Michael Fox (American actor)

Michael Fox (born Myron Melvin Fox, February 27, 1921 – June 1, 1996) was an American character actor who appeared in numerous films and television shows. Some of his most famous recurring roles were as various autopsy physicians in Perry Mason, as Coroner George McLeod in Burke's Law, as Amos Fedders in Falcon Crest, and as Saul Feinberg in The Bold and the Beautiful.

For other people named Michael Fox, see Michael Fox (disambiguation).
Michael Fox
Born
Myron Melvin Fox

(1921-02-27)February 27, 1921
Yonkers, New York, U.S.
DiedJune 1, 1996(1996-06-01) (aged 75)
Woodland Hills, Los Angeles, California, U.S.
Resting placeWestwood Village Memorial Park Cemetery
Years active1952–1995
Spouse(s)
Hannah Fox
​
(m. 1947)​
Children2

Early life

Fox was born in Yonkers, New York to Jacob Fox, an Austrian-born salesman, and his wife, the former Josephine Berkowitz. He was the youngest of four children, and the third son.[1]

Career

Michael Fox began acting in stage plays in southern California circa 1945. Through his stage endeavors, Fox met Harry Sauber who introduced him to Sam Katzman.[2]

Two of his regular TV roles were as the coroner in the courtroom drama Perry Mason, and as Saul Feinberg on the CBS soap opera The Bold and the Beautiful from 1989–1996.

Among his earlier television work was the next-to-last episode of Adventures of Superman, as the ringleader of a criminal gang that tried to conduct a Perils of Pauline–style series of murder attempts on the show's various protagonists. He also appeared in several episodes on the 1955–1957 television series Science Fiction Theatre.

The Dr. Fox effect

Fox also made an important contribution to the scholarly field of education, as the actor who portrayed "Dr. Myron L. Fox" in a study that would give rise to the Dr. Fox effect,[3] and also participated in the generation of additional materials in at least one follow-up study.[4] In the initial demonstration of this effect, Fox delivered an engaging and expressive lecture that contained no meaningful content, and yet, the audience rated Fox just as highly as a genuine professor's lecture. The Dr. Fox effect has been often cited as a critique of the validity of student evaluations of teaching.

Personal life and death

He was married to Hannah, an actress he met while acting in the stage play The Dybbuk, in a Los Angeles area theatre run by Lou Smuckler, father-in-law of Lee J. Cobb. Borrowing a car from Dorothy Gish, Fox drove Hannah to a judge and married her between the matinee and evening performances of The Story of Mary Surratt.[2]

Fox died of pneumonia June 1, 1996, in Woodland Hills, Los Angeles, California.[2][5] His death was written into The Bold and the Beautiful.

Acting roles

Non-recurring or Recurring multiple roles in television series
  • Science Fiction Theatre
    Beyond (1955) - Radar Man
    The Brain of John Emerson (1955) - Dr. Franklin
    The Frozen Sound (1955) - Dr. Gordine
    The Flicker (1956) - Dr. James Kincaid
    The Missing Waveband (1956) - Dr. Maxwell
    Jupitron (1956) - Dr. Norstad
    Signals from the Moon (1956) - Dr. Edwards
  • The Ford Television Theatre
    The Payoff (1956) - Lieutenant Bernard Shuman
    Catch at Straws (1956) - Jed Hartan
    Front Page Father (1956) - Malcolm Slade
    Miller's Millions (1957) - Judge Patterson
  • Perry Mason -
    Case of the Runaway Corpse (1957) - Dr. Hoxie
    Case of the Prodigal Parent (1958) - Dr. Samuel Anders
    Case of the Caretaker's Cat (1959) - Autopsy Surgeon
    Case of the Bedeviled Doctor (1959) - Dr. Hoxie
    Case of the Lame Canary (1959) - Dr. Hoxie
    Case of the Artful Dodger (1959) - Autopsy Surgeon
    Case of the Singular Double (1960) - Autopsy Surgeon
    Case of the Fickle Fortune (1961) - Autopsy Surgeon
    Case of the Wintry Wife (1961) - Autopsy Surgeon
    Case of the Duplicate Daughter (1961) - Autopsy Surgeon
    Case of the Promoter's Pillbox (1962) - Autopsy Surgeon
    Case of the Bogus Books (1962) - Coroner's Physician
    Case of the Libellous Locket (1963) - Physician
    Case of the Golden Oranges (1963) - Coroner's Physician
    Case of the Witless Witness (1963) - Autopsy Surgeon
    Case of the Festive Felon (1963) - Surgeon
  • Wanted: Dead or Alive
    Reunion for a Revenge (1959) - The Quaker
    The Hostage (1959) - Bartender Tom
  • Alcoa Theatre
    30 Pieces of Silver (1959) - Mr. Hammeker
    The Observer (1960) - Father Holze
  • The Rifleman
    Letter of the Law (1959) - Abel
    The Trade (1959) - Trager
    Miss Millie (1960) - Jim Oxford
    The Hangman (1960) - Joe Hannah
  • Richard Diamond, Private Detective
    Marineland Mystery (1959) - Paul Schofield
    Coat of Arms (1960)
    The Popskull (1960)
  • The Twilight Zone
    Nightmare as a Child (1960) - Doctor
    Mr. Dingle, the Strong (1961) - Martian
    Sounds and Silences (1964) - Psychiatrist
  • The Detectives Starring Robert Taylor
    The Queen of Craven Point (1961) - Lab Man
    The Reason (1961) - Andy
  • The Untouchables
    The Stryker Brothers (1962) - Lieutenant Miller
    Death for Sale (1961) - Bradley
  • The Dick Powell Show
    Somebody's Waiting (1961)
    The Big Day (1962) - Phil
    The Hook (1962)
    The Legend (1962) - Attorney
    The Old Man and the City (1963)
  • The Virginian
    The Brazen Bell (1962) - Prisoner Guard (uncredited)
    No Drums, No Trumpets (1966) - General Howard
    The Price of Love (1969) - Coroner
  • Gunsmoke
    Carter Caper (1963) - Waiter
    Wishbone (1966) - Buffalo Hunter
    The Raid: Part 1 (1966) - Mr. Simms - Hotel Clerk
    Hard Luck Henry (1967) - Jed Walsh
  • The Big Valley
    Forty Rifles (1965) - De Koven
    The Iron Box (1966) - MacGowan
    Point and Counterpoint (1969) - Jonathan Williams
  • Honey West
    A Matter of Wife and Death (1965) - Lieutenant Kovacs
    Come to Me, My Litigation Baby (1966) - Mr. Strate
  • Batman
    Holy Rat Race (1966) - Leo Gore
    Smack in the Middle (1966) - Inspector Basch
    Hi Diddle Riddle (1966) - Inspector Basch
  • Lost in Space
    Cave of the Wizards (1967) - Alien on Computer Screen
    The Ghost Planet (1966) - Cybernetic Leader/Supreme Brain
  • Ironside
    A Very Cool Hot Car (1967) - Technician
    Beyond a Shadow (1969) - Dr. Leonard Marcus
    Death by the Numbers (1972) - Dr. Albert Gold
  • Hogan's Heroes
    The Well (1969) - Captain Ritter
    It's Dynamite (1970) - Berger
    Get Fit or Go Fight (1970) Major Kimmel
  • Quincy, M.E.
    Jury Duty (1981) - Dr. Feld
    Cover-Up (1980) - Fire Captain

Singular appearances in television series

Feature-length films

References
  1. U.S. Census Year: 1940; Census Place: Yonkers, Westchester, New York; Roll: T627_2863; Page: 1B; Enumeration District: 68-14
  2. Weaver, Tom (2004). It Came from Horrorwood: Interviews with Moviemakers in the Science Fiction and Horror Tradition. McFarland & Company. pp. 102–121. ISBN 978-0-7864-2069-8.
  3. Donald H. Naftulin, John E. Ware, Jr., and Frank A. Donnelly, "The Doctor Fox Lecture: A Paradigm of Educational Seduction" Archived 2008-02-09 at the Wayback Machine, Journal of Medical Education 48 (1973): 630-635
  4. R. Williams and J. Ware, "Validity of student ratings of instruction under different incentive conditions: A further study of the Dr. Fox effect", Journal of Educational Psychology 68 (1976): 48–56.
  5. Michael Fox at Find a Grave
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