Bernard Fox

The Lookout Who Repeated Tragedy

Bernard Fox spotted the iceberg in 1958 and went back to dining in first class almost forty years later. Few actors can say they survived the most famous shipwreck in history twice and under different directors. In A Night to Remember he played lookout Frederick Fleet (the man who gave the real warning), and in James Cameron's 1997 version he played Colonel Archibald Gracie.

He was born in Port Talbot in 1927 into a family devoted entirely to show business. He was the fifth generation of actors in his family tree, so the stage was not a choice but an inevitable destiny. During World War II he served in the Royal Navy, and after the conflict he decided his future lay in American screens.

And the gamble paid off.

The Cloud Doctor and the Incompetent Colonel

His arrival on American television in the 1960s gave him a financial security that the London stage had denied him. Fox quickly understood that audiences wanted the pompous yet endearing British stereotype. In Bewitched he brought to life Dr. Bombay (a sorcerer specializing in supernatural illnesses), and he designed the character's outlandish outfits himself.

But his biggest comedic success was Colonel Crittendon in the series Hogan's Heroes. He appeared in eight episodes between 1965 and 1970, playing a British officer whose incompetence drove the leads to despair. Fox didn't need grand gestures to get a laugh, because his sense of comic timing was surgical.

His mustache became his trademark.

A Retirement Among Cartoons

The actor was not picky about genre and lent his voice to several Disney classics. In 1977 he took part in The Rescuers, bringing to life the chairmouse, and reprised the role in the 1990 sequel set in Australia. His ability to modulate accents kept him busy in voice work while his on-screen presence became more selective.

In 1999 he had a brief appearance in The Mummy as Captain Winston Havelock (a veteran aviator seeking one last glory). It was one of his last notable roles before he stepped away from the spotlight for good.

Bernard Fox died on December 14, 2016 at Van Nuys Presbyterian Hospital in California. He was 89 years old, and the heart failure that ended his life closed a career of more than six decades in the industry. His body was cremated and the ashes were given to his family.