Laurence Fox

Laurence Paul Fox (born 26 May 1978) is an English actor and musician, best known for his leading role as Detective Sergeant James Hathaway in the British TV drama series Lewis (2006–2014).



Contents
[hide]  *1 Early years and education  ==Early years and education[ edit] == The Old Schools of Harrow SchoolThe third of five children[1]  of actor James Fox and his wife Mary Elizabeth Piper,[2]  and a great-grandson of dramatist Frederick Lonsdale,[3]  Laurence Fox was born in 1978[4]  in Yorkshire, England.[5]  At the age of 13 he entered Harrow School where, according to him, he was "shy around women, sensitive and a bit naïve".[6]  Although he made friends and liked the drama teacher, he hated the school's strict regime and felt despised and out of place among pupils with titles and wealth. Constantly in trouble for smoking, fighting, going into town and seeing girls, he was eventually expelled a few weeks before his A-levels. According to him, "It was something to do with a girl at a dance. I went back to take the exams, but I wasn't allowed to speak to anyone." In hindsight, Fox has said that his experience at Harrow enabled him to portray "toffs" – the upper class boys looking down on him and whom he disliked – with much insight and cynicism.[7]
 * 2 Career
 * 3 Personal life
 * 4 Filmography
 * 4.1 Film
 * 4.2 Television
 * 4.3 Theatre
 * 5 Discography
 * 6 Further reading
 * 7 External links
 * 8 References

Despite doing well in his A-level examinations, because of the report that Harrow had written on him, he was unable to obtain a place at any university.[7]  After working as a gardener for two years,<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-Telegraph_7-2" style="line-height:1;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;font-size:11.1999998092651px;">[7]  and a stint as an office worker which he loathed,<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-Times_6-1" style="line-height:1;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;font-size:11.1999998092651px;">[6]  he discovered that he enjoyed acting and enrolled at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (RADA). During his time there he appeared in numerous theatre productions, including the lead roles of Gregers Werle in Ibsen's The Wild Duck, Marcus Andronicus in Titus Andronicus, and Stephen Daedalus in an adaptation of James Joyce's novel Ulysses.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-RADA_8-0" style="line-height:1;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;font-size:11.1999998092651px;">[8]  However, he was disappointed to find that he was treated "like a nonce" for being an Old Harrovian. He also made himself more unpopular by being outspoken and taking on roles in his second and third years despite the practice being forbidden by school policy.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-Telegraph_7-3" style="line-height:1;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;font-size:11.1999998092651px;">[7]  One of these was his first break into film – the 2001 horror-thriller The Hole. Fox feels that in landing the role his name "probably helped – it's a combination of timing, luck and contacts". Nonetheless, "[t]he name opens some doors, but then you have to show you can do the job".<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-Times_6-2" style="line-height:1;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;font-size:11.1999998092651px;">[6] ==Career<span class="mw-editsection" style="-webkit-user-select:none;font-size:small;margin-left:1em;line-height:1em;display:inline-block;white-space:nowrap;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;font-family:sans-serif;"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket" style="color:rgb(85,85,85);">[ edit<span class="mw-editsection-bracket" style="color:rgb(85,85,85);">] == <p style="margin-top:0.5em;line-height:17.9200000762939px;color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:14.3999996185303px;">Fox, who graduated from RADA on 1 July 2001,<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-9" style="line-height:1;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;font-size:11.1999998092651px;">[9]  followed up The Hole by appearing in Robert Altman's 2001 Academy award-winning film Gosford Park. He then donned uniforms in a slew of film and television features, including roles as a German airman in Island at War (2004), an SS officer in The Last Drop (2005), and as British soldiers in the 2002 films Deathwatch and Ultimate Force, and in Colditz (2005). In the last made-for-television film, Fox played Capt. Tom Willis who, after an unsuccessful attempt to break out of a prisoner-of-war camp, is brought to Oflag IV-C in Colditz Castle, one of the most infamous German POW camps for officers inWorld War II. Actor Kevin Whately caught Fox's performance in the last ten minutes of the film, which he characterised as "this young English boy going bonkers and wandering out to be shot", and thought "He's interesting." The next day, at a lunch meeting with "all the powers that be" regarding a new project, Whately mentioned that Fox "would be worth taking a look at".<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-10" style="line-height:1;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;font-size:11.1999998092651px;">[10]

<p style="margin-top:0.5em;margin-bottom:0.5em;line-height:17.9200000762939px;color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:14.3999996185303px;">As a result, Fox was cast in the ITV detective drama Lewis as Detective Sergeant James Hathaway, a Cambridge-educated former trainee priest who becomes the partner of Detective Inspector Robert Lewis, played by Whately. The pilot of this spin-off from Inspector Morse (1987–2000), was ITV's highest rated drama of 2006.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-ITV_11-0" style="line-height:1;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;font-size:11.1999998092651px;">[11]

<p style="margin-top:0.5em;margin-bottom:0.5em;line-height:17.9200000762939px;color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:14.3999996185303px;">Real people that Fox has portrayed include Prince Charles, in Whatever Love Means (2005);<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-Telegraph:_Pretender_5-1" style="line-height:1;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;font-size:11.1999998092651px;">[5] <sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-Telegraph:_Royal_Love_12-0" style="line-height:1;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;font-size:11.1999998092651px;">[12]  Wisley, one of Jane Austen's suitors, in Becoming Jane (2007); and Sir Christopher Hatton, the Lord Chancellor of England in Elizabeth: The Golden Age, also released in 2007. In addition, in that year Fox was seen on ITV as Cecil Vyse in Andrew Davies' adaptation of A Room with a View based on E.M. Forster's 1908 novel. He has expressed a desire to appear in a western, and to star as James Bond– the closest he got to the latter was losing the role of villain Gustav Graves in Die Another Day (2002) to Toby Stephens.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-Herald_Sun_13-0" style="line-height:1;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;font-size:11.1999998092651px;">[13]

<p style="margin-top:0.5em;margin-bottom:0.5em;line-height:17.9200000762939px;color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:14.3999996185303px;">On stage, Fox appeared in Mrs. Warren's Profession by George Bernard Shaw at the Strand Theatre (now the Novello Theatre) in London in 2002,<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-Mrs_Warren_14-0" style="line-height:1;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;font-size:11.1999998092651px;">[14]  and John Ford's 17th-century play 'Tis Pity She's a Whore in 2005.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-.27Tis_Pity_15-0" style="line-height:1;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;font-size:11.1999998092651px;">[15]  Between 2006 and 2007 he starred in Treats by Christopher Hampton with his future wife, Billie Piper.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-Treats_16-0" style="line-height:1;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;font-size:11.1999998092651px;">[16]  In April 2007, Fox lost his temper with a paparazzi photographer outside the Garrick Theatre in London where he was performing in Treats and was arrested for assault. He was later released after receiving a police caution. Newspaper reports stated that the caution would remain on his record for three years and might prevent his obtaining a visa to perform in the US.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-17" style="line-height:1;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;font-size:11.1999998092651px;">[17]  In 2013, Fox played Guy Haines<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-thriller_18-0" style="line-height:1;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;font-size:11.1999998092651px;">[18]  in Strangers on a Train at London's Gielgud Theatre.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-19" style="line-height:1;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;font-size:11.1999998092651px;">[19]

<p style="margin-top:0.5em;margin-bottom:0.5em;line-height:17.9200000762939px;color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:14.3999996185303px;">When filming, Fox often plays the jester to amuse the cast and crew. He has said, "I'd just rather have a good time than I would be Daniel Day-Lewis. There ain't nomethod to my acting."<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-Telegraph:_Lewis_20-0" style="line-height:1;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;font-size:11.1999998092651px;">[20] ==Personal life<span class="mw-editsection" style="-webkit-user-select:none;font-size:small;margin-left:1em;line-height:1em;display:inline-block;white-space:nowrap;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;font-family:sans-serif;"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket" style="color:rgb(85,85,85);">[ edit<span class="mw-editsection-bracket" style="color:rgb(85,85,85);">] == Fox's wife Billie Piper in October 2006<p style="margin-top:0.5em;line-height:17.9200000762939px;color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:14.3999996185303px;">Fox dated British actress Billie Piper in 2006 while they performed together in the stage play Treats.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-Times_6-3" style="line-height:1;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;font-size:11.1999998092651px;">[6] <sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-Daily_Mail_21-0" style="line-height:1;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;font-size:11.1999998092651px;">[21]  On 31 December 2007 Fox married Piper in the 12th century parish church of St. Mary's in Easebourne, West Sussex.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-BBC_News_22-0" style="line-height:1;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;font-size:11.1999998092651px;">[22] <sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-23" style="line-height:1;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;font-size:11.1999998092651px;">[23]  During a 21 February 2008 interview on ITV breakfast show GMTV, Fox revealed that after a "drunken lunch" during their honeymoon in Mexico he and Piper got matching tattoosto celebrate their marriage. His tattoo, on his forearm, reads "Mrs Fox 31 December 2007", while hers states "Mr Fox".<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-24" style="line-height:1;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;font-size:11.1999998092651px;">[24]  Fox and Piper live in a country cottage in the market town of Midhurst in West Sussex.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-BBC_News_22-1" style="line-height:1;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;font-size:11.1999998092651px;">[22]  In March 2008 it was reported that Piper had expressed to family and friends a desire to adopt children as well as to have children of her own with Fox.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-25" style="line-height:1;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;font-size:11.1999998092651px;">[25]  On 27 April 2008 The Sun, quoting an unnamed source, announced that Piper was three months' pregnant and that she and Fox were "absolutely over the moon".<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-26" style="line-height:1;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;font-size:11.1999998092651px;">[26]  On 21 October 2008, Piper gave birth to a son, Winston James Fox (6 pounds 11 ounces (3.0 kg)), by emergency Caesarean section.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-27" style="line-height:1;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;font-size:11.1999998092651px;">[27]  Piper gave birth to their second son, Eugene Pip, on 5 April 2012.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-28" style="line-height:1;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;font-size:11.1999998092651px;">[28]

<p style="margin-top:0.5em;margin-bottom:0.5em;line-height:17.9200000762939px;color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:14.3999996185303px;">Fox's siblings are Tom (born 1975), Robin (1976), Lydia (1979) and Jack (1985);<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-IMDb:_James_Fox_1-1" style="line-height:1;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;font-size:11.1999998092651px;">[1]  Lydia Fox is herself an actress.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-29" style="line-height:1;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;font-size:11.1999998092651px;">[29]  His uncles are the actor Edward Fox and the theatrical and film producer Robert Fox. The actors Emilia Fox and Freddie Fox are his first cousins, being the children of Edward Fox.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-30" style="line-height:1;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;font-size:11.1999998092651px;">[30] ==Filmography<span class="mw-editsection" style="-webkit-user-select:none;font-size:small;margin-left:1em;line-height:1em;display:inline-block;white-space:nowrap;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;font-family:sans-serif;"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket" style="color:rgb(85,85,85);">[ edit<span class="mw-editsection-bracket" style="color:rgb(85,85,85);">] == ===Film<span class="mw-editsection" style="-webkit-user-select:none;font-size:small;margin-left:1em;line-height:1em;display:inline-block;white-space:nowrap;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket" style="color:rgb(85,85,85);">[ edit<span class="mw-editsection-bracket" style="color:rgb(85,85,85);">] === <p style="margin-top:0.5em;line-height:17.9200000762939px;color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:14.3999996185303px;">Some information in this table was obtained from  Laurence Fox: Filmography, Internet Movie Database (IMDb), retrieved 16 March 2008. ===Television<span class="mw-editsection" style="-webkit-user-select:none;font-size:small;margin-left:1em;line-height:1em;display:inline-block;white-space:nowrap;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket" style="color:rgb(85,85,85);">[ edit<span class="mw-editsection-bracket" style="color:rgb(85,85,85);">] === <p style="margin-top:0.5em;line-height:17.9200000762939px;color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:14.3999996185303px;">Some information in this table was obtained from  Laurence Fox: Filmography, Internet Movie Database (IMDb), retrieved 16 March 2008. ===Theatre<span class="mw-editsection" style="-webkit-user-select:none;font-size:small;margin-left:1em;line-height:1em;display:inline-block;white-space:nowrap;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket" style="color:rgb(85,85,85);">[ edit<span class="mw-editsection-bracket" style="color:rgb(85,85,85);">] === <p style="margin-top:0.5em;line-height:17.9200000762939px;color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:14.3999996185303px;">Some information in this table was obtained from the following websites:  Laurence Fox, Royal Academy of Dramatic Art, archived from the original on 3 February 2008, retrieved 18 March 2008 ; Laurence Fox: Other works, Internet Movie Database (IMDb), retrieved 16 March 2008. ==Discography<span class="mw-editsection" style="-webkit-user-select:none;font-size:small;margin-left:1em;line-height:1em;display:inline-block;white-space:nowrap;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;font-family:sans-serif;"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket" style="color:rgb(85,85,85);">[ edit<span class="mw-editsection-bracket" style="color:rgb(85,85,85);">] ==
 * Albums
 * Sorry for My Words (2013).<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-Indep_20130321_36-0" style="line-height:1;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;font-size:11.1999998092651px;">[36]
 * Singles
 * "So Be Damned" (2013).<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-37" style="line-height:1;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;font-size:11.1999998092651px;">[37]