What is Tony Cox's Net Worth?
Tony Cox is an American actor who has a net worth of $2 million. One of the most prominent working actors with dwarfism, Tony Cox has appeared in such films as "Return of the Jedi," "Beetlejuice," "Bird," "Friday," "Me, Myself & Irene," "Bad Santa," and "Date Movie." Cox has also made guest appearances on various television shows and appeared in music videos.
Early Life and Education
Tony Cox was born as Joseph Anthony Cox on March 31, 1958 in Uniontown, Alabama to Henrietta and Joe. He was born with dwarfism. Interested in music growing up, he became an avid drummer by the age of ten. For his higher education, Cox attended Alabama State University, where he continued drumming. However, he ran into some trouble by not being able to read music, prompting him to consider an acting career instead. Spurred on by family and friends, Cox moved to Los Angeles and started taking classes at the Merrick Studio School of Acting.
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Film Career
Cox made his feature film debut with a small role in the 1980 film "Dr. Heckyl and Mr. Hype." The following year, he appeared in the Cheech & Chong film "Nice Dreams" and acted alongside fellow little-people actors, including the renowned Billy Barty, in "Under the Rainbow." Cox subsequently had roles in the blaxploitation film "Penitentiary 2" and the sex comedy "Jekyll and Hyde…Together Again," both in 1982. In 1983, he played an Ewok in the "Star Wars" sequel "Return of the Jedi." Cox went on to appear in such films as "Invaders from Mars," "Hollywood Zap!," "Valet Girls," "Spaceballs," and "Retribution." He had his biggest single year yet in 1988, with roles in five films. The first was Tim Burton's "Beetlejuice," in which he played a preacher. Cox next played a warrior in Ron Howard's "Willow." He subsequently appeared in Robert Downey Sr.'s "Rented Lips," Clint Eastwood's "Bird," and Keenen Ivory Wayans's "I'm Gonna Git You Sucka." In "Bird," Cox portrayed real-life jazz club emcee 'Pee Wee' Marquette.
Kicking off the 1990s, Cox appeared in the comedies "Spaced Invaders" and "Rockula." In 1991, he played a human xylophone in "The Dark Backward," and in 1992 he played Blaaatt in "Mom and Dad Save the World." Cox went on to appear in "The Silence of the Hams," "Leprechaun 2," "Blankman," and "Ghoulies IV." In 1995, he gained attention for his role as Mr. Parker in the buddy comedy "Friday." Cox began achieving an even greater level of recognition in the early 2000s, starting with his role as a brash limo driver in the Jim Carrey comedy "Me, Myself & Irene." Three years after that, he had his biggest role yet, starring opposite Billy Bob Thornton in the comedy "Bad Santa." Cox also appeared in "The Hebrew Hammer." Over the subsequent years, he appeared in the parody films "Date Movie," "Epic Movie," and "Disaster Movie," as well as in "Who's Your Caddy?" In the early 2010s, Cox had roles in "The Warrior's Way," "Meet Monica Velour," "Guns, Girls and Gambling," and "Oz the Great and Powerful." After appearing in the anthology film "The Heyday of the Insensitive Bastards" in 2015, Cox reprised his role as Marcus Skidmore in 2016's "Bad Santa 2."
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Television Career
Cox began appearing on television in the early 1980s with guest roles on "Buck Rogers in the 25th Century" and "The Greatest American Hero." Toward the middle of the decade, he appeared in an episode of the children's series "Pryor's Place." Cox also reprised his role as Ewok Widdle 'Willy' Warrick from "Return of the Jedi" in the "Star Wars" television films "The Ewok Adventure" and "Ewoks: The Battle for Endor." Later in the decade, he appeared in an episode of the series "Thirtysomething." In the early 1990s, Cox had guest roles on "Married… with Children," "In Living Color," and "Martin." Further guest roles followed on such shows as "Mad TV," "Claude's Crib," "The Jamie Foxx Show," and "Stark Raving Mad." Early in the '00s, Cox appeared as an angel in an episode of "Frasier." In 2004, he had a three-episode arc as Arlo on the show "Rescue Me." Cox's subsequent credits have included guest roles on "Carpoolers," "Psych," and "Almost Human."
Music Videos
Cox began appearing in music videos in the 1990s, with his first being the video for Timmy T's song "Over You" in 1992. He next played a soldier in the 1996 video for 2Pac's hit song "California Love." In 2000, Cox played a limo driver in the music video for the Foo Fighters' "Breakout," and in 2002 he was an officer in the video for Snoop Dogg's "From tha Chuuuch to da Palace." He later appeared as his "Bad Santa" character Marcus Skidmore in the 2004 music video for Eminem's "Just Lose It."
Personal Life
In 1981, Cox married his high school sweetheart Otelia.
