Overview (3)

Mini Bio (1)

Spouse (1)

Trade Mark (2)

Frequently plays strong-willed, confrontational authority figures



Frequently plays antagonistic military or government officials who have many disagreements with the protagonist



Trivia (10)



Remembered best as the moral-minded and ill-fated Drew Ballinger, who instigates the legendary "Dueling Banjos" sequence with a mountain boy in Deliverance (1972), Cox is a real-life singer-songwriter and guitarist as well as master storyteller. He and his band do about 80 shows a year at folk festivals, small theaters, and other folk venues.



Has played two fictional presidents of the United States: President Tom Kimball in Captain America (1990) and President Jack Neil in Murder at 1600 (1997). His character Senator/Vice President Robert Kinsey in Stargate SG-1 (1997) became president in several episodes; however, these were alternate universe/alternative time line scenarios. In the episode "2010" (episode #4.16), we see Robert Kinsey as the president; in the episode "Moebius (Part 1)" (episode #8.19), he is referred to as the President.



When he guest-starred as Captain Edward Jellico in an episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation (1987) entitled "Chain of Command: Parts 1 and 2" (episode #6.11), he had the distinction of being the only other actor besides Patrick Stewart and Jonathan Frakes in "The Best of Both Worlds: Part 2" to do a "Captain's Log" entry on the entire run of the series.



Met his wife, Mary Cox , in high school when he was age 14.

Has been known to enjoy a good game of bridge.



Attended and graduated from Eastern New Mexico University with a double major in theater and speech correction (1963).



Fronted a rock 'n' roll band called Ron's Rockouts with two of his brothers while attending college. He not only sang most of the lead vocals, but also played rhythm guitar and blues harp in the band.



Is also a folk singer.



Has two sons.



Personal Quotes (4)

The fun for me is still acting, though I like doing everything. I'm not really interested in being a superstar. I have a really wonderful, secure private life. The thing about becoming a 'star' is that you get offered the really good roles and that's what I want. I found out a long time ago that the hardest thing about playing Hamlet is being asked to do it. Luckily for me, now, I'm being asked. (from a 1988 interview)



I don't have much respect for what I call the 'technical' actors, who work out every little nuance of how they're going to say the words. To me, that's acting in a vacuum. It seems to me to be a tremendous act of hubris to decide ahead of time how you're going to react to the way I say something. I love playing characters. I'm not interested in playing myself, although I'm the conduit for that character.



I'm not a well-trained actor in the classical sense but what I think I have going for me is a sense of honesty about my work.



The fun for me is playing characters -- not that I would ever turn down superstardom. But I would only use stardom as a way to get access to all the really great roles. I want to play everything.

