EDWARD
FOX
THE
LEGENDARY ACTOR
Fox was born on 13 April 1937 in
Chelsea, London, the first of three children of theatrical agent Robin Fox and
actress and writer Angela Muriel Darida Worthington. He is the father of actors
Emilia Fox and Freddie Fox, older brother of actor James Fox, film producer
Robert Fox, and uncle of actor Lawrence Fox. His paternal grandfather was a
businessman and inventor Samson Fox, and his paternal grandmother was Hilda
Hanbury, sister of stage artist Lily Hanbury. His maternal grandfather was the
playwright Frederick Lonsdale, and his maternal grandmother was the daughter of
the footballer and stockbroker Charles Morris. Fox attended Harrow School and
completed National Service with the Loyals, failing to gain a commission in the
Coldstream Guards.
Fox made his film debut in 1958,
starring as an extra in The Loneliness of the Long Distance Runner (1962). In
1963, he had a role as a waiter in This Sporting Life. In the 1960s he worked
mostly on stage, including a turn as Hamlet. In the late 1960s and early 1970s,
he established himself with major roles in British Cinema, including Oh! What a Lovely War (1969), The Battle of
Britain (1969), and The Go-Between (1971). In The Go-Between, he played Lord
Hugh Trimmingham, for which he won a BAFTA Award for Best Supporting Actor. His
acting skills brought him to the attention of director Fred Zinnemann, who was
looking for an unknown and credible actor to play the killer in The Day of the
Jackal (1973). Fox beat out Roger Moore and Michael Caine for the role.
After that, he appeared in films such as
Lieutenant General Horrocks in A Bridge Too Far (1977), a role he cites as his
personal favourite, for which he won the British Academy Award for Best
Supporting Actor Awards. He also co-starred with Robert Shaw and Harrison Ford
in Force 10 from Navarone (1978).
In 1990, he appeared as a contestant on
Cluedo, facing off against co-star Jonna David. Played King Edward VIII in the
television drama Edward & Mrs. Simpson (1978). In Gandhi (1982), Fox
portrayed Brigadier General Reginald Dyer, the man 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). In The Bounty (1984) and,
Wild Geese (1985) he appeared opposite Laurence Oliver and The Importance of
Being Earnest (2002), Nicholas Nickleby (2002), and Stage Beauty (2004).
Fox strengthened his reputation by
appearing regularly 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-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 withdrew due to health
reasons. In 2018, he appeared alongside with his son Freddie Fox in the film
adaptation of Oscar Wilde's An Ideal Husband.
In 1958, Fox married actress Tracy Reid,
with whom he had a daughter, Lucy Arabella, and they divorced in 1961. After
marrying Nicholas Preston, Viscount Gormanston, Lucy Arabella became
Viscountess Gormanston. In 1971, he began a relationship with actress Joanna
David; They got married in July 2004. They have two children, actors Emilia and
Frederic Freddy.
He has two grandchildren through her daughters: Harry Grenfell from Lucy's marriage to David Grenfell and Rose Gilley from Emilia's relationship with actor Jeremy Gilley. In London and Wareham, Dorset, Fox has a residence. In the 2003 New Year Honours, Fox was appointed an Officer of the Order of the British Empire for his services to theatre.
[WATCH REVIEW VIDEO..]
0 Comments