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Matthew Fox
Fox at the 2012 Toronto International Film Festival
Born	Matthew Chandler Fox (1966-07-14) July 14, 1966 (age 58) Abington, Pennsylvania, U.S.
Alma mater	Columbia University (BA)
Occupation	Actor
Years active	1992–2015, 2022–present
Spouse	Margherita Ronchi ​(m. 1992)​
Children	2

Matthew Chandler Fox (born July 14, 1966) is an American actor. He is best known for his roles as Charlie Salinger on Party of Five (1994–2000) and Jack Shephard on the drama series Lost (2004–2010), the latter of which earned him Golden Globe Award and Primetime Emmy Award nominations. Fox has also performed in eleven feature films, including We Are Marshall (2006), Vantage Point (2008), Alex Cross (2012), Emperor (2012) and Bone Tomahawk (2015).

Early life

Fox was born in Abington, Pennsylvania, the son of Loretta B. (née Eagono) and Francis G. Fox. He has two brothers, Francis, Jr. (b. 1961) and Bayard (b. 1969). One of his paternal great-great-great-grandfathers was Union General George Meade. His father was from a "very blue-blood" Pennsylvania family of mostly English descent, while his mother was of half Italian and half British ancestry. The second of three boys, Fox's family moved to Wyoming when he was a year old. They settled in Crowheart, Wyoming, on the Wind River Indian Reservation. His mother was a teacher, and his father, who had been a consultant for an oil company, raised longhorn cattle and horses, and grew barley for Coors beer. Fox attended Wind River High School in Pavillion, Wyoming and transferred to Deerfield Academy during his senior year and graduated in 1985. He graduated from Columbia University with a B.A. in economics in 1989. While at Columbia, he was a wide receiver on the school's football team.

Career

At the age of 25, Fox made his debut on an episode of Wings. That same year, he also starred on a short-lived dramatic series, Freshman Dorm. Still not a familiar face on the small screen, he continued to be cast in supporting roles, including the role of Charlie in the CBS Schoolbreak Special series If I Die Before I Wake, before he made his big-screen debut in My Boyfriend's Back (1993).

In 1994, Fox was cast in a starring role as Charlie Salinger, the eldest of five siblings who lose both parents in a car accident on the 1994–2000 teen drama Party of Five, co-starring with Scott Wolf, Neve Campbell, Jennifer Love Hewitt, and Lacey Chabert. In 1996, People Magazine named Fox one of the 50 Most Beautiful People in the World. In 1999 he co-starred with Donald Sutherland in the true story-based film Behind the Mask (1999). After Party of Five was canceled following its sixth season, Fox starred in another TV series, Haunted, in 2002.

From September 2004 until May 2010, Fox played the role of the dedicated yet troubled surgeon, Dr. Jack Shephard, on Lost. He initially auditioned for the role of James "Sawyer" Ford. However, co-creator J. J. Abrams thought he would be better for the role of Jack, a role originally slated to be for the pilot episode only. Fox was nominated for a Golden Globe in the category Best Actor – Television Series Drama, won the 2005 Satellite Award, and shared the 2006 Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama Series, for his role in Lost.

On December 2, 2006, Fox hosted Saturday Night Live with musical guests Tenacious D. In 2006, he co-starred with Matthew McConaughey in the sports drama We Are Marshall. He also played a bit part in the action film Smokin' Aces (along with Lost's co-star Néstor Carbonell and future cast member Kevin Durand) and starred in the 2008 thriller Vantage Point. In May 2008, Fox starred as Racer X in the movie Speed Racer.

Fox has repeatedly stated that he is "done with television" after Lost.

In 2011, he starred in the stage play In a Forest, Dark and Deep with Olivia Williams in London's West End.

Fox co-starred in Alex Cross (2012), as the villain, Michael "The Butcher" Sullivan, nicknamed "Picasso". For the role, Fox developed an extremely muscular physique and shed most of his body fat. The film was a critical and commercial failure but Fox was praised for his transformation and credibility in a vastly different role from Lost's Jack Shephard.

He appeared very briefly in the 2013 film World War Z which starred Brad Pitt.

He starred in the film Extinction that was released in July 2015. Directed by Miguel Ángel Vivas, the film is an adaptation of Juan de Dios Garduño's bestselling novel, Y pese a todo.

That same year, Fox also co-starred in the critically acclaimed American horror Western Bone Tomahawk. He had always wanted to act in a Western.

From 2014 to 2021, Fox took a break from acting to spend time with his family.

In 2021, Fox was cast in the lead role of a limited series Last Light, which was released on Peacock.

Personal life

In 1992, Fox married his long-time girlfriend, Margherita Ronchi, a native of Italy. The couple met while Fox was a student at Columbia. The couple have two children. Fox is also a photographer. A bonus disc released with The Complete First Series of Lost features "The Art of Matthew Fox", showing pictures he took of the cast and crew while on set.

Fox has a passion for flying airplanes, and owns a Bonanza G36. "To be up there by yourself, and it's all up to you whether it's gonna be an amazing flight or it's not gonna go as beautiful. I feel like I'm hyper-prepared when I fly. There is so much you don't have control over."

Legal issues and allegations of abuse

On August 28, 2011, Fox was arrested for an alleged assault of a female bus driver in Cleveland, Ohio. Prosecutors decided not to charge Fox. In May 2012, the bus driver withdrew a civil suit after her lawyer departed and revealed that she "intentionally failed and refused to provide full and timely cooperation and information". In October 2012, Fox appeared on The Ellen DeGeneres Show and refuted the accusations. He stated that he was punched in the face by a man and retaliated and that the bus driver tried to extort him.

In May 2012, his Lost co-star Dominic Monaghan tweeted about Fox, "He beats women. Not isolated incidents. Often." Fox called Monaghan's claims "a pile of bullshit" and said he was not going to "waste too much breath on that." He also told Men's Journal in 2012 that he has "never hit a woman before. Never have, never will."

That same year, Fox was arrested for driving under the influence.

Filmography

Film

Television

Video games

Awards and nominations

References

1. ^ "Matthew Fox". TV Guide. Retrieved May 21, 2021.
2. "UPI Almanac for Sunday, July 14, 2020". United Press International. July 14, 2020. Retrieved May 21, 2021. ...actor Matthew Fox in 1966...
3. ^ "Matthew Fox genealogy". Freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com. Archived from the original on March 23, 2008. Retrieved June 16, 2013.
4. Garratt, Sheryl (February 26, 2011). "Breathing space; After six seasons of Lost, Matthew Fox has followed a new direction on to the London stage". The Daily Telegraph. pp. 34, 35. Archived from the original on December 28, 2011. Retrieved June 26, 2012.
5. "Matthew Fox Biography (1966-)". Filmreference.com. Archived from the original on April 20, 2013. Retrieved June 16, 2013.
6. "Lost and Fox". April 15, 2007.
7. Butler, Casey (September 23, 2012). "Matthew Fox brings a different way of acting to classes, school meeting". The Deerfield Scroll. Archived from the original on September 27, 2016. Retrieved September 25, 2016.
8. "Matthew Fox Biography – life, family, children, parents, story, wife, school, mother, son – Newsmakers Cumulation". www.notablebiographies.com. Archived from the original on February 11, 2018. Retrieved May 2, 2018.
9. "Matthew Fox '89CC Delivers Columbia College Class Day Address". GoColumbiaLions.com. May 16, 2007.
10. "The Making of Lost Pilot". Empire Magazine. May 2013. Archived from the original on September 24, 2014. Retrieved September 23, 2014.
11. "Winners & Nominees". Golden Globes. Retrieved July 20, 2024.
12. Matthew Fox: A different perspective, video interview, March 2008
13. "The Big Picture". Los Angeles Times. June 9, 2008. Archived from the original on December 21, 2008.
14. "Movie News, Reviews, Interviews and More! - Wachowski's Find Their Racer X". IESB.net. Archived from the original on May 14, 2008. Retrieved June 16, 2013.
15. Keck, William. "Cast Away!" TV Guide, April 19, 2010; Page 36.
16. Billington, Michael (March 14, 2011). "In a Forest Dark and Deep" Archived 2013-12-03 at the Wayback Machine. The Guardian.
17. Fleming, Mike (March 24, 2011). "Summit Captures U.S. Rights To James Patterson's Alex Cross Reboot With Tyler Perry And Matthew Fox" . Deadline Hollywood.
18. "Alex Cross: The Movie" Archived 2012-06-14 at the Wayback Machine. The Official James Patterson Website. Retrieved May 18, 2012.
19. Filipponi, Pietro (May 18, 2012). " FIRST LOOK: Matthew Fox, Tyler Perry & Ed Burns in James Patterson's ALEX CROSS" Archived 2012-08-04 at the Wayback Machine. The Daily Blam!
20. Schaefer, Sandy (May 18, 2012). "'Alex Cross' Images Include An Armed Tyler Perry & Ripped Matthew Fox". Screen Rant, LLC. Archived from the original on June 21, 2012. Retrieved June 21, 2012.
21. Rawson-Jones, Ben (December 3, 2012). "'Alex Cross' review". Digital Spy. Retrieved December 4, 2019.
22. Sneider, Jeff. "Jeffrey Donovan, Matthew Fox to Star in Post-Apocalyptic Horror Movie 'Welcome to Harmony". TheWrap. December 20, 2013. Archived from the original on August 24, 2014. Retrieved August 2, 2014.
23. "Matthew Fox talks 'Bone Tomahawk': 'Being in a western with Kurt Russell is pretty cool'". EW.com. Retrieved August 9, 2021.
24. Cannon, Eoghan (June 21, 2022). "'Lost' and 'Party of Five' star Matthew Fox on why he quit acting for nearly a decade". Entertainment.ie. Retrieved June 9, 2024.
25. Leishman, Rachel (September 17, 2021). "Matthew Fox Returning to TV With Limited Drama Thriller Series 'Last Light'". Collider. Retrieved September 17, 2021.
26. "Life of the Party". PEOPLE.com.
27. "Matthew Fox hopes to move family to Oregon...eventually". PEOPLE.com.
28. ^ Millado, Nate (April 23, 2018). "Matthew Fox Uncensored – the "Alex Cross" Star Talks About Career and Controversy". Men's Journal. Retrieved August 9, 2021.
29. "Matthew Fox Detained -- Accused of Assaulting Woman". tmz.com. August 29, 2011. Archived from the original on March 6, 2018. Retrieved May 2, 2018.
30. ABC via AP (August 30, 2011). "Matthew Fox accused of assaulting bus driver in the Flats". Cleveland. Blog.cleveland.com. Archived from the original on June 17, 2013. Retrieved June 16, 2013.
31. "Bus Driver Details Alleged Matthew Fox Attack". Abcnews.go.com. August 30, 2011. Retrieved June 16, 2013.
32. "No Charges for Matthew Fox in Bus Driver Complaint". Abcnews.go.com. Archived from the original on September 18, 2011. Retrieved June 16, 2013.
33. "Matthew Fox accuser withdraws lawsuit, Dominic Monaghan accuses". ew.com. Archived from the original on March 24, 2018. Retrieved May 2, 2018.
34. "Matthew Fox on the Allegations". YouTube. October 16, 2012.
35. "'Lost' star uses Twitter to accuse Matthew Fox of beating women". today.com. May 30, 2012.
36. "Matthew Fox on 'Lost' Co-Star's Claims He 'Beats Women': 'A Pile of Bulls---'". The Hollywood Reporter. October 16, 2012.
37. Busis, Hillary (May 11, 2012). "Matthew Fox charged with DUI". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved April 9, 2024.
38. Abramovitch, Seth (October 16, 2012). "Matthew Fox on 'Lost' Co-Star's Claims He 'Beats Women': 'A Pile of Bulls---'". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved April 9, 2024.
39. "Matthew Fox Emmy Nominated". Emmys.com. Archived from the original on May 11, 2013. Retrieved June 16, 2013.

External links

• Matthew Fox at IMDb

• 1966 births
• 20th-century American male actors
• 21st-century American male actors
• Male actors from Pennsylvania
• Male actors from Wyoming
• American male film actors
• American people of English descent
• American people of Italian descent
• American male television actors
• Deerfield Academy alumni
• Living people
• People from Abington Township, Montgomery County, Pennsylvania
• People from Fremont County, Wyoming
• Columbia Lions football players
• Columbia College (New York) alumni
• Meade family