James William Fox (born William Fox; 19 May 1939) is an English actor known for his work in film and television. Fox's career began in the 1960s through roles in films such as The Servant and Performance. He is also known for his roles in A Passage to India in 1984 and The Remains of the Day in 1993.
In the 1970s, Fox took a break from acting to focus on personal and spiritual matters, returning to acting in the early 1980s. Over time, he built a reputation for playing a variety of roles, including upper-class figures and more serious characters. He is a member of the Fox family of actors.
Early life
Fox was born on 19 May 1939 in London, the second son of theatrical agent Robin Fox and actress Angela Worthington. His elder brother is actor Edward Fox and his younger brother is film producer Robert Fox. His maternal grandfather was playwright Frederick Lonsdale. Fox applied successfully to study acting at the Central School of Speech and Drama.
Career
Early career
Fox first appeared on film as eleven-year-old Toby Miniver in The Miniver Story in 1950. His early screen appearances, both in film and television, were made under his birth name, William Fox.
He appeared in the film The Loneliness of the Long Distance Runner (1962). Fox's father purportedly attempted to forbid this, fearing his son would lose his job in the bank; nevertheless, Fox took the part.
In 1964, Fox won a BAFTA Award for Most Promising Newcomer to Leading Film Roles for The Servant (1963), working alongside Dirk Bogarde, Sarah Miles, and Wendy Craig.
On 16 June 1965, Ken Annakin's period aviation film Those Magnificent Men in Their Flying Machines was released. In this British period comedy film, Fox is featured among an international ensemble cast including Stuart Whitman, Sarah Miles, Robert Morley, Terry-Thomas, Red Skelton, Benny Hill, Jean-Pierre Cassel, Gert Fröbe and Alberto Sordi. Some of the other films he acted in during this time are King Rat (1965), The Chase (1966), Thoroughly Modern Millie (1967), Isadora (1968), and Performance (1970).
Spiritual life and break from acting
After finishing work on Performance (released 1970, but shot in 1968), Fox suspended his acting career. The film, which starred Fox and Mick Jagger, was deemed so outrageous (at the time) that critics at a preview screening walked out, with one film executive's wife reportedly throwing up in the cinema.
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."
He became an evangelical Christian, working with the Navigators and devoting himself to the ministry. During this time, the only film in which Fox appeared was No Longer Alone (1976), the story of Joan Winmill Brown, a suicidal woman who was led to faith in Jesus Christ by Ruth Bell Graham.
Return to acting
After an absence from acting of several years, in 1981 Fox appeared on television in the Play for Today "Country" by Trevor Griffiths, a comedy drama set against the 1945 UK parliamentary elections. On film he starred in Stephen Poliakoff's Runners (1983), A Passage to India (1984), and Comrades (1986). He played Anthony Blunt in the BBC play by Alan Bennett, A Question of Attribution (1992). He also portrayed the character of Lord Holmes in Patriot Games (1992), as well as Colonel Ferguson in Farewell to the King (1989) and the Nazi-sympathising aristocrat Lord Darlington in The Remains of the Day (1993).
He has since appeared in the 2000 film Sexy Beast, 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 (2009), as Sir Thomas, leading member of a freemason-like secret society.
In 2010, he filmed Cleanskin, a terrorist thriller directed by Hadi Hajaig, and in 2011 he played King George V in the Madonna written and directed film W.E.
In 2013, he played a lead role alongside Natalie Dormer, in the movie A Long Way From Home.
Personal life
Fox married Mary Elizabeth Piper in September 1973, with whom he has five children, including Laurence and Jack. Piper died at their home on 19 April 2020.
Through his daughter Lydia, his son-in-law is actor Richard Ayoade. His former daughter-in-law is actress Billie Piper, who was married to his son Laurence from 2007 to 2016.
Filmography
Film
Television
References
External links
- James Fox at IMDb
- James Fox at the Internet Broadway Database
- James Fox discography at Discogs
- James Fox at the BFI's Screenonline
- James Fox at the British Film Institute
- The Guardian – "'Acting ... ? It paid for a bicycle, I seem to remember'"
- James Fox Cast Photograph with Sophie Marceau and Petr Shelokhonov filming Anna Karenina in Russia: [1]
