David Fox: March 24, 1941 – November 13, 2021
Nappoholics Anonymous is a weekly column featuring twelve random thoughts by actor Tony Nappo. Some are funny, some are poignant, some bother him, and some make him weep from sadness while others make him weep for joy. Here are his thoughts: unfiltered, uncensored, and only occasionally unsafe for work.
I was texting with Naomi Snieckus after the news broke that David Fox had passed. We were sharing thoughts about Foxy, and how deep and far-reaching his impact had been in the community. I guess that was, partly, because he always liked to work in the trenches, on new scripts and with younger generations of artists, as well as with the well-established. No acting job was too small for David, and no acting challenge was too large. There was never a trace of elitism in him, despite his endless accomplishments. He had a work ethic, well into his seventies, with which a twenty-year-old would have trouble keeping pace. He was far more interested in finding out who others were and what they were about than he ever was in talking about himself.
During this back and forth with Naomi, it occurred to me that, although it’s the work that grounds us and binds us together — the work is our connective tissue — it’s the passion and energy and conversation of the people we work with that remains with us, long after the work has been done and, to a large degree, forgotten. In that sense, we truly are a family. And no family could ever ask for a more ideal patriarch than David. He was accessible, interested, warm, loyal, kind, patient (except when he wasn’t), and supportive (seriously, he always insisted on paying for his own ticket) without ever compromising who he was — a proud Canadian artist of unquestionable integrity.
A person like David Fox — one who can be held up as an example of the best that we all can be, over the span of many decades, as both artists and as people, comes along so rarely, that I proposed to my editor, Aisling Murphy, that I curate an edition of Nappoholics Anonymous solely consisting of tributes to and photos of this theatre giant. A thumbnail sketch of the legacy he left behind.
I won’t ever do something like this again with this column, but I wanted to do it just this once. For David Fox. Because I fucking love him. And I will fucking miss him.
FROM ALL OF US.
Tony Nappo
Tony is Italian, he’s from Scarborough, he’s an actor, he’s a father, he’s a really good house painter, and he doesn’t believe that most things matter, ultimately, at all.
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Paintings, Pornos, and Broken Countries
Every single fucking time there is a mass shooting, we all give the speeches, and we all share the memes (to each other, who are all mostly already in agreement), but nothing changes.
Gottfried, Strays, and Easter Eggs
Dogs rarely have a hidden agenda when they meet people or other dogs: they're either wagging that shit or they aren’t.
Slapping People, ACTRA Meetings, and Dog Shit
At one point, I was sleeping with so many actresses that they used to just hold ACTRA meetings in my bedroom.
Birthdays, Cranes, and Judd Apatow
If the Freedom Convoy has answered one question for every Canadian, I think it's this: whatever happened to that dumb kid in my class?
Scorsese, Dentists, and Dying Alone
If waving a Fuck Trudeau flag is a legit way to get a meeting with him, I’m gonna start waving my Fuck Scorsese flag wherever I go and keep my fingers crossed.
Truckers, Porndle, and Bad Boys
In these newly woke times in the entertainment industry, it’s slightly amazing to me that nobody has protested the fact that Denzel Washington isn’t actually Scottish yet.
Paintings, Pornos, and Broken Countries
Every single fucking time there is a mass shooting, we all give the speeches, and we all share the memes (to each other, who are all mostly already in agreement), but nothing changes.
Gottfried, Strays, and Easter Eggs
Dogs rarely have a hidden agenda when they meet people or other dogs: they're either wagging that shit or they aren’t.
Slapping People, ACTRA Meetings, and Dog Shit
At one point, I was sleeping with so many actresses that they used to just hold ACTRA meetings in my bedroom.
Birthdays, Cranes, and Judd Apatow
If the Freedom Convoy has answered one question for every Canadian, I think it's this: whatever happened to that dumb kid in my class?
Scorsese, Dentists, and Dying Alone
If waving a Fuck Trudeau flag is a legit way to get a meeting with him, I’m gonna start waving my Fuck Scorsese flag wherever I go and keep my fingers crossed.
Truckers, Porndle, and Bad Boys
In these newly woke times in the entertainment industry, it’s slightly amazing to me that nobody has protested the fact that Denzel Washington isn’t actually Scottish yet.
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