Colin Fox

Colin R. Fox (November 20, 1938 – April 5, 2025) was a Canadian actor, who appeared in various Canadian and American films and television series. His best known roles included Jean Paul Desmond / Jacques Eloi Des Mondes on Strange Paradise (1969–70), Professor Anton Hendricks on PSI Factor: Chronicles of the Paranormal (1996–2000), and Fritz Brenner on A Nero Wolfe Mystery (2001–02).

Fox also provided voiceover work for animated projects like The Legend of Zelda (1989), Rupert (1991–97), X-Men: The Animated Series (1996), and Atomic Betty (2004–08). The latter earned him a Gemini Award for Best Performance in an Animated Program or Series.

His acting credits included playing Jean Paul Desmond and Jacques Eloi Des Mondes (the latter speaking to his descendant from the portrait) in Strange Paradise (CBC/Syndicated, 1969–70), as well as voice work in various animated series, and in other roles in film, television and on the stage. He created the role of Walter Telford, an attorney on the series High Hopes. His most famous role may be that of Anton Hendricks in the TV series PSI Factor: Chronicles of the Paranormal. He also appeared in Shining Time Station episode, "Schemer's Special Club", as the misogynistic and racist Nicklear Club President and owner Mr. Hobart Hume III.

Fox was well known for his portrayal of Swiss chef Fritz Brenner in the A&E TV original series, A Nero Wolfe Mystery (2001–2002), and the series pilot, The Golden Spiders: A Nero Wolfe Mystery (2000). Fox's Fritz is a complex person, like the Fritz portrayed in the books, but does not joke with Archie as much. A running joke in the series is the offscreen sound of pots and pans falling and dishes breaking when Fritz is annoyed or upset. In "Eeny Meeny Murder Mo", Fritz gets drunk after a woman is murdered in Wolfe's office and Wolfe refuses to eat.

Fox played cunning, ruthless villains in three episodes of the Canadian TV show Friday the 13th: The Series. The first was monk Rupert LeCroix in "The Poisoned Pen" wielding a cursed quill pen that caused whatever was written by it to actually happen. The second was Sylvan Winters, taxidermist and Satanic Cult leader – who actually killed lead character, Micki Foster (Louise Robey) with the deadly Coin of Zaecles in the episode, "Tails I Live, Heads You Die." The third was German scientist Horst Mueller in "The Butcher," who used a silver amulet – a swastika enclosed in a circle – to resurrect a Nazi war criminal, Colonel Rausch a.k.a. The Butcher.

He also supplied the voice of the Professor in Rupert, the archvillain The Wizard in The Care Bears Adventure in Wonderland and Newton the turtle from Peep and the Big Wide World.

Fox was born in Aldershot, Ontario, Canada on November 20, 1938. He was a 1965 graduate of the National Theatre School of Canada. He was married to Carol Bermingham-Fox, and was the stepfather to her daughter, Sarah, from a previous marriage. Carol predeceased him, dying of cancer in 2015. He lived in Elora, Ontario, 100 km from Toronto, in an 1860s Victorian home.

Fox died in Fergus, Ontario on April 5, 2025, at the age of 86.