Edward Charles Morice Fox, OBE is an English stage, film and television
actor. He played the assassin in the film The
Day of the Jackal. He also portrayed King Edward VIII in the serial Edward &
Mrs. Simpson. 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. 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. 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. He also had a
non-speaking part as a waiter in This Sporting Life. 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, Battle of Britain and The Go-Between. 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. 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 as Lieutenant General Horrocks — a role he has cited as a
personal favourite — 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, with Robert Shaw and Harrison Ford.
He portrayed King Edward VIII in the television drama Edward & Mrs. Simpson.
In the film Gandhi, 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, a remake of Thunderball. He also
appeared in The Bounty and Wild Geese II both opposite Laurence Olivier, and in
The Importance of Being Earnest, Nicholas Nickleby, and Stage Beauty.
= 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, 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, 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. Personal life
Fox has been married twice, to actresses Tracy Reed and Joanna David. He has a
daughter, Lucy, Viscountess Gormanston, by Reed, and two children, actress
Emilia Fox and Freddie Fox, with David. He is the brother and uncle,
respectively, of actors James Fox and Laurence Fox.
Fox joined the Countryside March to support hunting rights in the UK, He
also supported the restoration of the Royal Hall, Harrogate, funded by his
great-grandfather Samson Fox. Filmography
Other projects and contributions When Love Speaks – William Shakespeare's
"Sonnet 140", a compilation album that features interpretations of
Shakespeare's sonnets and excerpts from his plays by famous actors and
musicians. References
External links Edward Fox at the Internet Movie
Database