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Charles Fox

Charles Fox

Composer, also actor · Born October 30, 1940 (85) · New York City, New York, USA

Born in the Bronx, 1940. Graduated High School of Music & Art in New York, then studied composition with Nadia Boulanger in Paris. Before moving to Hollywood, wrote and played Latin music for Salsa legends including Tito Puente, Ray Baretto and Joe Quijano. In addition to composing over 100 movie scores (including Barbarella and 9-5) and TV themes (Happy Days & Love Boat), Fox wrote the music for many popular songs including "Killing Me Softly With His Song" (Grammy/Roberta Flack-Fugees), "I Got A Name" (Jim Croce), Richard's Window (Olivia Newton John/Oscar Nomination) & "Ready To Take A Chance Again" (Oscar Nomination/Barry Manilow). Classical compositions include 3 full length ballets: "Song For Dead Warriors" (San Franciso Ballet Company, 1979) , "Zorro" (Smuin Ballet, 2003) and "Salsa Til Dawn" (Smuin ballet 2024). Other larger classical works include: "Lament & Prayer" (Warsaw Opera House/2008), "Fantasie-Homage To Chopin" (Gdansk, Poland/Chopin Festival 2010) and "Clarinet Quintet" (Santa Fe Opera House / 2015). In addition to winning 2 Emmys, a Grammy & 2 Oscar Nominations, he was given BMI's Richard Kirk Career Achievement Award in 1992 and inducted into the Songwriter's Hall of Fame in 2004. Fox served as a Board of Governor for the Academy's music branch from 2008-2016, and was re-elected in 2022. Charles will receive a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame April 2024. Charles' memoirs "Killing Me Softly: My Life In Music", chronicling his composing career and centering on his 3 years studying with Nadia Boulanger, was released by Scarecrow Press in the Fall of 2010. In 2019, for HBO's documentary "The Bronx, USA", Fox & Paul Williams wrote the title song called "Da' Bronx" which is sung live on the Bronx streets by Robert Klein and Hamilton star Donald Webber Jr. They were nominated for a Hollywood Music Media Award. Fox has recently returned to his early roots of Latin music-- with a series of concerts in Havana, all original Cuban music, which are featured in a new documentary called Killing Me Softly with His Songs (2022), directed by Danny Gold. The documentary chronicles Fox's 60 year journey writing music and will be released on Apple and other streaming devices April 2024.

Read more

Biography from IMDb.

Born
October 30, 1940 (85)
From
New York City, New York, USA
Works as
Composer, also actor
Titles
56 on MovieCove · 90 credits in all
Links
IMDb (opens in a new tab)TMDB (opens in a new tab)Wikidata (opens in a new tab)

Known for

TMDB popularity, last 38 days to Oct 27Down 15% in 30 days

What are Charles Fox's films like?

Across their 54 MovieCove titles with a thematic analysis, their films lean Bonds and Self.

Genres

Comedy25 titlesTypical Midcredits score: 39th percentile
: browse their Comedy movies
Drama13 titlesTypical Midcredits score: 36th percentile
: browse their Drama movies
Action5 titlesTypical Midcredits score: 42nd percentile
: browse their Action movies
Adventure2 titlesTypical Midcredits score: 55th percentile, at or above their average across these genres
: browse their Adventure movies
Biography2 titlesTypical Midcredits score: 43rd percentile, at or above their average across these genres
: browse their Biography movies

Their MovieCove films by primary genre. The badge is the typical Midcredits score of the genre's films, the median percentile; an up arrow marks a genre at or above their average across these genres.

Themes

share of theme weight
Bonds
31%
Self
23%
Morality
13%
Society
12%
Survival
12%
Power
6%
Ideas
3%
Family bonds17 titles, browse their movies with this themeSurvival10 titles, browse their movies with this themeJustice8 titles, browse their movies with this themeRomantic love8 titles, browse their movies with this themeFriendship9 titles, browse their movies with this themeAmbition8 titles, browse their movies with this themeIdentity8 titles, browse their movies with this themeCommunity9 titles, browse their movies with this theme

What they feel like to watch

their average across 51 films
ToneFeelDemandtheir average · filled zone: the category
Light: How heavy the subject matter and outlook get. Browse their light movies.
Tone · Weight
lightdark

Light 33 · Serious 8 · Dark 10

Grounded: How far its world departs from everyday reality. Browse their grounded movies.
Tone · Style
naturalisticheightened

Grounded 37 · Stylized 7 · Heightened 7

Charged: How hard the emotional peaks hit while you watch. Browse their charged movies.
Feel · Intensity
gentleintense

Gentle 18 · Charged 26 · Intense 7

Steady: How much it swings between very different feelings. Browse their steady movies.
Feel · Swings
steadyswings

Steady 27 · Shifting 19 · Whiplash 5

Some laughs: How much of the runtime is played for laughs. Browse their some laughs movies.
Feel · Humor
noneconstant

A split, not a type: Straight-faced 18 · Some laughs 13 · Funny 20

Even-paced: How fast it moves from scene to scene. Browse their even-paced movies.
Demand · Pace
slowrelentless

Slow burn 18 · Even-paced 32 · Relentless 1

Casual: How much focus it asks of you — look away and lose the thread? Browse their casual movies.
Demand · Attention
casualfull focus

Casual 40 · Engaged 10 · Full focus 1

Resolved: How much is left for you to interpret. Browse their resolved movies.
Demand · Resolution
resolvedambiguous

Resolved 47 · Open-ended 3 · Ambiguous 1

Moods and endings

endings are an aggregate; no title is named

Dominant moods · mentions across their titles

Joyful
26
Warm
22
Tense
20
Absurd
16
Melancholic
12
Other
47

How their films linger

Feel-good31 titles, browse their movies with this aftertasteFun22 titles, browse their movies with this aftertasteHopeful13 titles, browse their movies with this aftertasteBittersweet14 titles, browse their movies with this aftertasteThought-provoking6 titles, browse their movies with this aftertasteRousing5 titles, browse their movies with this aftertaste

How their films end · 2 with a twist

  • Happy28
  • Bittersweet20
  • Tragic1
  • Ambiguous5

AI-generated from each title's plot synopsis and cast list, with extra plot summaries, reviews and Parents Guide notes for titles the model may not know, and the model's own knowledge of the ones it recognizes. Only analyzed titles count, so this covers part of the filmography; the feel axes count films only for now.

Where can I watch Charles Fox's films?

As of October 24, 2026, 27 of their 56 MovieCove titles stream on a subscription or free service, most on Tubi (16).

Also on these channels

Subscription and free streaming for Charles Fox's titles on MovieCove; rent and buy are not counted. Titles are listed by Midcredits score, highest first, at most 12 per service; a dashed chip is a producer credit or a minor one, such as a thanks. A service opens the browse page, which counts movies only, so its number can differ.

Filmography

90 credits, 56 with a MovieCove page.

  • Killing Me Softly with His Songs(2022)

    Composer · as Self

    Midcredits score: 70th percentile of all films (provisional, few ratings)

  • A Death in the Family(2002)

    Composer

    Midcredits score: 47th percentile of all films

  • Conan (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(1997)

    Composer

  • Innocent Victims (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(1996)

    Composer

  • The Man Next Door (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(1996)

    Composer

  • Gordy(1994)

    Composer

    Midcredits score: 12th percentile of all films

  • Confessions: Two Faces of Evil(1994)

    Composer

    Midcredits score: 19th percentile of all films

  • The Broken Chain (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(1993)

    Composer

  • The Odd Couple: Together Again (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(1993)

    Composer

  • Woman on the Ledge(1993)

    Composer

    Midcredits score: 32nd percentile of all films (provisional, few ratings)

  • Christmas in Connecticut(1992)

    Composer

    Midcredits score: 14th percentile of all films

  • In My Daughter's Name(1992)

    Composer

    Midcredits score: 50th percentile of all films

  • Crash Landing: The Rescue of Flight 232(1992)

    Composer

    Midcredits score: 59th percentile of all films

  • Absolute Strangers(1991)

    Composer

    Midcredits score: 34th percentile of all films

  • Held Hostage: The Sis and Jerry Levin Story (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(1991)

    Composer

  • Repossessed(1990)

    Composer

    Midcredits score: 13th percentile of all films

  • Voices Within: The Lives of Truddi Chase (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(1990)

    Show 2 episodes · Composer

  • A Family for Joe (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(1990)

    Composer

  • Rich Men, Single Women(1990)

    Composer

    Midcredits score: 39th percentile of all films

  • It Had to Be You (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(1989)

    Composer

  • The Gods Must Be Crazy II(1989)

    Composer

    Midcredits score: 73rd percentile of all films

  • Tarzan in Manhattan(1989)

    Composer

    Midcredits score: 9th percentile of all films

  • Going to the Chapel(1988)

    Composer

    Midcredits score: 29th percentile of all films

  • Short Circuit 2(1988)

    Composer

    Midcredits score: 39th percentile of all films

  • Baby M (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(1988)

    Show 2 episodes · Composer

  • Christmas Comes to Willow Creek(1987)

    Composer

    Midcredits score: 65th percentile of all films

  • Deep Dark Secrets(1987)

    Composer

    Midcredits score: 14th percentile of all films

  • Love at Stake(1987)

    Composer

    Midcredits score: 22nd percentile of all films

  • Good Morning, Miss Bliss(1987)

    Show Composer

    Midcredits score: 38th percentile of all shows

  • Unnatural Causes (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(1986)

    Composer

  • The Parent Trap II(1986)

    Composer

    Midcredits score: 41st percentile of all films

  • Maggie(1986)

    Composer

    Midcredits score: 58th percentile of all films (provisional, few ratings)

  • Betrayed by Innocence (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(1986)

    Composer

  • The Longshot(1986)

    Composer

    Midcredits score: 30th percentile of all films

  • National Lampoon's European Vacation(1985)

    Composer

    Midcredits score: 46th percentile of all films

  • Doin' Time (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(1985)

    Composer

  • A Summer to Remember(1985)

    Composer

    Midcredits score: 75th percentile of all films

  • He's Not Your Son (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(1984)

    Composer

  • Family Secrets(1984)

    Composer

    Midcredits score: 36th percentile of all films

  • It's Not Easy (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(1983)

    Show 1 episode · Composer

  • Strange Brew(1983)

    Composer

    Midcredits score: 67th percentile of all films

  • Trenchcoat(1983)

    Composer

    Midcredits score: 21st percentile of all films

  • Love Child (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(1982)

    Composer

  • Zapped!(1982)

    Composer

    Midcredits score: 13th percentile of all films

  • Six Pack(1982)

    Composer

    Midcredits score: 53rd percentile of all films

  • Little Darlings (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(1982)

    Composer

  • 9 to 5(1980)

    Composer

    Midcredits score: 82nd percentile of all films

  • Oh, God! Book II(1980)

    Composer

    Midcredits score: 20th percentile of all films

  • Why Would I Lie?(1980)

    Composer

    Midcredits score: 49th percentile of all films

  • The Last Married Couple in America(1980)

    Composer

    Midcredits score: 23rd percentile of all films

  • Little Darlings(1980)

    Composer

    Midcredits score: 64th percentile of all films

  • Wide World of Sports: 1970's A Decade in Review (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(1979)

    Composer

  • Better Late Than Never(1979)

    Composer

    Midcredits score: 49th percentile of all films

  • $weepstake$ (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(1979)

    Show 1 episode · Composer

  • Rainbow (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(1978)

    Composer

  • Foul Play(1978)

    Composer

    Midcredits score: 70th percentile of all films

  • Our Winning Season(1978)

    Composer

    Midcredits score: 19th percentile of all films

  • The Love Boat(1977)

    Show 251 episodes · Composer · Main Title Theme Composer

    Midcredits score: 20th percentile of all shows

  • One on One(1977)

    Composer

    Midcredits score: 67th percentile of all films

  • The New Love Boat (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(1977)

    Composer

  • Love Boat II (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(1977)

    Composer

  • Victory at Entebbe(1976)

    Composer

    Midcredits score: 42nd percentile of all films

  • Two-Minute Warning(1976)

    Composer

    Midcredits score: 45th percentile of all films

  • The Love Boat (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(1976)

    Composer

  • Wide World of Sports 15th Anniversary Special (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(1976)

    Composer

  • The Duchess and the Dirtwater Fox(1976)

    Composer

    Midcredits score: 39th percentile of all films

  • Laverne & Shirley (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(1976)

    Show 1 episode · Composer · Conductor

  • The Legend of Valentino(1975)

    Composer

    Midcredits score: 23rd percentile of all films

  • The Other Side of the Mountain(1975)

    Composer

    Midcredits score: 62nd percentile of all films

  • The New Original Wonder Woman (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(1975)

    Composer

  • Bug(1975)

    Composer

    Midcredits score: 19th percentile of all films

  • My Father's House(1975)

    Composer

    Midcredits score: 91st percentile of all films (provisional, few ratings)

  • Aloha Means Goodbye (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(1974)

    Composer

  • The Stranger Within (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(1974)

    Composer

  • The Laughing Policeman(1973)

    Composer

    Midcredits score: 56th percentile of all films

  • Dying Room Only (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(1973)

    Composer

  • The Last American Hero(1973)

    Composer

    Midcredits score: 59th percentile of all films

  • The Weekend Nun (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(1972)

    Composer

  • A Separate Peace (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(1972)

    Composer

  • Women in Chains (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(1972)

    Composer

  • Star Spangled Girl(1971)

    Composer

    Midcredits score: 16th percentile of all films

  • Making It (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(1971)

    Composer

  • Lidsville(1971)

    Show Composer

    Midcredits score: 37th percentile of all shows

  • Pufnstuf(1970)

    Composer · Songs

    Midcredits score: 63rd percentile of all films

  • The Bugaloos(1970)

    Show Composer

    Midcredits score: 38th percentile of all shows

  • Goodbye, Columbus(1969)

    Composer · Conductor

    Midcredits score: 56th percentile of all films

  • The Green Slime(1968)

    Composer

    Midcredits score: 19th percentile of all films

  • Barbarella(1968)

    Composer

    Midcredits score: 42nd percentile of all films

  • The Incident(1967)

    Conductor

    Midcredits score: 95th percentile of all films

  • Johnny Belinda (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(1967)

    Composer

Career shape

A full career of 87 titles from 1967 to 2022.

Biggest box office

9 to 5 (1980)

$103M worldwide

Highest rated

9 to 5 (1980)

Midcredits 82nd

Most popular right now

Foul Play (1978)

By role

only this rolewith another role
Music86 of 87: 83 only music, 3 with another role · typical Midcredits score42ndOther crew4 of 87: 1 only other crew, 3 with another role

87 titles, 3 with more than one role — music and other crew overlap on 3 of them.

By decade

1960s5 · crew1970s32 · crew1980s31 · crew1990s17 · crew2000s1 · crew2020s1 · crew

Counts from TMDB across their full career, self appearances out; a title counts in every role they held on it. The ring is the typical Midcredits score (the median percentile) of the role's titles that are on MovieCove, shown from 5 scored.

How do Charles Fox's films land?

Their typical MovieCove film has a Midcredits score in the 42nd percentile, the median of all 52; across their 51 films with reception data, the typical film sits in the 46th percentile for acclaim.

Acclaim · how much people like their films

46thpercentile
Typical film, the median of 51

Approval · how many liked their films

42ndpercentile
Typical film, the median of 51

Reach · how many have seen their films

49thpercentile
Typical film, the median of 51

Midcredits score across 56 titles, by percentile

  • 75th and up4
  • 50th to 74th16
  • 25th to 49th19
  • Below 25th17

Shape of the crowd

29 of their 56 titles are Mixed.

  • Universally Loved1
  • Divisive2
  • Cult Classic7
  • Crowd Pleaser15
  • Broadly Agreed2
  • Mixed29

Most divisive · composer

Maggie (1986)

96th percentile spread · 36% rated it 4 or lower

Most loved · composer

9 to 5 (1980)

Midcredits 82nd · 69% liked

Reviewers score the sound and music 56/100 in their films, across 27 reviewed titles; fans 67, detractors 43. The element that speaks to their work as a composer.

Percentiles are each film's standing among all films on MovieCove; the typical film is the median, so one outlier cannot drag it. Percentiles and reviewer scores count the films IMDb credits them on, for now; the Midcredits score bands, the shape of the crowd and the two cards count their MovieCove titles, shows included (a show ranked among shows), appearances as themselves left out. A descriptor is the shape of a title's IMDb rating distribution against the catalog; "most divisive" needs a spread wider than half of all titles, and a card names only a principal credit: a craft role, and on a show a crew role or a run of episodes, never a courtesy credit or a one-off guest spot.

Is Charles Fox's work okay for kids?

Across up to 14 MovieCove titles with content scores, violence & gore and frightening / intense run lighter than most films.

Their medianMedian of all filmsMiddle 80% of their titles
Violence & Gore8 titles22–45 · median 32 · mildlighter than most filmsMedian of all films: 44
Sex & Nudity14 titles24–60 · median 41 · moderatenear the median of all filmsMedian of all films: 32
Profanity8 titles18–47 · median 39 · moderatenear the median of all filmsMedian of all films: 36
Alcohol & Drugs8 titles25–54 · median 36 · moderatenear the median of all filmsMedian of all films: 33
Frightening / Intense8 titles8–45 · median 14 · minimallighter than most filmsMedian of all films: 39

Severity 0–100 from the Content Guide. Categories with under 10 votes on a title are not counted. The band's colour is the severity of their median, named beside it.

Who does Charles Fox work with?

People who share at least 2 of Charles Fox's MovieCove titles, grouped by what they did on them; Gilbert Cates shares the most, 6.

Directors

Writers

Actors

Cinematographers and editors

Producers

Mixed roles