Bernard Fox

Bernard Fox was a prolific Welsh television and film actor, who appeared in dozens of films and TV shows, most notably "Bewitched" (ABC, 1964-1972), "Hogan's Heroes" (CBS, 1965-1971) and the movie "Titanic" (1997), over the course of his 50-plus year career as a professional screen actor. Born in Port Talbot, Glamorgan, Wales in 1927, Fox's acting career began when he was barely out of diapers. He came from a family of stage actors (both of his parents made their living as actors), and started working in the theater when he was still a young boy. By his early teens he was employed as a stage manager, and envisioned spending the rest of his life working in theater. The breakout of World War II changed all of that, however. Fox enlisted in the Royal Navy and spent the last two years of the war working as a minesweeper. After World War II Fox moved to London to work as a theater actor, and before long started to earn a reputation as a funny performer. By the mid-50s he was landing parts on British TV shows and movies, including "Home and Away" (1956) and "The Counterfeit Plan" (1957). His worked steadily in Britain over the next several years, but by the mid-1960s Fox was landing work on American television shows. Throughout the 1960s he nabbed recurring roles on some of the most popular shows in the States, including "The Andy Griffith Show" (CBS, 1960-1968), "The Man from U.N.C.L.E." (NBC, 1964-68), "Bewitched," and "Hogan's Heroes." Fox continued working steadily throughout the 70s and 80s, appearing mostly in one-off roles on TV. Then in the late 90s, when he was already in his 70s, Fox's hit a late-career upsurge with noteworthy parts in two of the biggest blockbuster films of the decade: "Titanic" and "The Mummy" (1999). Fox retired from screen acting shortly after the turn of the century, with his last credited role on the sitcom "Dharma and Greg" (ABC, 1997-2002). He died on December 16, 2016 at the age of 89. The cause of death was heart failure.