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Michael J. Fox traveled back in time to the 1950s when he starred in the iconic '80s comedy "Back to the Future," but the beloved actor's first-ever major role placed him in an even older decade. Fox was one of the stars of "Palmerstown, U.S.A.," a CBS series set during the Great Depression in the 1930s that followed the friendship of two young boys, one Black and one white.
A collaboration between legendary sitcom creator Norman Lear and "Roots" creator Alex Haley, "Palmerstown, U.S.A." premiered on March 20, 1980. It was inspired by Haley's own childhood; he and a white neighbor had been close friends as kids until they were 12 and the white boy's father said they weren't allowed to play together anymore because it was time they knew their place. "Palmerstown, U.S.A." wasn't on the air long enough to get to that tragic ending point, as it was canceled after just two seasons that documented the heartwarming close friendship of these kids even as society inevitably wanted to tear them apart.
Fox played Willy-Joe Hall, the older brother of the white kid. In what was perhaps Fox's biggest episode, Willy-Joe and the teenage daughter of a poor family with a grudge against the Halls fall for each other. In an interview with Parade, Fox said his first on-screen kiss was on "Palmerstown, U.S.A." He couldn't remember the actress' name, but he's likely referring to Lori Lethin.
Michael J. Fox was an unknown actor when he got the Palmerstown, U.S.A. role
Michael J. Fox is an icon of the '80s — his breakout role in "Family Ties" came just a year after "Palmerstown, U.S.A." ended. When he got cast in the show, though, he was an unknown, with only one-off appearances on titles like "Trapper John, M.D." to his name. In an interview with The Television Academy, Fox explained that he'd initially wanted to make movies, but when he got an offer to do a TV series created by Norman Lear and Alex Haley, "that was pretty cool."
"I'm this 18-year-old kid and all of the sudden I'm in a room with [Lear]," Fox said. "'All in the Family' had always been my favorite television show and to this day it is my favorite television show."
"No one knew, at the time, Michael Fox except that Michael Fox was just a terrific kid," Jeffrey Hayden, a television director who helmed some "Palmerstown, U.S.A." episodes, said in a Television Academy interview. He recalled an incident where Fox was late for shooting because the Canadian actor was traveling north for the weekend to visit his family and got stuck at the border on the return. "Norman Lear had to call his congressman or somebody in Washington and get them to call the Canadian Mounties," Hayden said.
Hayden described the cast, which also included future "Predator" and "Commando" actor Bill Duke, as having "no stars, but major talents that Norman Lear put together with Alex Haley and [casting director] Reuben Cannon."
