Robin Fox (theatrical agent)
Robin Fox | |
|---|---|
| Born | 15 July 1913 England, UK |
| Died | 20 January 1971 (aged 57) Ockenden Cottage, Cuckfield, Sussex, England, UK |
| Occupation | Theatrical agent |
| Spouse | Angela Worthington |
| Family | Fox |
Robin Fox MC (15 July 1913 – 20 January 1971) was an English actor, theatrical agent, impresario, and chairman of the English Stage Company, best remembered as the founder of a family of actors. His sons are Edward, James, and Robert Fox. His grandchildren include Emilia, Laurence, Jack and Freddie Fox.
Early life
Fox was born at 12 Stratton Street, Mayfair,[1] Westminster, the son of Arthur William Fox and former actress Hilda Louise Fox (née Alcock), a member of Herbert Beerbohm Tree's theatrical company. He was the grandson of Samson Fox (1838–1903), a British engineer and philanthropist, principal founder of the Royal College of Music and inventor of the corrugated boiler flue. His mother and his aunt Lily Hanbury were first cousins of Julia Neilson, mother of Phyllis and Dennis Neilson-Terry. Julia Neilson was married to Fred Terry, brother of Dame Ellen Terry. Altogether seven of his cousins were actors.[2]
He was educated at Harrow, where he was a member of the school's swimming team.[3]
In November 1933, aged twenty, Fox was banned from driving for a year for driving without due care and attention. After colliding with another vehicle, he had offered the explanation that he was in a hurry to catch an areroplane.[4]
Career
In the 1930s, Fox became a solicitor in the City of London, then in 1939 joined the Honourable Artillery Company as a gunner. During the Second World War, he trained at an Officer Cadet Training Unit and in August 1940 was commissioned as a second lieutenant into the Royal Artillery.[5] In February 1945, he was awarded the Military Cross,[6] for gallant and distinguished service with the Royal Artillery while on active service in the Italian campaign.[3] During the war, Fox rose to the rank of acting major.[7]
Fox became a theatrical agent, and then in January 1957 formed the Robin Fox Partnership Ltd, with its offices at 24, Old Burlington Street, as a production company,[8] with the actor Robert Morley as his partner.[9] He was later also the senior partner of the Robin Fox Organization, with its offices in Regent Street.[10]
In January 1959, Fox was elected as a member of the English Stage Company, to serve on its Artistic Committee with Lord Harewood, Ronald Duncan, Oscar Lewenstein, and Peggy Ashcroft.[11]
As well as representing many performers, including Julie Christie, Paul Scofield, Marianne Faithfull, and Maggie Smith,[12] he also acted on behalf of film-makers, of whom one was Joseph Losey.[13]
In 1966, Robin Fox appeared in a cameo role in the film Modesty Blaise, as a man who rings a doorbell.[14]
In 1970, Fox and Oscar Lewenstein jointly succeeded Neville Blond as chairman of the English Stage Company, but Fox died from cancer only six months later.[15]
Personal life
In May 1935, an engagement was announced in The Tatler between Fox and Angela Worthington, an actress and the illegitimate daughter of the English playwright Frederick Lonsdale, with photographs.[16] In October 1935, in Westminster, they were married. At the age of thirteen, she had been the subject of Noël Coward's song "Don't Put Your Daughter on the Stage, Mrs Worthington!"[17] She later wrote two books about her life and marriage, Slightly Foxed (1986) and Completely Foxed (1989), and revealed that when she was newly married and first pregnant Fox told her "You do know that I have no intention of being faithful to you. I shall sleep with whoever I like".[18][19] They had three sons, Edward, James, and Robert Fox.[19]
Fox has been called "a notorious philanderer", and his conquests are reported to have included Princess Marina of Greece and Denmark, the widow of Prince George, Duke of Kent. He had a long affair with Rosalind Chatto, wife of the actor Tom Chatto, who was his secretary before she became an agent on her own account, and is claimed to be the father of her son, Daniel Chatto.[19]
In 1962, Fox quarrelled bitterly with Tony Richardson, when he attempted to forbid his friend Richardson from giving his son James "Willie" Fox a part in the film The Loneliness of the Long Distance Runner. Fox claimed Willie had no talent for acting and should not give up his job in a bank.[20]
At the time of his death, Fox was living at Ockenden Cottage, Cuckfield, Sussex. He left an estate valued at £102,625[21] (equivalent to £1,832,226 in 2023).
Filmography
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1966 | Modesty Blaise | Man Who Pushes the Doorbell | Uncredited |
References
- ^ "Births". The Times. 16 July 1913. p. 1.
- ^ "Emilia Fox" episode of Who Do You Think You Are?, first broadcast on BBC One on 7 September 2011
- ^ a b "CUCKFIELD", Mid Sussex Times, Wednesday 14 February 1945, p. 5: "It is announced that the Military Cross has been awarded for gallant and distinguished service to Captain (Temporary Major) Robin Fox, of the Royal Regiment of Artillery, at present serving in Italy. Educated Harrow, where he was a noted swimmer and a member of the school's swimming team."
- ^ "YEAR'S DRIVING BAN MOTORIST WHO IGNORED SIGNAL OF NORBURY DOCTOR", Streatham News, Friday 10 November 1933, p. 3
- ^ The London Gazette, issue 34936 (Supplement) dated 3 September 1940, p. 5332
- ^ The London Gazette, issue 36928 (Supplement) dated 8 February 1945, p. 796
- ^ Temporary Major Robin Fox, Royal Artillery at forces-war-records.co.uk. Retrieved 7 September 2015
- ^ "The Robin Fox Partnership Ltd", The Stage, Thursday 24 January 1957, p. 8
- ^ "MOOMIN IN MAYFAIR", Evening News (London), Saturday 01 June 1957, p. 4: "I went along to have a drink with Robert Morley and his co-partner, Robin Fox, in their new offices in Mayfair. "All frightfully high-class, dear boy" said Morley. "Wonderful decorations, marvellous champagne and the most deelicious..."
- ^ Robert Morley, Robert Morley: a reluctant autobiography (1967), p. 214
- ^ "English Stage Company", The Stage, Thursday 29 January 1959, p. 13
- ^ Paul Buck, Performance: the Biography of a 60s Masterpiece (2013), pp. 129, 130
- ^ James Palmer, Michael Riley, The Films of Joseph Losey (1993), p. 42
- ^ James Robert Parish, Michael R. Pitts, The Great Spy Pictures (1974), p. 308
- ^ Lindsay Anderson, ed. Paul Sutton, Diaries (2004), pp. 249, 505
- ^ "WEDDINGS AND ENGAGEMENTS", The Tatler, Wednesday 22 May 1935, p. 62: "Miss Angela Worthington, the daughter of Mr E. Worthington, of Birchington, Thanet, and Mrs. Worthington, of 16a, Lower Belgrave Street, S.W., who is to marry Mr. Robin Fox, the younger son of Mr. A. W. Fox, of Paris, and Mrs Fox, of 79, Finchley Road. N.W."
- ^ Screen Stars Mourn Mum", The Argus, 9 December 1999, accessed 17 August 2025
- ^ Angela Fox, Slightly Foxed – by my theatrical family (London: Collins, 1986) p. 17
- ^ a b c Alison Boshoff, “The fabulously frisky Foxes” in Thurrock Mail, 23 January 2015
- ^ 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."
- ^ Fox 1971 at probatesearch.service.gov.uk. accessed 6 September 2015