80s Love: The Cast Of Family Ties, Then And Now

Joseph Gordon-Levitt Also Showed Up On The Series

On two 1988 episodes of “Family Ties,” Joseph Gordon-Levitt played the role of Dougie when he was only seven years old. Dougie was a school friend of Andrew’s. Gordon-Levitt went on to have a huge acting career, staring in box office hits like Inception and (500) Days of Summer as well as of course playing Tommy on over 100 episodes of “3rd Rock from the Sun.”

And So Did River Phoenix

River Phoenix, who passed away in 1993 at the age of 23, made an appearance on an episode of “Family Ties” in 1985 playing the role of Eugene Forbes. Eugene was a 14-year old math whiz who tutored Alex. River Phoenix was the older brother of Rain, Joaquin, Liberty, and Summer Phoenix.