Fox was born in Abington, Pennsylvania,[1] 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.[3] 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.[4] 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.[3][5] Fox attended Wind River High School in Pavillion, Wyoming and transferred to Deerfield Academy during his senior year and graduated in 1985.[6][7] He graduated from Columbia University with a B.A. in economics in 1989.[8] While at Columbia, he was a wide receiver on the school's football team.[9]
Career
Fox outside of Citytv in Toronto during an open autograph session, December 6, 2006
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).
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.[10]
Fox was nominated for a Golden Globe in the category "Best Actor – Television Series Drama",[11] 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.
Fox co-starred in Alex Cross (2012), as the villain, Michael "The Butcher" Sullivan, nicknamed "Picasso".[17][18][19][20] 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.[21]
He starred in the film Extinction that was released in July 2015.[22] 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 horrorWesternBone Tomahawk. He had always wanted to act in a Western.[23]
From 2014 to 2021, Fox took a break from acting to spend time with his family.[24]
In 2021, Fox was cast in the lead role of a limited series Last Light, which was released on Peacock.[25]
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.[26][27] 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[ly]. I feel like I'm hyper-prepared when I fly. There is so much you don't have control over."[28]
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.[29][30][31] 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".[32][33] 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.[34]
In May 2012, his Lost co-star Dominic Monaghan tweeted about Fox, "He beats women. Not isolated incidents. Often."[35] Fox called Monaghan's claims "a pile of bullshit" and said he was not going to "waste too much breath on that."[36] He also told Men's Journal in 2012 that he has "never hit a woman before. Never have, never will."[28]
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