Stage and screen actor David Fox remembered as champion of Canadian theatre

TORONTO — Stage and screen actor David Fox, revered for his commitment to bringing Canadian stories to life in the theatre, has died.

Gavin Fox says his father died peacefully in palliative care at a Toronto hospital from age-related natural causes. He was 80.

Fox, a former high school teacher, emerged as a foundational figure in Canada’s alternative theatre scene in the early 1970s.

He rose to prominence for his naturalistic performances in the early days of Toronto’s Theatre Passe Muraille, originating roles in such seminal productions as “The Farm Show,” and “1837: The Farmer’s Revolt.”

He went on to perform at major venues across the country, including the Stratford Festival and Mirvish’s Royal Alexandra Theatre.

He also landed numerous roles on film and television, playing a recurring character on the CBC series “Road to Avonlea.”

In his later years, Fox won acclaim for his star turn in Watershed Shakespeare Festival Collective’s 2015 production of “King Lear.” In 2017, he produced a one-man recitation of Samuel Taylor Coleridge’s poem “The Rime of the Ancient Mariner” at Toronto’s Red Sandcastle Theatre

His honours included a 1999 Dora Mavor Award for his performance in Theatre Passe Muraille’s “The Drawer Boy,” and a Sterling Award for his role in 1989’s “The Invention of Poetry” at Edmonton’s Citadel Theatre.

Fox was made a member of the Order of Canada in 2018 for his contributions as a champion of Canadian theatre.

News of Fox’s death sparked an outpouring of tributes on social media, with the artistic director of the Blyth Festival remembering him as a “titan” of the Canadian stage.

“With his imposing stature, his incisive mind, and blown glass heart, Fox was possessed of the kind of power onstage that pulled all of us deeper into the dream,” Gil Garratt wrote on Facebook.

“Fox had an inexhaustible ability to go deeper and richer than any actor I’d met, and the gift of struggling to keep up with him is one I will forever cherish.”

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 14, 2021.

Adina Bresge, The Canadian Press

Note to readers: This is a corrected story. In a story that moved Nov. 14, The Canadian Press cited erroneous information that suggested Fox died after a long battle with cancer. In fact, his son says Fox successfully beat cancer more than five years ago and died peacefully of natural causes.