American actor and musician
Ronny Cox
|
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![](//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/1/1e/Ronny_Cox_2019.jpg/220px-Ronny_Cox_2019.jpg) Cox in 2019
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Born
| Daniel Ronald Cox
(
1938-07-23
)
July 23, 1938
(age 85)
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Alma mater
| Eastern New Mexico University
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Occupations
| - Actor
- singer
- songwriter
- storyteller
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Years active
| 1972?present
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Spouse
|
Mary Cox
(
m.
1960; died 2006)
|
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Children
| 2
|
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Website
| www
.ronnycox
.com
|
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Daniel Ronald "Ronny" Cox
(born July 23, 1938) is an American actor, singer and songwriter. His best-known roles include Drew Ballinger in
Deliverance
(1972), George Apple in
Apple's Way
(1974?75), Ozark Bule in
Bound for Glory
(1976), Colonel Kerby in
Taps
(1981), Lieutenant Andrew Bogomil in
Beverly Hills Cop
(1984) and
Beverly Hills Cop II
(1987), Dick Jones in
RoboCop
(1987), Franklin Reed in
Family Ties
(1986), Vilos Cohaagen in
Total Recall
(1990), The President in
Captain America
(1990), Justin in
Age of Dinosaurs
(2013), Vice President Kinsey in several episodes of
Stargate SG-1
and Captain Edward Jellico in two episodes of
Star Trek: The Next Generation
(1992) as well as in an episode of
Star Trek: Prodigy
(2022). Cox is also active as a musician, performing over 100 times per year at festivals and theaters each year as of 2012.
Personal life
[
edit
]
Daniel Ronald Cox was born on July 23, 1938
[1]
in the mountain town of
Cloudcroft, New Mexico
, the third of five children to Lounette (nee Rucker) and Bob P. Cox, a carpenter who also worked at a dairy.
[2]
[3]
He grew up in
Portales, New Mexico
. Cox met his wife Mary when she was 11 and he was 14. They began dating when she was 15 and he was 18. They married in 1960 and had two sons.
[4]
Cox graduated from
Eastern New Mexico University
in 1963 with a double major in theater and speech correction. Mary died in 2006, 50 years to the day of their first date. Cox often talks about her during his music performances.
[5]
Acting career
[
edit
]
As an actor, Cox made his debut in the 1972 film
Deliverance
. In one scene, he plays the instrumental "
Dueling Banjos
" on his guitar with a banjo-playing mountain boy, played by child actor
Billy Redden
. He was hired for the role because he could play the guitar.
[6]
Cox published his
autobiography
in 2012, recounting his experiences making the film.
[7]
In 1974?1975, Cox starred in the short-lived family-oriented series entitled
Apple's Way
, created by
Earl Hamner
, creator of
The Waltons
. He also appeared as Mr. Webb in a television production of
Our Town
. In 1977, he appeared in the episode "Devil Pack" from the series
Quinn Martin's Tales of the Unexpected
. In 1984, 12 years after
Deliverance
, Cox again played a member of a small group of men who are lost, this time in the Nevada desert, and being chased by bloodthirsty locals in the low-budget film
Courage
. One of Cox's roles was that of Dr. John Gideon during the final season of the television medical drama
St. Elsewhere
. His character was
mooned
by Dr. Donald Westphall (
Ed Flanders
) at the end of the third episode of season six. Cox's first role in a big-budget film came in 1984 as Lt. Andrew Bogomil in
Beverly Hills Cop
, and he returned to the role in
Beverly Hills Cop II
in 1987. That same year, Cox appeared in the
Paul Verhoeven
film
RoboCop
as corporate arch-villain Dick Jones.
[8]
In 1986, Cox played the mayor in
season 3
, episodes 1 and 2, "Death Stalks the Big Top", of the TV series
Murder, She Wrote
.
[
citation needed
]
In 1990, Cox co-starred as Los Angeles Police Chief Roger Kendrick in the short-lived
Cop Rock
, presenting a striking physical resemblance to the real-world incumbent Chief
Daryl Gates
.
[
citation needed
]
He also appeared as the antagonistic Mars Administrator Vilos Cohaagen in
Total Recall
the same year. Cox had a guest role on
Star Trek: The Next Generation
as Captain Edward Jellico in the two-part episode "
Chain of Command
". He also played Henry Mason, the father of
Bree Van de Kamp
(
Marcia Cross
) on
Desperate Housewives
. In 1997, Cox portrayed the fictional
President of the United States
Jack Neil in the movie
Murder at 1600
. Cox also portrayed
John Ramsey
in the 2000 TV film
Perfect Murder, Perfect Town
and
Senator/Vice President Robert Kinsey
in
Stargate SG-1
.
Cox had a role in
The Starter Wife
. He played Pappy McCallister, the husband of Molly Kagan's best friend Joan. He occasionally has done animation work, lending his voice to the Tyrusian deserter Doc in
Invasion America
and Senator McMillan in
Todd McFarlane's Spawn
. Cox guest-starred in an episode of
Matthew Perry
's 2011 series
Mr. Sunshine
.
[9]
[
failed verification
]
Cox played Walter Kenney in
Dexter
, season six, episode three ("Smokey and the Bandit").
[10]
His character was a serial killer known as "The Tooth Fairy", whom Dexter had idolized while growing up. He guest-starred in an episode of
Diagnosis Murder
entitled "The Pressure to Murder", episode 9, season three. Cox played Gideon Claybourne on season 6 of
Nashville
in 2018.
Music career
[
edit
]
Despite having a successful acting career, Cox said that music now comes first in his life. He turns down about 90% of the acting jobs he is offered to play over 100 shows at festivals and theaters each year.
[11]
[12]
He is accompanied by his band.
[13]
Cox also leads a musical tour to Ireland each year.
[14]
On November 2, 2019, Cox was inducted into the New Mexico Music Hall of Fame.
[15]
On July 25, 2021, Cox won the New Mexico Music Awards with the Norman Petty Producers Award going to Tom (Panda) Ryan for his recording of Ronny Cox's
Live at the Kitchen Sink
featuring the 2021 Best Folk Music Award with his song, "Portales".
[16]
Live at the Kitchen Sink
was recorded at The Kitchen Sink Recording Studio in Santa Fe, New Mexico.
[17]
Filmography
[
edit
]
Discography
[
edit
]
Year
|
Title
|
2020
|
Ronny Cox - Live at the Kitchen Sink
|
2014
|
Ronny Cox Live in Concert ? The Official Bootleg
|
2012
|
Ronny, Rad and Karen
|
2009
|
Songs... with Repercussions
|
2008
|
How I Love Them Old Songs...
|
2006
|
Ronny Cox at the Sebastiani Theatre
|
2006
|
Ronny Cox: Songs, Stories... and Out & Out Lies (DVD)
|
2004
|
Ronny Cox Live
|
2002
|
Cowboy Savant
|
2000
|
Acoustic Eclectricity
|
1993
|
Ronny Cox
|
Books
[
edit
]
- Cox, Ronny.
Dueling Banjos: The Deliverance of Drew
. Decent Hill, 2012.
ISBN
978-1-936085-58-3
(paperback); 9781936085590 (hardcover); 9781936085606 (eBook)
Further reading
[
edit
]
- Voisin, Scott
Character Kings: Hollywood's Familiar Faces Discuss the Art & Business of Acting
. BearManor Media, 2009.
ISBN
978-1-59393-342-5
References
[
edit
]
- ^
"Cox, Ronny 1938?"
.
Encyclopedia.com
. Retrieved
March 18,
2022
.
- ^
"Ronny Cox ? Movies and Biography"
.
Yahoo! Movies
. Archived from
the original
on July 3, 2013.
- ^
"Ronny Cox - Biography"
.
Turner Classic Movies
. Retrieved
August 7,
2021
.
- ^
"Ronny Cox - Actor, Singer/Songwriter, Storyteller"
.
Ronny Cox
. Retrieved
November 15,
2023
.
- ^
Duren, Rand (May 7, 2009).
"Ronny Cox says songs cut to the heart even more since wife's death"
.
The Dallas Morning News
. Retrieved
August 7,
2021
.
- ^
Triplett, Gene (July 13, 2012).
"Ronny Cox delivers on screen and concert stage"
.
The Oklahoman
. Oklahoma City
. Retrieved
August 7,
2021
.
- ^
Lang, Brent (June 20, 2012).
"Ronny Cox on 'Deliverance's' 40th Anniversary and Why the 'Total Recall' Remake is a Bad Idea"
.
The Wrap
. Retrieved
August 7,
2021
.
- ^
"The death of Dick Jones (Ronny Cox) in Robocop"
.
Movie Deaths Database
. June 11, 2005. Archived from
the original
on March 15, 2013.
- ^
"American Actor John Ashton"
.
- ^
"Dexter: "Smokey and the Bandit" Review"
.
IGN
. Archived from
the original
on October 19, 2011.
- ^
Riedl, Matt (August 24, 2012).
"Music comes first for performer Ronny Cox"
.
The Wichita Eagle
.
- ^
Cashill, Bob (June 25, 2012).
"The Popdose Interview: Ronny Cox"
.
Popdose
.
- ^
"Ronny Cox to perform at Stiefel February 22nd"
.
Salina Post
(Press release). February 8, 2015. Archived from
the original
on December 1, 2017.
- ^
"2017 Ireland Music Tours ? Ronny Cox"
. September 15, 2016. Archived from
the original
on September 17, 2016.
- ^
"2019 Inductees"
.
New Mexico Music Hall of Fame
. 2018
. Retrieved
August 7,
2021
.
- ^
"2021 New Mexico Music Award Winners"
.
New Mexico Music Awards
. 2018
. Retrieved
August 3,
2021
.
- ^
"Live at the Kitchen Sink"
.
RonnyCox.com
. 2021
. Retrieved
August 3,
2021
.
External links
[
edit
]
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International
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National
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Academics
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Artists
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People
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Other
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