Richard Daniel Stuart Fox (1954 - 2011) was a Irish

Ireland

Ireland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...

-born British

United Kingdom

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...

 jockey

Jockey

A jockey is an athlete who rides horses in horse racing or steeplechase racing, primarily as a profession. The word also applies to camel riders in camel racing.-Etymology:...

 and actor

Actor

An actor is a person who acts in a dramatic production and who works in film, television, theatre, or radio in that capacity...

.

Fox was born on March 6, 1954, in Cork

Cork (city)

Cork is the second largest city in the Republic of Ireland and the island of Ireland's third most populous city. It is the principal city and administrative centre of County Cork and the largest city in the province of Munster. Cork has a population of 119,418, while the addition of the suburban...

, Ireland

Ireland

Ireland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...

. He began apprenticeship to Irish horse trainer

Horse trainer

In horse racing, a trainer prepares a horse for races, with responsibility for exercising it, getting it race-ready and determining which races it should enter...

 Seamus McGrath when he was 14 years old.

He won his first race at the Curragh Cup

Curragh Cup

The Curragh Cup is a Group 3 flat horse race in Ireland open to thoroughbreds aged three years or older. It is run at the Curragh over a distance of 1 mile and 6 furlongs , and it is scheduled to take place each year in late June or early July....

 in 1972. His other wins included the Northumberland Plate

Northumberland Plate

The Northumberland Plate is a flat handicap horse race in Great Britain open to thoroughbreds aged three years or older. It is run at Newcastle over a distance of 2 miles and 19 yards , and it is scheduled to take place each year in late June or early July.-History:The event was established in...

, the Lincoln Handicap

Lincoln Handicap

The Lincoln Handicap is a flat horse race in Great Britain which is open to thoroughbreds aged four years or older. It is run at Doncaster over a distance of 1 mile , and it is scheduled to take place each year in late March or early April....

, the Bunbury Cup

Bunbury Cup

The Bunbury Cup is a flat handicap horse race in Great Britain open to thoroughbreds aged three years or older. It is run on the July Course at Newmarket over a distance of 7 furlongs , and it is scheduled to take place each year in July....

 and the Cesarewitch Handicap

Cesarewitch Handicap

The Cesarewitch Handicap is a flat horse race in Great Britain which is open to thoroughbreds aged three years or older. It is run at Newmarket over a distance of 2 miles and 2 furlongs , and the latter part is on the Rowley Mile. It is scheduled to take place each year in October.The event was...

.

Fox retired from racing in July 1992, after a career spanning twenty years, when he broke his femur

Femur

The femur , or thigh bone, is the most proximal bone of the leg in tetrapod vertebrates capable of walking or jumping, such as most land mammals, birds, many reptiles such as lizards, and amphibians such as frogs. In vertebrates with four legs such as dogs and horses, the femur is found only in...

 at the Salisbury Racecourse

Salisbury Racecourse

Salisbury Racecourse is a flat racecourse in the United Kingdom featuring thoroughbred horse racing. It is located four miles from Salisbury, Wiltshire, England. Fifteen races a year are held here between early May and mid-October...

. He switched careers to acting and speaking engagements. He appeared in the 2002 film, Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets

Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (film)

Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets is a 2002 fantasy film directed by Chris Columbus and based on the novel of the same name by J. K. Rowling. It is the second instalment in the Harry Potter film series, written by Steve Kloves and produced by David Heyman...

, as body double

Body double

A body double is a general term for someone who substitutes for the credited actor of a character in any recorded visual medium, in shots where the character's body is shown but the face is either not visible or shown indistinctly, or in shots where the image of the credited actor's face is joined,...

 for Rupert Grint

Rupert Grint

Rupert Alexander Lloyd Grint is an English actor, who rose to prominence playing Ron Weasley, one of the three main characters in the Harry Potter film series. Grint was cast as Ron at the age of 11, having previously acted only in school plays and at his local theatre group...

 in the role of Ron Weasley

Ron Weasley

Ronald Bilius "Ron" Weasley is a fictional character and one of the three protagonists in the Harry Potter book series written by J. K. Rowling. His first appearance was in the first book of the series, Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone as the best friend of Harry Potter and Hermione Granger...

.

Fox collapsed while shopping in Newmarket on April 30, 2011, and did not regain consciousness

Consciousness

Consciousness is a term that refers to the relationship between the mind and the world with which it interacts. It has been defined as: subjectivity, awareness, the ability to experience or to feel, wakefulness, having a sense of selfhood, and the executive control system of the mind...

. He remained in hospital on life support for the next two months. Richard Fox died at West Suffolk Hospital in Bury St Edmunds on June 28, 2011, at the age of 57. Fox was survived by his second wife, Marie, whom he married in 2007, and two children from his previous marriage, Francesca and Dominic.