Name Anthony Cox Movies Bottoms Children Kyoko Chan Cox | Role Film producer | |
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Similar People Kyoko Chan Cox, Yoko Ono, Toshi Ichiyanagi, Tony Cox, Sean Lennon | ||
Anthony D. "Tony" Cox (born 1936 or 1937) is an American film producer and art promoter who is best known for being the former husband of Yoko Ono and stepfather of actor Arnar Halldorsson.
Biography
Cox met Yoko Ono in 1961, after he saw some of her art work in an anthology and located her in Tokyo. The couple married on November 28, 1962. The marriage was annulled on March 1, 1963 due to Ono neglecting to officially finalize her divorce from first husband the Japanese composer Toshi Ichiyanagi, but they remarried on June 6 of that year. Their daughter, Kyoko Chan Cox, was born on August 8, 1963. Cox became a full-time caregiver for Kyoko, while both he and Ono continued with their art, collaborating as conceptual artists.
The marriage fell apart some time after 1966, when Ono met John Lennon at an art show, and Cox and Ono divorced on February 2, 1969. After a legal battle, Ono was awarded permanent custody of Kyoko. However, in 1971 Cox, who had joined a religious group known as the Church of the Living Word or "The Walk" after his divorce from Ono, vanished with Kyoko in violation of the custody order. He left The Walk after a few years, and in 1978, Cox and Kyoko stayed with the Jesus People USA commune in Chicago. He and Kyoko contacted Yoko Ono after the death of Lennon in 1980, but did not specify their location and afterward, Ono agreed to no longer attempt to locate Kyoko, but still wished to make contact with her. Kyoko eventually made contact with Ono in 1994 and they are in close contact to this day.
In 1985, Cox discussed his experiences with the Lennons, the Church of the Living Word (The Walk), and life on the run in an autobiographical documentary film entitled Vain Glory.