Edward Fox (actor)

Edward Fox

Born Edward Charles Morice Fox
(1937-04-13) 13 April 1937
Chelsea, London, England
Occupation Actor
Years active 1958–present
Spouse(s) Tracy Reed (1958–1961; divorced; 1 child)
Joanna David (2004–present; 2 children)

Edward Charles Morice Fox,[1] OBE (born 13 April 1937) is an English stage, film and television actor.

He played the title character in the film The Day of the Jackal (1973). He also portrayed King Edward VIII in the serial Edward & Mrs. Simpson (1978).

Early life and education

Fox was born in Chelsea, London, the son of Robin Fox, a theatrical agent, and Angela Muriel Darita Worthington, an actress and writer.[2] He is the elder brother of actor James Fox and film producer Robert Fox, and an uncle of actor Laurence Fox. His paternal great-grandfather was industrialist and inventor Samson Fox, and his paternal grandmother was Hilda Hanbury, sister of stage performer Lily Hanbury. His maternal grandfather was dramatist Frederick Lonsdale, and his maternal grandmother was the daughter of football player and stockbroker Charles Morice.[3][4] Fox was educated at Harrow School in northwest London and served as a lieutenant in the Coldstream Guards, a regiment of the British Army.

Career

Fox made his theatrical début in 1958, and his first film appearance was as an extra in The Loneliness of the Long Distance Runner (1962). He also had a non-speaking part as a waiter in This Sporting Life (1963). Throughout the 1960s he worked mostly on stage, including a turn as Hamlet. In the late 1960s and early 1970s he established himself with roles in major British films including Oh! What a Lovely War (1969), Battle of Britain (1969) and The Go-Between (1971). In The Go-Between, he played the part of Lord Hugh Trimingham, for which he won a BAFTA award for Best Supporting Actor. His acting ability also brought him to the attention of director Fred Zinnemann, who was looking for an actor who wasn't well-known and could be believable as the assassin in the film The Day of the Jackal (1973). Fox won the role, beating out other contenders such as Roger Moore and Michael Caine.

From then onwards, he was much sought after, appearing in such films as A Bridge Too Far (1977) as Lieutenant General Horrocks — a role he has cited as a personal favourite[5] — and for which he won yet another Best Supporting Actor award at the British Academy Film Awards. He also starred in Force 10 from Navarone (1978), with Robert Shaw and Harrison Ford.

He portrayed King Edward VIII in the television drama Edward & Mrs. Simpson (1978). In the film Gandhi (1982), Fox portrayed Brigadier-General Reginald Dyer, responsible for the Amritsar massacre in India. He then appeared as M in the unofficial Bond film Never Say Never Again (1983), a remake of Thunderball (1965). He also appeared in The Bounty (1984) and Wild Geese II (1985) both opposite Laurence Olivier, and in The Importance of Being Earnest (2002), Nicholas Nickleby (2002), and Stage Beauty (2004).

Later stage work

Fox has consolidated his reputation with regular appearances on stage in London's West End. He was seen in Four Quartets, a set of four poems by T. S. Eliot accompanied by the keyboard music of Johann Sebastian Bach performed by Christine Croshaw. In 2010, Fox performed a one-man show, An Evening with Anthony Trollope, directed by Richard Digby Day. In 2013 he replaced Robert Hardy in the role of Winston Churchill in the premiere of The Audience, after Hardy had to withdraw for health reasons.

Awards

For his role as Viscount Trimingham in The Go-Between (1971), he won Best Supporting Actor award at the following year's British Academy Film Awards.

For his role as Lieutenant General Horrocks in A Bridge Too Far (1977), he won the Best Supporting Actor award at the British Academy Film Awards.

In 2003, he was made an Officer of the Order of the British Empire for his services to theatre and British cinema.[6]

Personal life

Fox has been married twice, to actresses Tracy Reed (1958–1961) and Joanna David (from July 2004, after a long-standing relationship). He has a daughter, Lucy, Viscountess Gormanston, by Reed, and two children, Emilia Fox and Freddie Fox, with David.

He is the elder brother and uncle, respectively, of actors James Fox and Laurence Fox.

Fox joined the Countryside March to support hunting rights in the UK.[7] He also supported the restoration of the Royal Hall, Harrogate, funded by his great-grandfather Samson Fox.

Filmography

Selected theatre performances

Other projects and contributions

References

  1. ↑ "Person Page". Retrieved 20 July 2016.
  2. ↑ Edward Fox Biography (1937–)
  3. ↑ Barratt, Nick. "Family detective". Retrieved 20 July 2016.
  4. ↑ "England Players - Charles Morice". Retrieved 20 July 2016.
  5. ↑ Staff writer (undated). "A Bridge Too Far (1977)". British Film Institute. Accessed 27 June 2010.
  6. ↑ . BBC. Accessed 3 April 2011.
  7. ↑ Staff writer (31 December 2002). "Edward Fox — The Consummate Actor". BBC News. Accessed 27 June 2010.
  8. ↑ The Royal Exchange Theatre Company Words & Pictures 1976–1998

External links

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