William Fox (26th January 1911 - 20th September 2008) appeared on Coronation Street between June and July 1969 as Douglas Cresswell, Managing Director of Newton & Ridley. Born in Manilla in the Philippines, he was the son of a trader operating across the South China Sea and as an infant, travelled extensively with his parents. He was sent to a Preparatory School in 1916 and completed his schooling at Haileybury Public School. It was expected that he would go onto Oxford University and into a career in the petroleum industry but auditioned and won a scholarship at The Central School of Speech and Drama after seeing an advertisement in The Times.