Alexander Knox

This article is about the actor. For the Irish theologian, see Alexander Knox (1757-1831).

Alexander Knox
Alexander Knox in Paula (1952)
Born	(1907-01-16)16 January 1907 Strathroy, Ontario, Canada
Died	25 April 1995(1995-04-25) (aged 88) Berwick-upon-Tweed, Northumberland, England
Years active	1931-1986
Spouse(s)	Doris Nolan (1943-1995) (his death) 1 child
Children	Andrew Knox

Alexander Knox (16 January 1907 – 25 April 1995) was a Canadian actor and author of adventure novels set in the Great Lakes area during the 19th century.

Biography

Born in Strathroy, Ontario, he graduated from the University of Western Ontario and later moved to Boston, Massachusetts to perform on the stage with the Boston Repertory Theater. After the company folded following the stock market crash of 1929, Knox returned to London, Ontario where for the next two years he worked as a reporter for The London Advertiser before moving to London, England where, during the 1930s he appeared in several films. He starred opposite Jessica Tandy in the 1940 Broadway production of Jupiter Laughs and in 1944, he was chosen by Darryl F. Zanuck to star in Wilson, the biographical film about US President Woodrow Wilson, for which he won a Golden Globe Award and was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actor. However, during the McCarthy Era, he was blacklisted by the Hollywood film studio bosses and he returned to England.

He had major roles in The Sea Wolf, Over 21, Sister Kenny, The Vikings, Europa '51, None Shall Escape, and Nicholas and Alexandra, as well as supporting roles, late in his career, in Joshua Then and Now and Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy. He also wrote six adventure novels: Bride of Quietness (1933), Night of the White Bear (1971), The Enemy I Kill (1972), Raider's Moon, The Kidnapped Surgeon and Totem Dream. He also wrote plays and at least three detective novels under a pseudonym prior to 1945.

He was married to American actress Doris Nolan (1916–1998) from 1943 until his death in 1995. They had a son Andrew Knox who became an actor. He died in Berwick-upon-Tweed, Northumberland from bone cancer.

Partial filmography

• Rembrandt (1936)
• The Gaunt Stranger (1938)
• Cheer Boys Cheer (1939)
• The Sea Wolf (1941)
• Commandos Strike at Dawn (1942)
• None Shall Escape (1944)
• Wilson (1944)
• Over 21 (1945)
• Sister Kenny (1946)
• The Sign of the Ram (1948)
• The Judge Steps Out (1949)
• Tokyo Joe (1949)
• I'd Climb the Highest Mountain (1951)
• Two of a Kind (1951)
• The Son of Dr. Jekyll (1951)
• Man in the Saddle (1951)
• Europa '51 (1952)
• The Sleeping Tiger (1954)
• The Divided Heart (1954)
• The Night My Number Came Up (1955)
• Alias John Preston (1955)
• Reach for the Sky (1956)
• High Tide at Noon (1957)
• The Wreck of the Mary Deare (1959)
• Chase a Crooked Shadow (1958)
• The Vikings (1958)
• Intent to Kill (1958)
• The Two-Headed Spy (1958)
• Operation Amsterdam (1959)
• Crack in the Mirror (1960)
• Oscar Wilde (1960)
• The Longest Day (1962)
• In the Cool of the Day (1963)
• The Damned (1963)
• Man in the Middle (1963)
• Woman of Straw (1964)
• Crack in the World (1965)
• Mister Moses (1965)
• The Psychopath (1966)
• Modesty Blaise (1966)
• Khartoum (1966)
• La vingt-cinquième heure, English title: The 25th Hour (1967)
• Accident (1967)
• You Only Live Twice (1967) uncredited as the American President
• How I Won the War (1967)
• Villa Rides (1968)
• Shalako (1968)
• Fräulein Doktor (1969)
• Run a Crooked Mile (1969, TV)
• Skullduggery (1970)
• Puppet on a Chain (1971)
• Nicholas and Alexandra (1971)
• Holocaust 2000 (1977)
• Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy (1979)
• Gorky Park (1983)
• Joshua Then and Now (1985)

External links

• Alexander Knox at the Internet Movie Database
• Alexander Knox at the Internet Broadway Database
• New York Times obituary