What The Cast Of Family Ties Is Doing Today

Michael J. Fox was a substantial part of 1980s entertainment culture. The Canadian-born actor started appearing on TV shows in the late 1970s, eventually landing a role on the Depression-era family drama Palmerstown, U.S.A. in the 1980s. However, a couple of years later, when Family Ties started its seven-season run, Fox became a household name. As Alex P. Keaton, the family's oldest child, Fox embodied the money-driven Reagan-era spirit. He spouted his conservative values with passion and didn't bend to his parents' liberal beliefs.

While the show was still airing, Fox starred in several popular movies, including Back to the Future, Teen Wolf, and Light of Day, further cementing him as a showbiz staple. Family Ties worked out well for him in numerous ways –- especially since he met his wife, Tracy Pollan, when she played his girlfriend on the series.

In the early '90s, Fox was diagnosed with Parkinson's disease. He's been open about the depression and addiction issues his illness has caused. Still, he has continued to work. Fox has had runs on TV shows like Spin City, Boston Legal, The Good Wife, and Rescue Me, to name a few. He's also appeared in a few movies, including Mars Attacks! and The American President. His acting career has slowed down as he's dedicated more attention to Parkinson's advocacy, however: Fox actually founded his own foundation for Parkinson's research.

Before she was a Keaton, Meredith Baxter was a Lawrence. From 1976 to 1980, she played the eldest daughter of the Lawrence clan on Family. The dramatic series has its fun moments, but focuses most often on challenges families face. On Family Ties, Baxter played Elyse Keaton, an architect, wife, and mother. A former hippie activist like Steven, Elyse has held onto her liberal views and her focus on humanitarian concerns.

Like Michael Gross, Baxter has worked steadily since the Keaton family hit the pause button. Her career has mostly focused on television, including a role as Maureen on the classic soap opera The Young and the Restless. She also gave a solid performance as Betty Broderick in the TV movie A Woman Scorned: The Betty Broderick Story, which is based on the true story of a woman who shot her ex-husband and his new wife. More recently, Baxter has expanded into science fiction by playing a doctor in Genesis: The Future of Mankind Is Woman.

Jennifer Keaton (played by Tina Yothers) is the Keaton family's third kid. Liberal like her parents, Jennifer is a tomboy who doesn't share Mallory's interest in heels and hairdos. She goes through many awkward moments as a young teenager: In one memorable episode, she tries to fit in with the cool clique at school, changing her whole appearance and attitude to look and sound like a 1980s valley girl. She alienates her true friends and family, of course, and learns a valuable lesson about the importance of not changing to please people who suck. While she was still on the show, she wrote a book for tweens called Being Your Best: Tina Yothers' Guide for Girls.

Yothers didn't focus on acting after Family Ties ended in '89. She appeared on a handful of TV shows and in a few movies, but by 1996, she was largely out of the game. After that, she made appearances as herself on reality TV programs, including The Weakest Link and Celebrity Fit Club. Post-show, she started a band called Jaded with her brother. She currently lives in California with her husband and kids.

Marc Price played the Keaton's lovably nerdy neighbor, Irwin Handelman, who goes by the nickname Skippy. Some of the series' Skippy-centric episodes center around him finding out he's adopted and turning to his neighbors for advice. He also helps the Keaton kids run a bed-and-breakfast out of their house while their parents are out of town.

Price is another Family Ties cast member who hasn't amassed many acting credits since the show finished. Following the final episode, he was in a couple of TV programs like Hearts Are Wild, but that part of his career came to a halt in 1993. Price resurfaced for some acting gigs after 2013, but generally speaking, it's rare that he appears on camera any longer. 

That doesn't mean he's not performing, however. Price inherited the funny gene and a desire to make people laugh from his stand-up comedian father, Al Bernie. Price appeared on The Last Comic Standing and spent several years performing in Las Vegas. He does a lot of work these days behind the scenes, writing and producing shows for networks like Disney Channel, the Food Network, and TBS.

The Keatons are known for being a remarkably open-minded and kind bunch. In season four, when Mallory brings artist Nick Moore (Scott Valentine) home to meet her good-hearted kin, however, she seriously tests their generosity. Nick is more than a little rough around the edges, looking and sounding quite a lot like the title character played by Sylvester Stallone in the Rocky franchise. Ultimately, however, the family discovers Nick's hidden good nature. Granted, it takes a few emotional episodes to get to that sweet spot, but in time, he comes to be a beloved part of the Keaton family.

Valentine's acting career since Family Ties has predominately happened in the world of TV. He's been on a tremendously varied number of shows, including Phantom 2040, JAG, Black Scorpion, and Murder, She Wrote. Valentine doesn't confine himself to the world of acting, though: He's also a partner in an investment firm that focuses on projects involving renewable energy.