Joseph Anthony Cox (born March 31, 1958) is an American actor known for his roles in '' Bad Santa'', ''

Friday Friday is the day of the week between Thursday and Saturday. In countries that adopt the traditional "Sunday-first" convention, it is the sixth day of the week. In countries adopting the ISO-defined "Monday-first" convention, it is the fifth da ...

'', '' Me, Myself & Irene,'' '' Date Movie,'' '' Epic Movie'', '' Disaster Movie'', and '' Leprechaun 2''. He is also known for his role in

George Lucas George Walton Lucas Jr. (born May 14, 1944) is an American filmmaker. Lucas is best known for creating the ''Star Wars'' and '' Indiana Jones'' franchises and founding Lucasfilm, LucasArts, Industrial Light & Magic and THX. He served as chai ...

's ''

Willow Willows, also called sallows and osiers, from the genus ''Salix'', comprise around 400 speciesMabberley, D.J. 1997. The Plant Book, Cambridge University Press #2: Cambridge. of typically deciduous trees and shrubs, found primarily on moist ...

'', as an Ewok in ''

Return of the Jedi ''Return of the Jedi'' (also known as ''Star Wars: Episode VI – Return of the Jedi'' is a 1983 American epic space opera film directed by Richard Marquand. The screenplay is by Lawrence Kasdan and George Lucas from a story by Lucas, who w ...

'' and as The Preacher in

Tim Burton Timothy Walter Burton (born August 25, 1958) is an American filmmaker and animator. He is known for his gothic fantasy and horror films such as ''Beetlejuice'' (1988), ''Edward Scissorhands'' (1990), ''The Nightmare Before Christmas'' (1993), ...

's '' Beetlejuice''. Cox also appeared in various music videos.

Early life

Cox was born in Uniontown, Alabama, the son of Henrietta Cox-Penn and Joe Cox. He spent his childhood in Uniontown, with his grandmother and grandfather, Lottie and Henry Jones. His mother and stepfather, Rudolph (Rudy) Penn, live in

College Park, Georgia College Park is a city in Fulton and Clayton counties, Georgia, United States, adjacent to the southern boundary of the city of Atlanta. As of the 2020 census, the population was 13,930. Hartsfield–Jackson Atlanta International Airport is par ...

. By the age of 10 he became an avid drummer. He met his future wife, Otelia, during high school. They were eventually married in 1981 when Cox was 23 years old. After graduation from high school, Cox attended the Alabama State University and originally planned to study music. Cox said in a 2003 interview with ''

Jet Jet, Jets, or The Jet(s) may refer to: Aerospace * Jet aircraft, an aircraft propelled by jet engines ** Jet airliner ** Jet engine ** Jet fuel * Jet Airways, an Indian airline * Wind Jet (ICAO: JET), an Italian airline * Journey to Enceladus a ...

'' magazine, "I played by ear. It was exactly like in ''

Drumline Marching percussion instruments are instruments specially designed to be played while moving. This is achieved by attaching the drum(s) to a special harness (also called a carrier or rack) worn by the drummer, although not all marching bands us ...

''. I played against some of the drummers from the school, and they didn't have anything on me. I just couldn't read music."

Career

Shortly thereafter, Cox decided to pursue acting after watching Billy Barty, a little person who was an actor and also founder of the organization Little People of America. Encouraged by relatives and friends, he moved to Los Angeles at age 18. He began taking classes at the Merrick Studio School of Acting with Scriptwriter De De Tillman and soon began working in commercials, film, and television roles. He is better known for his roles in '' Bad Santa'' where he played Marcus, the brains of a safe cracking duo, and in '' Date Movie'' where he played a parody of Dr. Hitch from '' Hitch''. As second lead to

Billy Bob Thornton Billy Bob Thornton (born August 4, 1955) is an American actor, filmmaker and musician. He had his first break when he co-wrote and starred in the 1992 thriller '' One False Move'', and received international attention after writing, directing, ...

, Cox's role in ''Bad Santa'' was a rare occurrence of a little person actor in a leading role. Cox reprised his role as Marcus in '' Bad Santa 2'', released in 2016. Cox also appeared on the TV show ''

Martin Martin may refer to: Places * Martin City (disambiguation) * Martin County (disambiguation) * Martin Township (disambiguation) Antarctica * Martin Peninsula, Marie Byrd Land * Port Martin, Adelie Land * Point Martin, South Orkney Islands Aus ...

'' in the first season, playing the character Bennie, in which he helps his friend Trey, played by Bushwick Bill, beat up Tommy played by Thomas Mikal Ford, over Tommy allegedly "stealing" his ex-girlfriend. Cox also appeared in a pivotal role in the Farrelly Brothers' movie '' Me, Myself & Irene'', playing a

Mensa International Mensa is the largest and oldest high-IQ society in the world. It is a non-profit organisation open to people who score at the 98th percentile or higher on a standardised, supervised IQ or other approved intelligence test. Mensa formally comp ...

-member

limousine A limousine ( or ), or limo () for short, is a large, chauffeur-driven luxury vehicle with a partition between the driver compartment and the passenger compartment. A very long wheelbase luxury sedan (with more than four doors) driven by a pro ...

driver who steals

Jim Carrey James Eugene Carrey (; born January 17, 1962) is a Canadian-American actor, comedian and artist. Known for his energetic slapstick performances, Carrey first gained recognition in 1990, after landing a role in the American sketch comedy t ...

's character's wife.

Filmography

Film

Television

Video games

Music videos

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Cox, Tony 1958 births Male actors from Alabama People from Uniontown, Alabama Actors with dwarfism African-American male actors American male film actors American male television actors 20th-century American male actors 21st-century American male actors Living people 20th-century African-American people 21st-century African-American people