Nostalgia
‘Family Ties’ Turns 44: One Cast Member Quietly Left Hollywood Behind
‘Family Ties’ premiered 44 years ago on ABC, and the main stars have all gone on to build upon the experience they had on the beloved sitcom.
Forty-four years ago, Family Ties premiered on ABC. The show became a major hit and aired for a total of seven seasons, from 1982 to 1989. In the years since the show ended, one original cast member, Tina Yothers, has stepped away from the entertainment industry.
Family Ties starred Michael Gross as Steven Keaton and Meredith Baxter as Elyse Keaton. They had three children: Alex Keaton, played by Michael J. Fox, was the oldest. Mallory Keaton, played by Justine Bateman, was the middle child, and Yothers played Jennifer Keaton. Years later, the Keaton family expanded by one more when another son, Andrew (Brian Bonsall), came along.
As Entertainment Weekly noted, Yothers, 53, began acting at the age of 3 and was 9 when she began Family Ties. After the show, Yothers shifted her focus to music, even forming a band with her brother for a while.
She had a handful of acting roles after Family Ties, including playing Tonya Harding in a TV short released in 1994 and appearing as herself in a 1996 episode of Married… with Children.
In addition, Yothers did some reality television, beginning with Celebrity Fit Club. She later also appeared in an episode of Celebrity Wife Swap as well as an episode of What Not to Wear.
These days, Yothers lives with her husband, Robert Kaiser, and their children. According to Hello!, Yothers and Kaiser got married in 2002, and they currently live in Ontario, California.
Kaiser has two sons from an earlier relationship, and he has two children with Yothers. Their daughter Lillian Grace arrived in 2005, and their son, Robert Jake, came along in 2007.
As for other Family Ties cast members, Fox, now 65, went on to become a superstar. He still does some acting now, although he’s more reserved regarding the work he chooses to do, as he also has Parkinson’s disease, which limits his speech and mobility.
Bateman, 60, is still involved in the entertainment industry, but in a far less traditional way. For several years after Family Ties ended, she appeared in several mainstream television shows such as Desperate Housewives and Californication.
As Entertainment Weekly shared, Bateman chose to go to college while in her 40s, attending UCLA and focusing on computer science and digital media management.
At this point in her career, Bateman tends to work behind the cameras, embracing opportunities to write, produce, and direct. She has published two books: Fame: The Hijacking of Reality, released in 2018, and Face: One Square Foot of Skin, released in 2021.
Bateman also created an organization named CREDO23, which strives to keep artificial intelligence out of filmmaking.
Gross and Baxter have remained close and have done additional acting roles. The core group of Family Ties cast members get together for reunions from time to time, and they all seem to treasure the experience they had working together.
