Ronny Cox is a superbly talented actor, singer-songwriter and musician who has been consistently active in Hollywood for over 40 years portraying a diverse range of characters. Born in Cloudcroft, New Mexico, Cox received positive reviews in his first film role for his portrayal of ill-fated businessman Drew Ballinger in the terrifying backwoods thriller Deliverance (1972) with Cox featuring in the entertaining “Duelling Banjos” sequence of the film. Following this promising start, Cox was regularly guest-starring in numerous television series, before scoring the lead in the short-lived family drama Apple’s Way (1974) and grabbing the critics attention again with an excellent performance in the Emmy nominated telemovie A Case of Rape (1974).
Interestingly, Cox was often at his best playing rigorous authority figures usually in law enforcement or military roles including as a detective in the telemovie Who Is the Black Dahlia? (1975), alongside Charlton Heston in the submarine drama Gray Lady Down (1978), an Los Angeles detective pursuing cop killers in The Onion Field (1979), and alongside then-rising stars Tom Cruise and Sean Penn in the powerful Taps (1981). The 1980s was a high profile decade for Cox with strong supporting roles in several blockbusters playing strong-willed figures on both sides of the law. Cox starred alongside box office sensation Eddie Murphy in the mega-hit Beverly Hills Cop (1984) and its sequel Beverly Hills Cop II (1987), as well as portraying sinister company executives in the futuristic sci-fi action films RoboCop (1987) and Total Recall (1990).
Throughout the 1990s, Cox was again prolific, appearing in many television series, feature films and high-caliber telemovies – He took control of the USS Enterprise for two episodes as Captain Edward Jellico in Star Trek: The Next Generation (1987), and Cox contributed entertaining performances in Murder at 1600 (1997), Early Edition (1996), Forces of Nature (1999) and the chilling tale Perfect Murder, Perfect Town: JonBenét and the City of Boulder (2000). Cox has continued to remain busy with more recent performances in Stargate SG-1 (1997), Law & Order: Special Victims Unit (1999) and the highly popular Desperate Housewives (2004). However, when he’s not in front of the cameras, Cox can be found touring and demonstrating his musical talents at various music festivals and theatre shows and, to-date, he has released five CDs – an eclectic mixture of jazz, folk and western tunes.
