Matthew Fox

Fox was born in Abington, Pennsylvania, the son of Loretta B. (née Eagono) and Francis G. Fox. One of his paternal great-great-great-grandfathers was Union General George Meade. His father was from a "very blue-blood" Pennsylvania family of mostly English descent, while his mother was of half Italian and half British ancestry. The second of three boys, Fox's family moved to Wyoming when he was a year old (his parents and brothers, Francis, Jr. (b. 1961) and Bayard (b. 1969)). They settled in Crowheart, Wyoming, on the Wind River Indian Reservation. His mother was a teacher, and his father, who had been a consultant for an oil company, raised longhorn cattle and horses, and grew barley for Coors beer. Matthew attended Wind River High School in Pavillion, Wyoming and transferred to Deerfield Academy during his senior year and graduated in 1985. He graduated from Columbia University with a B.A. in economics in 1989. While at Columbia, he was a wide receiver on the school's football team.At the age of 25, Fox made his debut on an episode of Wings. That same year, he also starred on a short-lived dramatic series, Freshman Dorm. Still not a familiar face on the small screen, he continued to be cast in supporting roles, including the role of Charlie in the CBS Schoolbreak Special series If I Die Before I Wake, before he made his big-screen debut in My Boyfriend's Back (1993).

In 1994, Fox was cast in a starring role as Charlie Salinger, the eldest of five siblings who lose both parents in a car accident on the 1994–2000 teen drama Party of Five, co-starring with Scott Wolf, Neve Campbell, Jennifer Love Hewitt, and Lacey Chabert. In 1996, People Magazine named Fox one of the 50 Most Beautiful People in the World. In 1999 he co-starred with Donald Sutherland in the true story-based film Behind the Mask (1999). After Party of Five was canceled following its sixth season, Fox starred in another TV series, Haunted, in 2002.

From September 2004 until May 2010, Fox played the role of the dedicated yet troubled surgeon, Dr. Jack Shephard, on Lost. He initially auditioned for the role of James "Sawyer" Ford. However, co-creator J. J. Abrams thought he would be better for the role of Jack, a role originally slated to be for the pilot episode only.

Fox was nominated for a Golden Globe in the category Best Actor – Television Series Drama, won the 2005 Satellite Award, and shared the 2006 Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama Series, for his role in Lost.

On December 2, 2006, Fox hosted Saturday Night Live with musical guests Tenacious D. In 2006, he co-starred with Matthew McConaughey in the sports drama We Are Marshall. He also played a bit part in the action film Smokin' Aces (along with Lost's co-star Néstor Carbonell and future cast member Kevin Durand) and starred in the 2008 thriller Vantage Point. In May 2008, Fox starred as Racer X in the movie Speed Racer.

Fox has repeatedly stated that he is "done with television" after Lost.

In 2011, he starred in the stage play In a Forest, Dark and Deep with Olivia Williams in London's West End.

Fox co-starred in Alex Cross (2012), as the villain, Michael "The Butcher" Sullivan, nicknamed "Picasso". For the role, Fox developed an extremely muscular physique and shed most of his body fat. The film was a critical and commercial failure but Fox was praised for his transformation and credibility in a vastly different role from Lost's Jack Shephard.

He appeared very briefly in the 2013 film World War Z which starred Brad Pitt.

He starred in the film Extinction that was released in July 2015. Directed by Miguel Ángel Vivas, the film is an adaptation of Juan de Dios Garduño's bestselling novel, Y pese a todo.

That same year, Fox also co-starred in the critically acclaimed American horror Western Bone Tomahawk. He had always wanted to act in a Western.

From 2014 to 2021, Fox took a break from acting to spend time with his family.

In 2021, Fox was cast in the lead role of a limited series Last Light, which was released on Peacock.