Jorja-An Fox (born July 7, 1968, in New York, New York), is an American actress. She first came to prominence as a guest star on the television drama ER, portraying the recurring role of Dr. Maggie Doyle from 1996-1999. This was followed by another critical success in the recurring role of Secret Service Agent Gina Toscano on The West Wing in 2000. She is best known for her work as Sara Sidle in the hit CBS crime drama CSI: Crime Scene Investigation, a role she portrayed as a main cast member from 2000-2007 and continues to perform periodically as a guest star.
Personal life:Fox is the younger of two children born to Montreal-born parents of French and Irish descents, 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.
Fox currently resides in Los Angeles. Her friends include Emily Procter, whom she persuaded to join CSI: Miami.
Her name is pronounced as "Georgia". She is most often credited as Jorja Fox, but has also been credited as "Jorjan Fox."
In 2001, Jorja claimed to be "Involved, but not married." However by 2003, she was again single.
Performing: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 for What a Pair 4!, an annual charity event to raise money for breast cancer research.
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 surpports 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".
