Back to the Future was the highest grossing film of 1985, spending nearly three months as the number one movie in America. As one of the most iconic films ever made, it was inducted into the National Film Registry after being recognized as being “culturally, historically or aesthetically significant,” and continues to have generations of fans.

The film follows teenager Marty (Michael J Fox) as he goes back to 1955 in a time machine invented by the eccentric and extremely fun scientist, Doc Brown (Christopher Lloyd). Although, when Marty bumps into a young woman in the past who turns out to be his mother, he has to make sure that his teenage parents-to-be met and fell in love so that he could get back to the future.

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Back To The Future led to the release of a second and third film to create one of the best comedy movie trilogies of all time. Recently, Fox and Lloyd reunited when they appeared at New York Comic Con; sharing an emotional hug on stage, they talked about their chemistry on set. They may have produced some fantastic performances in those movies, but what have they been doing since, and what ever happened to the rest of the stars? Here’s a list of the Back to the Future cast and where they are today.

Michael J Fox

     Universal Pictures

As well as enjoying his role as Marty in the Back To The Future franchise, Michael J. Fox also starred in the popular films Teen Wolf, The Secret of My Success and Casualties of War. However, in 1991 Fox was diagnosed with Parkinson’s Disease, which he publicly revealed in 1998; he retired from acting in 2020 due to his declining health and continues to be a huge advocate for finding a cure for the disease through his Michael J. Fox Foundation. He most recently won an Honorary Oscar, on Nov. 19, 2022, and will always be fans’ beloved Marty.

Christopher Lloyd

Christopher Lloyd made his cinematic debut in One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest in 1975, which is considered one of the most famous psychological dramas of all time and one of only three movies to win ‘The Big Five’ Oscars (Best Picture, Director, Actor, Actress, Screenplay). In Back To the Future, he starred as the boisterous, practically mad scientist Doctor Emmett Brown, who created the time traveling machine that propelled Marty in to the future.

Lloyd starred in the ’80s cult classic Clue the same year as Back to the Future. Following his success, he went on to appear as Uncle Fester in the supernatural comedy The Addams Family and its sequel Addams Family Values, as well as countless other memorable characters, including the disturbing antagonist of Who Framed Roger Rabbit. Now 83 years old, Lloyd continues to take acting parts, and you can currently hear him as he plays the voice of the villain Hacker in the American kids series Cyberchase.

Lea Thompson

Playing Lorraine Baines-McFly as the past, present, and future versions of Marty’s mother, we watched as she accidentally became infatuated with Marty when he’s knocked down by a car which was intended to hit his future Father, George. Following her time in Back To The Future, Lea Thompson went to star in the 1986 films SpaceCamp and Howard The Duck, which was a cinema flop that left Thompson critically slammed. She bounced back, however, with myriad acting roles, and has most recently appeared in the hit comedy The Goldbergs and also played Marmee in the acclaimed 2018 movie Little Women.

Crispin Glover

Crispin Glover appeared as George McFly, Marty’s geeky future father who was constantly bullied but eventually won the heart of Lorraine thanks the Marty’s intervention. However, Glover was not cast for the role of George in the second film and was replaced by an unknown actor, Jeffrey Weissman, who was made to look like Glover, bearing a false chin, nose, and cheekbones.

A court battle ensued as Glover went on to successfully sue the producers on the grounds of using his likeness without his permission and not paying him for the reuse of footage from the original film. Glover has still gone on to act in movie hits such as Charlie’s Angels: Full Throttle, Beowulf, Hot Tub Time Machine and Alice in Wonderland. He also started his own company, Volcanic Eruptions, to make his own art movies and has previously released his own music.

Claudia Wells

The part of Jennifer Parker, Marty’s girlfriend in Back To The Future was a breakthrough role for Claudia Wells. However, due to her mother being diagnosed with breast cancer, she turned down the return to the role in order to take a break from acting to nurse her mother in her final months. Wells did return to acting in 2008, reprising her role of Jennifer on the Back to the Future video games. She also has a successful designer menswear store in LA, which she opened in 1991.

Wendie Jo Sperber

Wendie Jo Sperber had already held successful acting roles in I Wanna Hold Your Hand and Bachelor Party before making her appearance as Linda McFly, Marty’s older sister in Back To The Future. She appeared in all three movies and also went on to star in numerous TV series, including Women in Prison and Babes. Unfortunately, Sperber was diagnosed with breast cancer in 1997; she founded the WeSPARK Cancer Support Centre for families affected by the illness, but she tragically lost her own battle in 2005 at just the age of 47.

Thomas F. Wilson

Thomas F. Wilson played the role of Biff, who was George’s bullying nemesis through school and into adulthood in the first film. He returned to play Biff, his grandson Griff, and his great-grandfather Buford ‘Mad Dog’ Tannen in the sequels. Wilson has gone on to enjoy a successful career, starring in the iconic TV show Freaks and Geeks and performing numerous voice-overs for animation including the series and movies of SpongeBob SquarePants since 2001. Wilson also loves comedy, and in 2009 released his very first stand-up comedy special and second comedy album, Tom Wilson: Bigger Than You.