Jorja Fox Biography

Jorja-An Fox (born July 7, 1968, in New York City, New York), is an American actress, musician and songwriter. She first came to prominence as a recurring guest star on the television medical drama ER, portraying the recurring role of Dr. Maggie Doyle from 1996 to 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 has played Sara Sidle in the police procedural drama CSI: Crime Scene Investigation, both as a regular (2000"2007, 2010") and recurring (2008"2010) cast member.

Early life

Fox is the second child born to Montreal-born parents of French, Belgian and Irish descent, 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.

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 began a recurring role the NBC medical drama ER, as the no-nonsense vegetarian and lesbian medical intern Dr. Maggie Doyle.

Fox appeared in "The Puppy Episode Part 2", the April 30, 1997 episode of the sitcom Ellen, in which that show's main character came out as gay.

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.

CSI

In 2000, she gained a regular role on the CBS police procedural drama CSI: Crime Scene Investigation, in which she portrayed a Las Vegas forensic scientist named Sara Sidle.

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. By July 2011, Jorja was confirmed as a full-time, regular cast member on CSI for season 12, though she had returned to the opening credits for season 11. She has since remained a Main Cast Member in season 11 and ongoing.

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 16 August 2009, has her playing a soccer mom with a criminal past. She also did a modeling shoot for Green With Glamour. 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 at the fourth annual benefit called "What A Pair 4 -- A Celebration of Women's Duets" to benefit breast cancer research at the John Wayne Cancer Institute. It was held Sunday June 11, 2006 at the Wiltern/LG Theatre.

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 supports 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".

Filmography

Film

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1989	'	Myra Pavlov
1992	Happy Hell Night	Kappa Sig Girl	Uncredited
1994	Dead Funny	Fate 3
1995	Jerky Boys: The Movie	Lazarro's Young Lady
1998	How to Make the Cruelest Month	Sarah Bryant
1999	Velocity Trap	Alice Pallas
1999	Forever Fabulous	Liz Guild
1999	'	Delmar Youngblood
2000	Memento	Leonard's Wife
2003	Down with the Joneses	Bev Jones
2003	CSI: Crime Scene Investigation	Sara Sidle (voice)	Video Game
2004	CSI: Crime Scene Investigation - Dark Motives	Sara Sidle (voice)	Video Game
2005	Next Exit	Terri
2010	Accidental Icon: The Real Gidget Story	Narrator
2011	3 Weeks to Daytona	Cheryl
2013	Unity	Narrator (voice)	Documentary?post-production

Television

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1992	ABC Afterschool Specials	Diane Dravecki	Season 20?Episode 2-4
1993	Lifestories: Families in Crisis	Maggie Glendon	Season 1?Episode 7 : "Dead Drunk: The Kevin Tunell Story"
1993	Law & Order	Paula Engren	Season 3?Episode 20 : "Securitate"
1993	Missing Persons	Officer Connie Karadzic	Season 1?Episode 1-17
1995	Courthouse	Maureen Dawes	Season 1?Episode 1 : "Pilot"
1995	Alchemy	Josie	TV movie
1996	ER	Dr. Maggie Doyle	33 episodes
1997	Ellen	The Attractive Woman (uncredited)	Season 4?Episode 23 : "The Puppy Episode: Part 2"
1997	House of Frankenstein	Felicity	TV movie
1999	Partners	Alex	Season 1?Episode 3 : "My Sister, My Enemy"
2000	'	Agent Gina Toscano/White House Press Reporter	Season 1?Episode 16-18 and 22?Season 2?Episode 1
2009	Drop Dead Diva	Marianne Neely	Season 1?Episode 6 : "Second Chances"
2000"2013	CSI: Crime Scene Investigation	Sara Sidle	255 episodes

Awards and nominations

Year	Nominated Work	Award	Results
2002	CSI: Crime Scene Investigation	Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama Series
2003	CSI: Crime Scene Investigation	Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama Series
2004	CSI: Crime Scene Investigation	Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama Series
2005	CSI: Crime Scene Investigation	Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama Series