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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.
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.James M. Welsh, John C. Tibbetts, The Cinema of Tony Richardson: Essays and Interviews (1999), p. 119: "It was Richardson who gave James Fox his first part as the public school runner who wins the race, despite the fact that his friend, agent Robin Fox, was bitterly against it: "We only had one quarrel, when he forbade me to offer his son 'Willie' James Fox a small role in The Loneliness of the Long Distance Runner, saying that his son had no talent and that for him to quit his job in a bank would be to disrupt his life."
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 film 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).
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.
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 Freemasonry-like secret society.
In 2010, he filmed Cleanskin, a terrorist thriller directed by Hadi Hajaig. In 2011 he played George V in the film W.E., written and directed by Madonna.
In 2013, he played a lead role alongside Natalie Dormer in the movie A Long Way from Home.
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..
| 1950 | The Miniver Story | Toby Miniver | ||
| The Magnet | Johnny Brent | |||
| 1962 | The Loneliness of the Long Distance Runner | Gunthorpe | ||
| 1963 | Tamahine | Oliver | ||
| The Servant | Tony | |||
| 1965 | King Rat | Flight Lieutenant Peter Marlowe | ||
| Those Magnificent Men in Their Flying Machines | Richard Mays | |||
| 1966 | The Chase | Jason 'Jake' Rogers | ||
| 1967 | Thoroughly Modern Millie | Jimmy Smith | ||
| Arabella | Giorgio | |||
| 1968 | Duffy | Stephane Calvert | ||
| Isadora | Gordon Craig | |||
| 1970 | Performance | Chas Devlin | ||
| 1983 | Runners | Tom Lindsay | ||
| 1984 | Lord Charles Esker | |||
| A Passage to India | Cyril Fielding | |||
| 1986 | Absolute Beginners | Henley of Mayfair, Dressmaker to the Queen | ||
| The Whistle Blower | Lord | |||
| Comrades | Governor William Norfolk | |||
| 1987 | High Season | Patrick | ||
| 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 | ||
| 1997 | Anna Karenina | Aleksei Aleksandrovich Karenin | ||
| Never Ever | Arthur Trevane | |||
| 1998 | Shadow Run | Landon-Higgins | ||
| Jinnah | Mountbatten | |||
| 1999 | Mickey Blue Eyes | Philip Cromwell | ||
| 2000 | Up at the Villa | Sir Edgar Swift | ||
| Sexy Beast | Harry | |||
| The Golden Bowl | Colonel Bob Assingham | |||
| 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 | Mr. 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 | ||
| 2013 | A Long Way From Home | Joseph | ||
| The Double | The Colonel | |||
| Effie Gray | Charles Eastlake | |||
| 2018 | Surviving Christmas with the Relatives | Uncle John | ||
| 1959 | Armchair Theatre | Jay Minton | Episode: Light from a Star |
| 1981 | Play for Today | Philip Carlion | Episode: Country |
| 1982 | Nancy Astor | Waldorf Astor | TV Mini-series |
| 1983 | Anna Pavlova | Victor Dandré | |
| The Road to 1984 | George Orwell | TV movie | |
| 1989 | She's Been Away | Hugh Ambrose | TV movie |
| 1990 | Never Come Back | Foster | TV Mini-series |
| 1992 | A Question of Attribution | Anthony Blunt | TV movie |
| 1993 | Heart of Darkness | Gosse | TV movie |
| 1994 | The Dwelling Place | Lord Fischel | TV Mini-series, 3 episodes Catherine Cookson's The Dwelling Place at radiotimes.com |
| 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 |
| 2001 | Armadillo | Sir Simon Sherrifmuir | |
| The Lost World | Prof. Leo Summerlee | TV movie | |
| 2002 | The Falklands Play | ||
| 2003 | Cambridge Spies | Lord Halifax | TV Mini-series |
| 2003 | Jonas Collin | TV movie | |
| 2004 | Agatha Christie's Poirot | Colonel Race | Episode: Death on the Nile |
| 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 | Anthony Eden | TV documentary | |
| 2007 | Waking the Dead | Dr Bruno Rivelli | Episode: Mask of Sanity |
| 2008 | New Tricks | Ian Figgis | Episode: Spare Parts |
| 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 | Dr. Edward Austen | Episode: The Wrong Man | |
| 2012 | Merlin | King Rodor | Episode: Another's Sorrow |
| 2013 | Utopia | The Assistant | 6 episodes |
| The Great Train Robbery | Henry Brooke | TV movie | |
| Downton Abbey | Lord Aysgarth | Episode: The London Season | |
| 2014 | Ludlow | ||
| 1864 | Lord Palmerston | Miniseries | |
| 2015 | Death in Paradise | Martin Goodman | 2 episodes |
| London Spy | James | Episode: Blue | |
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