James Fox
 |
James Fox | |
|---|---|
| Born | William Fox 19 May 1939 London, England |
| Other names | Willie Fox Jim Fox |
| Years active | 1950–1970; 1983–present |
| Spouse |
Mary Elizabeth Piper
(m. 1973) |
| Children | |
| Parent(s) | Robin Fox Angela Worthington |
| Relatives |
|
| Family | Fox |
William "James" Fox (born 19 May 1939) is an English actor.
Early life
Fox was born in London, to theatrical agent Robin Fox and actress Angela Worthington. Like several members of the Fox family, he was educated at Harrow School. He is the brother of the actor Edward Fox and the film producer Robert Fox. His mother's father was the playwright Frederick Lonsdale. Like his brother Edward, after leaving Harrow, Fox took a short service commission in the Coldstream Guards.
Career
Early career
Fox first appeared on film in The Miniver Story in 1950. His other early film appearances were made under his birth name, William Fox.
In 1962, Fox was working in a bank when Tony Richardson offered him a minor role in the film The Loneliness of the Long Distance Runner. Fox's father attempted to forbid this, claiming that his son had no talent for acting and that it would disrupt his life for him to give up his job in the bank, but nevertheless Fox took the part.[1]
During the 1960s, Fox gained popularity and appeared to be heading for stardom. In 1964, he won a BAFTA Award for Most Promising Newcomer for his role in The Servant (1963).[2] His roles in films such as Those Magnificent Men in their Flying Machines (1965), King Rat (1965), The Chase (1966), Thoroughly Modern Millie (1967), Isadora (1968), and Performance (1970), as well as his relationship with actress Sarah Miles, made him a media personality.
Spiritual life and break from acting
After finishing work on Performance (1970), Fox suspended his acting career. The strain of filming, his father's death in January 1971, and smoking the hallucinogen DMT, had led to a nervous breakdown.[3] On his break from acting, Fox has commented that "People think Performance blew my mind... my mind was blown long before that."[3]
He has also said that "Performance gave me doubts about my way of life. Before that I had been completely involved in the more bawdy side of the film business. But after that everything changed."[3]
In a 2008 interview, he said: "It was just part of my journey...I think my journey was to spend a while away from acting. And I never lost contact with it - watching movies, reading about it ... so I didn't feel I missed it."[4]
He became an evangelical Christian, working with the Navigators and devoting himself to the ministry.[5] During this time, the only film in which Fox appeared was No Longer Alone (1978), the story of Joan Winmill Brown,[6] a suicidal woman who was led to faith in Jesus Christ by Ruth Bell Graham.[6]
Return to acting
After an absence of almost ten years from mainstream cinema, Fox returned to the screen, appearing in Stephen Poliakoff's Runners (1983), A Passage to India (1984), and playing Anthony Blunt in the acclaimed BBC play by Alan Bennett, A Question of Attribution (1992). He also portrayed the character of Colonel Ferguson in Farewell to the King and the pro-German aristocrat Lord Darlington in The Remains of the Day (1993).
More recently, he has appeared in the 2001 adaptation of The Lost World as Prof. Leo Summerlee, Agatha Christie's Poirot - Death on the Nile (2004) as Colonel Race and Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (2005) playing Mr. Salt, Veruca Salt's father. He appeared in the Doctor Who audio drama Shada, and in 2007, he guest-starred in the British television crime series Waking the Dead. He also appeared opposite his son Laurence Fox in "Allegory of Love", an episode in the third series of Lewis. He was part of the cast of Sherlock Holmes, as Sir Thomas, leading member of a freemason-like secret society.
In 2010, he filmed Cleanskin, a terrorist thriller directed by Hadi Hajaig,[7] and in 2011 he played King George V in Madonna's film W.E.[2]
Personal life
In the 1960s, Fox had a relationship with the actress Sarah Miles.
He married Mary Elizabeth Piper in 1973, with whom he has five children: actors Laurence, Lydia, and Jack Fox, and sons Robin and Thomas. In 2007, Laurence and Lydia married actors Billie Piper and Richard Ayoade, respectively. Fox is grandfather to Laurence's two sons with Piper and Lydia's two daughters by Ayoade. His niece Emilia Fox is also an actress. Both Emilia and James Fox have portrayed roles in BBC's hit TV series Merlin and Fox has guest-starred in his son Laurence's television series Lewis.
In her 2014 book A Story Lately Told, Anjelica Huston references a sexual relationship with Fox when she was a teenager.
Filmography
Film
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1950 | The Miniver Story | Toby Miniver | |
| The Magnet | Johnny Brent | ||
| 1962 | The Loneliness of the Long Distance Runner | Gunthorpe | |
| 1963 | Tamahine | Oliver | |
| The Servant | Tony | ||
| 1965 | King Rat | Flight Lieutenant Peter Marlowe | |
| Those Magnificent Men in their Flying Machines | Richard Mays | ||
| 1966 | The Chase | Jason 'Jake' Rogers | |
| 1967 | Thoroughly Modern Millie | Jimmy Smith | |
| Arabella | Giorgio | ||
| 1968 | Duffy | Stephane Calvert | |
| Isadora | Gordon Craig | ||
| 1970 | Performance | Chas Devlin | |
| 1983 | Runners | Tom Lindsay | |
| 1984 | Greystoke: The Legend of Tarzan, Lord of the Apes | Lord Charles Esker | |
| A Passage to India | Richard Fielding | ||
| 1986 | Absolute Beginners | Henley of Mayfair, Dressmaker to the Queen | |
| The Whistle Blower | Lord | ||
| Comrades | Governor William Norfolk | ||
| 1987 | High Season | Patrick | |
| 1989 | Farewell to the King | Colonel Ferguson | |
| The Mighty Quinn | Thomas Elgin | ||
| 1990 | The Russia House | Ned | |
| 1991 | Afraid of the Dark | Frank | |
| 1992 | Patriot Games | Lord William Holmes | |
| 1993 | The Remains of the Day | Lord Darlington | |
| 1997 | Anna Karenina | Alexi Alexandrovich Karenin | |
| Never Ever | Arthur Trevane | ||
| 1998 | Shadow Run | Landon-Higgins | |
| Jinnah | Mountbatten | ||
| 1999 | Mickey Blue Eyes | Philip Cromwell | |
| 2000 | Up at the Villa | Sir Edgar Swift | |
| Sexy Beast | Harry | ||
| The Golden Bowl | Colonel Bob Assingham | ||
| 2004 | The Prince and Me | King Haraald | |
| 2005 | Charlie and the Chocolate Factory | Mr. Salt | |
| 2007 | Mister Lonely | The Pope | |
| 2009 | Sherlock Holmes | Sir Thomas Rotheram | |
| 2011 | W.E. | King George V | |
| 2012 | Cleanskin | Scott Catesby | |
| 2013 | Effie Gray | Sir Charles Eastlake | |
| The Double | The Colonel | ||
| A Long Way From Home | Joseph |
Television
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1983 | Anna Pavlova | Victor Dandré | |
| 1992 | A Question of Attribution | Sir Anthony Blunt | TV movie |
| 1993 | Heart of Darkness | Gosse | TV movie |
| 1994 | The Dwelling Place | Lord Fischel | TV mini-series, 3 episodes[8] |
| 1995 | The Choir | The Dean, Hugh Cavendish | TV mini-series, 5 episodes |
| 1996 | Gulliver's Travels | Dr. Bates | TV mini-series |
| 2001 | Armadillo | Sir Simon Sherrifmuir | |
| The Lost World | Prof. Leo Summerlee | TV movie | |
| 2003 | Cambridge Spies | Lord Halifax | 1 episode |
| 2004 | Agatha Christie's Poirot | Colonel Race | Death on the Nile |
| 2005 | Agatha Christie's Marple | Colonel Arthur Bantry | The Body in the Library |
| Colditz | Lt. Colonel Jimmy Fordham | TV mini-series | |
| Absolute Power | Gerald Thurnham | Episode: Identity Crisis | |
| 2006 | Suez: A Very British Crisis | Anthony Eden | TV documentary |
| 2007 | Waking the Dead | Dr Bruno Rivelli | Episode: Mask of Sanity |
| 2008 | New Tricks | Ian Figgis | Episode: Spare Parts |
| 2009 | Lewis | Professor Norman Dearing | Episode: Allegory of Love |
| Margaret | Charles Powell | TV movie | |
| Red Riding 1980 | Charles Powell | TV movie | |
| 2010 | Midsomer Murders | Sir Michael Fielding | Episode: Master Class |
| 2011 | Law & Order: UK | Dr. Edward Austen | Episode: The Wrong Man |
| 2012 | Merlin | King Rodor | Episode: Another's Sorrow |
| 2013 | Utopia | Assistant | 6 episodes |
| The Great Train Robbery | Henry Brooke | TV movie | |
| Downton Abbey: The London Season | Lord Aysgarth | ||
| 2015 | Death in Paradise | Martin Goodman | Episode 4.8 |
| 1864 | Lord Palmerston |
References
- ^ James M. Welsh, John C. Tibbetts, The Cinema of Tony Richardson: Essays and Interviews (1999), p. 119
- ^ a b "W./E. | Cast". We-movie.com. 2011-03-18. Retrieved 2012-05-13.
- ^ a b c IMDB.com, James Fox: Biography.
- ^ Jeeves (2010-11-22). ""Tweedland" The Gentlemen's club: JAMES FOX". Tweedlandthegentlemansclub.blogspot.com. Retrieved 2012-05-13.
- ^ "Biography at British Cinema Greats". Retrieved 2006-07-31.
- ^ a b "'The Epitome of a Christian Woman'". Christianity Today. 2007-06-20. Retrieved 2014-05-08.
- ^ Bean, Rampling Join Terrorist Thriller "Cleanskin" Dark Horizons. 2 March 2010
- ^ Catherine Cookson's The Dwelling Place at radiotimes.com
External links
- James Fox at IMDb
- James Fox at the BFI's Screenonline
- James Fox BFI
- Biography at British Cinema Greats
- Comeback: An Actor's Direction, autobiographical memoir by James Fox
- The Guardian - "'Acting ... ? It paid for a bicycle, I seem to remember'"
- Mail Online - "It's not all happy families! Acting legend James Fox on his Lewis star son Laurence - and what he really thinks of daughter-in-law Billie Piper"
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