Jorja Fox

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Jorja Fox
Fox at 23rd Genesis Awards, Beverly Hills, California, March 2009
Born	Jorja-An Fox July 7, 1968 (1968-07-07) (age 42) New York, New York, USA
Other names	Jorjan Fox
Years active	1989-present
Website Official website

Jorja-An Fox (born July 7, 1968, in New York, New York), is an American actress. She first came to prominence as a guest star on the television drama ER, portraying the recurring role of Dr. Maggie Doyle from 1996-1999. This was followed by another critical success in the recurring role of Secret Service Agent Gina Toscano on The West Wing in 2000. She is best known for her work as Sara Sidle in the hit CBS crime drama CSI: Crime Scene Investigation, a role she portrayed as a main cast member from 2000-2007 for 7 1/2 seasons and as a recurring guest in subsequent seasons.

[edit] Biography

[edit] Personal life

Fox is the younger of two children born to Montreal-born parents of French and Irish descents[2], and was raised on a narrow barrier island in Melbourne Beach, Florida. She describes herself as being overweight while growing up, with a prominent gap between her teeth. By her twenties, neither her wisdom teeth nor braces had appreciably helped, and Fox said "forget it."

After attending Melbourne High School for two years, she began a modeling career after winning a local contest. She subsequently enrolled as a drama student at the Lee Strasberg Institute in New York, under the tutelage of actor William Hickey.

Fox currently resides in Los Angeles. Her friends include Emily Procter, whom she persuaded to join CSI: Miami.

Her name is pronounced as "Georgia". She is most often credited as Jorja Fox, but has also been credited as "Jorjan Fox" and as "Jorja-An Fox".

[edit] Acting career

After appearing in several minor films and TV series, including a 1993 episode of Law & Order, Fox entered the limelight in 1996 when she joined the hit NBC television series ER, as the no-nonsense vegetarian and lesbian medical intern Dr. Maggie Doyle.

Playing up that fame, Fox appeared on the coming out episode of Ellen ("The Puppy Episode Part 2," April 30, 1997).

In 1999, she was cast as Secret Service Agent Gina Toscano on NBC's series The West Wing, where she starred for one season.

Fox has appeared in the films Velocity Trap, Food for the Heart and she also appeared briefly in Memento, playing Guy Pearce's wife.

[edit] CSI

In 2000, she became one of the characters on the CBS series CSI: Crime Scene Investigation, in which she portrayed a Las Vegas forensic scientist named Sara Sidle.

Fox on the set of CSI, March 2004

She and CSI co-star George Eads were fired from the show in 2004. Fox had allegedly failed to submit a letter to CBS confirming that she would be on time for shooting. The disputes were resolved in just over a week, and the two were rehired by CBS; however, neither actor's salary was raised, in spite of other cast members receiving raises. It was also reported that of the two, Fox was approached first to resume her contract with CSI, but she refused until Eads was rehired as well.

On April 18, 2007, TV Guide began reporting that Fox may not be returning for the eighth season of CSI, having not yet signed a new contract. The season finale turned out to be a cliffhanger involving her character, Sara Sidle. The New York Post reported that Fox did not show up to film the finale because of ongoing issues over her employment. Neither CBS nor Jorja's agent confirmed the allegations.

In September 2007, after rumors emerged about Fox's departure from the show, an online forum called "Your Tax Dollars At Work", started a campaign to keep Sara Sidle on CSI; the campaign (called Dollars for Sense) includes mailing the show's producers a dollar so as to keep Fox on the show. With the help of donations, the campaign also organized plane flyovers over the Universal Studios lot in California where CSI is filmed. The banners read "Keep Jorja Fox on CBS".

On October 15, 2007, Fox told Entertainment Weekly that she left CSI, saying that she wanted a break "from the commitment of a weekly television series." At her request, the money collected during the "Dollars for Sense" campaign will be donated to CASA, an organization dedicated to aiding foster children. On November 15, 2007, the episode "Goodbye and Good Luck," marked the character's final regular appearance in an episode of CSI until the show entered its tenth season.

In May 2008, Fox returned for CSI's ninth season as a guest star. for three episodes. After coming back for the 1st, 2nd and 5th episode she returned for Grissom's last episode "One To Go" in the last scene when Grissom turns up in the jungle, surprising Sara and the episode finishing with the two sharing a passionate kiss.

In the summer of 2009, CBS announced that Jorja Fox would be returning to CSI as Sara Sidle. Fox was initially slated to appear in the Season 10 premiere ("Family Affair," which aired Sept. 24, 2009) and four additional episodes. However, executive producer Carol Mendelsohn confirmed that Fox's stay has been made "more permanent", and her role has been extended indefinitely. She has chosen to continue as Sara Sidle in a recurrent guest role for Season 11.

[edit] After CSI

After leaving CSI, Fox has produced the musical Stay Forever: The Life and Music of Dusty Springfield starring Kirsten Holly Smith, about the tension between the public image and private life of bisexual musician Dusty Springfield, which played at the Renberg Theatre in the Los Angeles Gay and Lesbian Center.

Fox also guest-starred in the Lifetime TV series Drop Dead Diva. The episode, which aired on August 16, has her playing a soccer mom with a criminal past. She also did a modeling shoot for Green With Glamour

[edit] Performing

Fox is the co-founder of Honeypot Productions, an independent avant-garde theatre company in Los Angeles that has produced five original plays. Her friend and HoneyPot co-founder Heather Reid wrote Dear Bernard, which Fox helped produce.

Fox is also a musician: she plays guitar (badly, she says) and recently purchased a drum kit. She also sings and writes songs, most notably the song "Lullabye" for the movie Traveling Companion, as well as the song "Satellite" which she published on her official web site. Jorja and CSI co-star Marg Helgenberger sang "Stand by Me" as a duet for What a Pair 4!, an annual charity event to raise money for breast cancer research.

[edit] Activism and Politics

Fox is a supporter of the Human Rights Campaign and has been a dedicated vegetarian since the age of 19, working with PETA to help promote vegetarianism and also working with ADI to bring light to the suffering of animals in circuses. She has a purse named after her by the Montréal company Matt & Nat, which designs vegan purses. Fox attended and read at the Los Angeles book launch of Karen Dawn's Thanking The Monkey, and was seen on Access Hollywood discussing how being vegetarian helps the environment. In 2008, Fox volunteered her time to film a Public Service Announcement for the New York-based non-profit Orangutan Outreach which surpports Borneo Orangutan Survival and other projects aimed at ensuring the orangutan's continued survival. The 30-second clip was shown on Animal Planet during the award-winning series Orangutan Island.

After attending the Democratic National Convention in Denver (28 August 2008), Fox has served on the Artists & Athletes Alliance Advisory Board and has attended many of their events.

In 2003, she was ranked #80 in Stuff magazine's list of the 103 sexiest women. She is annually nominated for PETA's "World's Sexiest Vegetarian".

[edit] Partial filmography

[edit] References

[edit] External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Jorja Fox

• Jorja Fox at the Internet Movie Database
• Why I Left CSI--Jorja Fox Interview with EW
• Jorja Fox: Online (fansite)
• Bombshell - the approved Jorja Fox physical fanlisting
• Access Hollywood Thanking the Monkey Book Launch Video

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