Edward Fox (actor)

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

He played the part of the professional assassin, known only as the "Jackal", who is hired to assassinate the French president Charles de Gaulle in the summer of 1963, in the film The Day of the Jackal (1973).

He portrayed Edward VIII in the British television drama series 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. 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 and completed his National Service in the Loyals having failed to gain a commission in the Coldstream Guards.

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 was not well-known and could be believable as the assassin in the film The Day of the Jackal (1973). Fox won the role, beating 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 – 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.

Fox was appointed an Officer of the Order of the British Empire for his services to Drama in the 2003 New Year Honours.

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. He also supported the restoration of the Royal Hall, Harrogate, funded by his great-grandfather Samson Fox.

Filmography

 * The Loneliness of the Long Distance Runner (1962) as Extra (uncredited)
 * This Sporting Life (1963) as Restaurant Barman (uncredited)
 * The Mind Benders (1963) as Stewart (uncredited)
 * Life at the Top (1965) as Office Supervisor (uncredited)
 * The Frozen Dead (1966) as Norbugh's Brother (Prisoner #3)
 * The Jokers (1967) as Lt. Sprague
 * The Naked Runner (1967) as Ritchie Jackson
 * The Long Duel (1967) as Hardwicke
 * I'll Never Forget What's'isname (1967) as Waiter
 * Journey to Midnight (1968) as Sir Robert Sawyer (segment "Poor Butterfly")
 * Oh! What a Lovely War (1969) as Aide to Field-Marshal Haig
 * Battle of Britain (1969) as Pilot Officer Archie
 * Skullduggery (1970) as Bruce Spofford
 * The Breaking of Bumbo (1970) as Horwood
 * The Go-Between (1971) as Hugh Trimingham
 * The Day of the Jackal (1973) as The Jackal
 * A Doll's House (1973) as Nils Krogstad
 * Galileo (1975) as Cardinal Inquisitor
 * The Squeeze (1977) as Foreman
 * A Bridge Too Far (1977) as Lieutenant General Brian Horrocks
 * The Duellists (1977) as Colonel
 * Soldaat van Oranje (1977) as Colonel Rafelli
 * The Big Sleep (1978) as Joe Brody
 * Force 10 from Navarone (1978) as Sgt. Miller
 * The Cat and the Canary (1978) as Hendricks
 * Edward & Mrs. Simpson (1978, TV miniseries) as King Edward VIII
 * The Mirror Crack'd (1980) as Inspector Craddock
 * Gandhi (1982) as Brigadier General Reginald Dyer
 * Never Say Never Again (1983) as M
 * The Dresser (1983) as Oxenby
 * The Bounty (1984) as Captain Greetham
 * The Shooting Party (1985) as Lord Gilbert Hartlip
 * Wild Geese II (1985) as Alex Faulkner
 * Shaka Zulu (1986, TV) as Lt. Francis Farewell
 * Anastasia: The Mystery of Anna (1986, TV) as Dr. Hauser
 * A Hazard of Hearts (1987, TV film) as Lord Harry Wrothman
 * Return from the River Kwai (1989) as Major Benford
 * Robin Hood (1991) as Prince John
 * A Feast at Midnight (1994) as Father
 * Sherwood's Travels (1994) as Donen
 * A Month by the Lake (1995) as Major Wilshaw
 * Gulliver's Travels (1996, TV) as General Limtoc
 * September (1996, TV film) as Archie
 * Prince Valiant (1997) as King Arthur
 * A Dance to the Music of Time (1997) as Uncle Giles
 * Lost in Space (1998) as Businessman
 * All the Queen's Men (2001) as Aitken
 * The Importance of Being Earnest (2002) as Lane
 * "Foyles War" (2002) as Assistant Commissioner Summers
 * Daniel Deronda (2002, TV) as Sir Hugo Mallinger
 * Nicholas Nickleby (2002) as Sir Mulberry Hawk
 * The Republic of Love (2003) as Richard
 * Stage Beauty (2004) as Sir Edward Hyde
 * Poirot: The Hollow (2004. TV) as Gudgeon
 * Lassie (2005) as Colonel Hulton.
 * Oliver Twist (2007, TV) as Mr. Brownlow
 * Marple: The Secret of Chimneys (2010, TV) as Lord Caterham
 * Midsomer Murders: "Dark Secrets" (2011, TV) as William Bingham
 * Lewis: "Intelligent Design" (2013, TV) as Dr. Yardley
 * ''National Theatre Live: The Audience" (2013) as Winston Churchill
 * Katherine of Alexandria (2014) as Emperor Constantius
 * The Dresser (2015, TV) as Thornton
 * Taboo (2017, TV) as Horace Delaney (deceased)

Selected theatre performances

 * Harry, Lord Monchensey in The Family Reunion by T S Eliot. Directed by Michael Elliott at the Royal Exchange, Manchester. 1979)
 * Captain in The Dance of Death by August Strindberg. Directed by Kenneth MacMillan at the Royal Exchange, Manchester. (1983)

Other projects and contributions

 * When Love Speaks (2002, EMI Classics) – William Shakespeare's "Sonnet 140" ("Be wise as thou art cruel; do not press"), a compilation album that features interpretations of Shakespeare's sonnets and excerpts from his plays by famous actors and musicians.