screen character, as well as the name of Alex P. Keaton.

Meredith Baxter (she dropped the Birney years before after her divorce from David Birney) was actually pregnant in real-life so the pregnancy was simply written into the script. Instead of a boy, as on the show, she actually gave birth to twins.

Photo Courtesy of NBC

Crispin Glover, who played a friend of Alex P. Keaton on the show, worked with Michael J. Fox again only a year later but not on Family Ties. Instead he played the father of Michael J. Fox’s character, Marty McFly, in the popular Back To The Future trilogy.

Justine Bateman (Mallory) is married to Mark Fluent and has two children, a son, Duke, and a daughter, Gianetta.

Michael Gross is a passionate rail fan. He is a modeler, photographer, and part-owner of a working railroad, The Santé Fe Southern Railway.

Meredith Baxter is a breast cancer survivor. She has also created her own skin-care line called Meredith Baxter Simple Works, which raises money for her breast cancer research foundation.