Harold Oxley

Harold "Ox" Oxley was an old friend of Indiana Jones and the surrogate father of Mutt Williams.

Biography
Harold Oxley was born in Leeds, England in 1887.

Studying under Professor Abner Ravenwood at the University of Chicago, Oxley became good friends with a fellow classmate, Indiana Jones, and later became friends with his teacher's daughter, Marion. Oxley's archaeological interests lay in finding one of the crystal skulls, and he focused his obsessive pursuit on the South American continent.

In 1937, Oxley inexplicably ceased all communications with Jones. According to Marion, he got angry at Indy for leaving Marion a week before he was to marry her. During this time he became the surrogate father of Mutt Williams

Oxley eventually found the tomb of Francisco de Orellana and his comrades, hiding a Crystal Skull. Oxley managed to find Akator but was unable to find the temple opening, so returned to the tomb and returned the Skull back to Orellana's hold.

Unfortunately Oxley had gazed too long in the skull's eye sockets which damaged his brain. Four months after sending a letter to Marion with orders to find Indiana Jones, he was housed in a sanatorium in Nazca, Peru, where he worked out how to get the skull back to the temple in Akator by drawing pictures on the walls of his cell. However, Soviet soldiers came and captured him.

Indy eventually located him two months later in the custody of the Soviets, apparently incurably insane. After following his cryptic instructions to the City of Gold, Oxley regained his sanity and memory when the Crystal Skull was returned to the temple. After escaping the collapsing temple, Oxley was confused when he heard Mutt call Indiana "dad".

Oxley later attended Indiana and Marion's wedding after a very good shave and haircut.

Appearances

 * Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull
 * Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull novel
 * Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull comic

Trivia

 * John Hurt's portrayal of Oxley is similar to another of his roles: that of Professor Bruttenholm (pronounced "broom") in Hellboy. Both are experts on the occult and pseudoscientific archaeology. However, Oxley is far less sane thanks to the Crystal Skull.
 * Oxley's connection to the University of Chicago goes along with the established canon of Raiders of the Lost Ark and The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles, according to which, Indy studied there. However the character had not made any prior appearances, being invented for the film.
 * In Frank Darabont's rejected script Indiana Jones and the City of the Gods, Oxley's first name is Vernon instead of Harold. According to Darabont, he suggested John Hurt for the role when discussing the script with Steven Spielberg.