James William Fox (born William Fox; 19 May 1939) is an English actor, known for his work in film and television. He is a member of the Fox family of actors. Fox's career began in the 1960s through leading roles in films such as The Servant (1963), King Rat (1965), Those Magnificent Men in Their Flying Machines (1965), Thoroughly Modern Millie (1967), and Performance (1970).
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, notably in known for his roles in A Passage to India (1984), Patriot Games (1992), The Remains of the Day (1993), Jinnah (1998), Sherlock Holmes (2009), and Effie Gray (2014).
Fox won the BAFTA Award for Most Promising Newcomer to Leading Film Roles for his performance in The Servant, and was nominated for Best Actor in a Supporting Role for A Passage to India. He is also a Golden Globe Award nominee.
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 was film producer Robert Fox. Fox's maternal grandfather was playwright Frederick Lonsdale. He applied successfully to study acting at the Central School of Speech and Drama.
Career
Early career
Fox first appeared on film as 11-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.
Fox appeared in the film The Loneliness of the Long Distance Runner (1962). His father, Robin, quarreled bitterly with Tony Richardson over this, having attempted to forbid his friend from giving his son James (known as "Willie") a part in the film. His father claimed Willie had no talent for acting and should not give up his job in a bank.
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),
Fox 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. The following year, he played King George V in the film W.E., written and directed by Madonna. In 2013, Fox played a lead role alongside Natalie Dormer in the movie A Long Way from Home.
Through his daughter Lydia, Fox's 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
{| class="wikitable sortable"
|-
! Year
! Title
! Role
! Notes
|-
| rowspan="2"| 1950
| The Miniver Story
| Toby Miniver
|
|-
| The Magnet
| Johnny Brent
|
|-
| 1962
| The Loneliness of the Long Distance Runner
| Gunthorpe
|
|-
| rowspan="2"| 1963
| Tamahine
| Oliver
|
|-
| The Servant
| Tony
|
|-
| rowspan="2"| 1965
| King Rat
| Flight Lieutenant Peter Marlowe
|
|-
| Those Magnificent Men in Their Flying Machines
| Richard Mays
|
|-
| 1966
| The Chase
| Jason 'Jake' Rogers
|
|-
| rowspan="2"| 1967
| Thoroughly Modern Millie
| Jimmy Smith
|
|-
| Arabella
| Giorgio
|
|-
| rowspan="2"| 1968
| Duffy
| Stephane Calvert
|
|-
| Isadora
| Gordon Craig
|
|-
| 1970
| Performance
| Chas Devlin
|
|-
| 1983
| Runners
| Tom Lindsay
|
|-
| rowspan="2"| 1984
| Greystoke: The Legend of Tarzan, Lord of the Apes
| Lord Charles Esker
|
|-
| A Passage to India
| Cyril Fielding
|
|-
| rowspan="3"| 1986
| Absolute Beginners
| Henley of Mayfair
|
|-
| The Whistle Blower
| Lord
|
|-
| Comrades
| Governor William Norfolk
|
|-
| 1987
| High Season
| Patrick
|
|-
| rowspan="2"| 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
|
|-
| rowspan="2"| 1997
| Anna Karenina
| Aleksei Aleksandrovich Karenin
|
|-
| Never Ever
| Arthur Trevane
|
|-
| rowspan="2"| 1998
| Shadow Run
| Landon-Higgins
|
|-
| Jinnah
| Mountbatten
|
|-
| 1999
| Mickey Blue Eyes
| Philip Cromwell
|
|-
| rowspan="3"| 2000
| Up at the Villa
| Sir Edgar Swift
|
|-
| Sexy Beast
| Harry
|
|-
| The Golden Bowl
| Colonel Bob Assingham
|
|-
| rowspan="2"| 2001
| Lover's Prayer
| Old Vladimir (voice)
|
|-
| The Mystic Masseur
| Mr. Stewart
|
|-
| 2004
| The Prince and Me
| King Haraald
|
|-
| 2005
| Charlie and the Chocolate Factory
| Rupert Salt
|
|-
| 2007
| Mister Lonely
| The Pope
|
|-
| 2009
| Sherlock Holmes
| Sir Thomas Rotheram
|
|-
| 2010
| Wide Blue Yonder
| George
|
|-
| 2011
| W.E.
| King George V
|
|-
| 2012
| Cleanskin
| Scott Catesby
|
|-
| rowspan="3"| 2013
| A Long Way From Home
|-
| 1989
| She's Been Away
| Hugh Ambrose
| TV movie
|-
| 1990
| Never Come Back
| Foster
| TV Mini-series
|-
| 1992
| A Question of Attribution
| Sir Anthony Blunt
| TV movie
|-
| 1993
| Heart of Darkness
| Gosse
| TV movie
|-
| rowspan=3|1994
| The Dwelling Place
| Lord Fischel
| TV Mini-series, 3 episodes
|-
| Doomsday Gun
| Sir James Whittington
| TV movie
|-
| The Old Curiosity Shop
| The Single Gentleman
| TV Mini-series
|-
| 1995
| The Choir
| The Dean, Hugh Cavendish
| TV Mini-series, 5 episodes
|-
| 1996
| Gulliver's Travels
| Dr. Bates
| TV Mini-series
|-
| rowspan="2"| 2001
| Armadillo
| Sir Simon Sherrifmuir
|
|-
| The Lost World
| Prof. Leo Summerlee
| TV movie
|-
| 2002
| The Falklands Play
| Lord Carrington KCMG MC PC (Foreign Secretary)||
|-
| 2003
| Cambridge Spies
| Lord Halifax
| TV Mini-series
|-
| 2003
| Hans Christian Andersen: My Life as a Fairytale
| Jonas Collin
| TV movie
|-
| 2004
| Agatha Christie's Poirot
| Colonel Race
| Episode: Death on the Nile
|-
| rowspan="3"| 2005
| Agatha Christie's Marple
| Colonel Arthur Bantry
| Episode: 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
|-
| rowspan="3"| 2009
| Lewis
| Professor Norman Dearing
| Episode: Allegory of Love
|-
| Margaret
| Charles Powell
| TV movie
|-
| Red Riding 1980
| Philip Evans
| 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
|-
| rowspan="3"| 2013
| Utopia
| The Assistant
| 6 episodes
|-
| The Great Train Robbery
| Henry Brooke
| TV movie
|-
| Downton Abbey
| Lord Aysgarth
| Episode: The London Season
|-
| rowspan="2"| 2014
| '
| Ludlow
|
|-
| 1864
| Lord Palmerston
| Miniseries
|-
| rowspan="2"| 2015
| Death in Paradise
| Martin Goodman
| 2 episodes
|-
| London Spy
| James
| Episode: Blue
|-
|}
References
External links
- 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: [http://www.petr-shelokhonov-en.narod.ru/HTML/Annakarenina/fotoannakarenina2.html]