Brian Cox
Brian Denis Cox (born June 1, 1946) is a Scottish actor. A classically trained Shakespearean actor, he is known for his work on stage and screen. His numerous accolades include two Laurence Olivier Awards, a Primetime Emmy Award, and a Golden Globe Award, as well as a nomination for a British Academy Television Award. In 2003, he was appointed to the Order of the British Empire at the rank of Commander. Cox trained at the Dundee Repertory Theatre before becoming a founding member of the Royal Lyceum Theatre. He went on to train as a Shakespearean actor, starring in numerous productions with the Royal National Theatre and the Royal Shakespeare Company, where he gained recognition for his portrayal of King Lear. Cox received two Laurence Olivier Awards for Best Actor for his roles in Rat in the Skull (1984), for Royal Court, and Titus Andronicus (1988). He received two more Olivier Award nominations for Misalliance (1986) and Fashion (1988). Known as a character actor in film, he played Robert McKee in Spike Jonze's Adaptation (2002) and William Stryker in X2 (2003). For his starring role in L.I.E. (2001), he received an Independent Spirit Award nomination. His other notable films include Manhunter (1986), Iron Will (1994), Braveheart (1995), The Boxer (1997), The Rookie (2002), Troy (2004), Match Point (2005), The Water Horse: Legend of the Deep (2007), Coriolanus (2011), Pixels (2015), and Churchill (2017). Cox won the Primetime Emmy Award for Best Supporting Actor in a Limited Series for his portrayal of Hermann Göring in the television film Nuremberg (2001). The following year, he guest starred on the NBC sitcom Frasier, earning his second Emmy nomination in 2002. He portrayed Jack Langrishe in the HBO series Deadwood. He starred as Logan Roy on the HBO series Succession (2018-2023), for which he won the Golden Globe Award for Best Actor in a Drama Series and was nominated for three Primetime Emmy Awards for Best Actor in a Drama Series.
Known For
Credits
- 2026 · Super Troopers 3 as Capt. John O’Hagan
- 2026 · The Sunrise File as Oded Ailam (voice)
- 2026 · Glenrothan as Sandy
- 2025 · The Marbles as Self - Interviewee
- 2025 · Raoul Wallenberg: Missing Inaction as Gustaf Wallenberg (voice)
- 2025 · VE Day 80 as Self
- 2025 · The Parenting as Frank
- 2024 · That Christmas as Santa (voice)
- 2024 · Unsinkable as Robert Dodds
- 2024 · Skelly as Grandpa
- 2024 · Little Wing as Jaan Vari
- 2023 · 007: Road to a Million as The Controller
- 2023 · Shakespeare: Rise of a Genius as Self
- 2023 · Made of Money with Brian Cox as
- 2023 · Prisoner's Daughter as Max
- 2023 · Mending the Line as Ike Fletcher
- 2023 · Quasi as Narrator (voice)
- 2022 · Peter O'Toole: Along the Sky Road to Aqaba as Self
- 2022 · Brian Cox: How The Other Half Live as Presenter
- 2022 · Bonnie as Self
- 2022 · The Independent as Nick Booker
- 2022 · Piers Morgan Uncensored as Self
- 2021 · Amol Rajan Interviews as Self - Interviewed Guest
- 2021 · Separation as Rivers
- 2021 · Oleg: The Oleg Vidov Story as Narrator (voice)
- 2020 · The Bay of Silence as Milton
- 2020 · Last Moment of Clarity as Gilles
- 2020 · Lawrence After Arabia as Father (Voice)
- 2019 · The Last Right as Father Reilly
- 2019 · Strange but True as Bill
- 2019 · Pretenders as Henry
- 2019 · Remember Me as Shane
- 2019 · Good Omens as Death (voice)
- 2018 · Succession as Logan Roy
- 2018 · Super Troopers 2 as John O'Hagen
- 2018 · The Etruscan Smile as Rory MacNeil
- 2017 · Bob the Builder: Mega Machines - The Movie as Conrad / Crunch (voice)
- 2017 · Churchill as Winston Churchill
- 2017 · Brian Cox's Russia as Host
- 2017 · Vegalta: Soccer, Tsunami and the Hope of a Nation as Narrator
- 2016 · Morgan as Jim Bryce
- 2016 · The Carer as Sir Michael
- 2016 · Alan Clarke: Out of His Own Light as Self
- 2015 · Killing Thyme as Norman
- 2015 · Forsaken as James McCurdy
- 2015 · The Late Show with Stephen Colbert as Self - Guest
- 2015 · The Late Show with Stephen Colbert as Self
- 2015 · The Slap as Manolis
- 2014 · Variety Studio: Actors on Actors as Self
- 2014 · The Gospel of John as Narrator (voice) – King James Version
- 2014 · The Game as Daddy
- 2014 · Scotland In A Day as
- 2014 · The Great War: The People's Story as Rev. Andrew Clark
- 2014 · The Anomaly as Dr. Langham
- 2014 · Last Week Tonight with John Oliver as God
- 2014 · Late Night with Seth Meyers as Self
- 2014 · The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon as Self
- 2013 · An Adventure in Space and Time as Sydney Newman
- 2013 · The Curse of Edgar as Edgar Hoover
- 2013 · Anna as Sebastian
- 2013 · Believe as Matt Busby
- 2013 · Blumenthal as Harold Blumenthal
- 2013 · Shetland as Magnus Bain
- 2013 · The Last Leg as Self
- 2013 · Bob Servant as Bob Servant
- 2012 · Addicted to Pleasure as Self - Host
- 2012 · Blood as Lenny Fairburn
- 2012 · A Touch of Cloth as Bill Ball
- 2012 · The Campaign as Raymond
- 2012 · Tooned as The Mechanic
- 2012 · All at Sea as Wally
- 2012 · The Straits as Harry Montebello
- 2011 · Exit Humanity as Malcolm Young (voice)
- 2011 · Edwin Boyd: Citizen Gangster as Glover
- 2011 · The Jonathan Ross Show as Self
- 2011 · The Jonathan Ross Show as Self - Guest
- 2011 · The Veteran as Gerry
- 2011 · Ironclad as Albany
- 2011 · The Key Man as Irving
- 2011 · Coriolanus as Menenius
- 2011 · The Sinking of the Laconia as Captain Sharp
- 2010 · On Expenses as Michael Martin
- 2010 · As Good As Dead as Reverend Kalahan
- 2009 · The Day of the Triffids as Dennis Masen
- 2009 · The Good Heart as Jacques
- 2009 · The Take as Ozzy
- 2009 · Tell-Tale as Van Doren
- 2009 · Scooby-Doo! and the Samurai Sword as Green Dragon (voice)
- 2009 · Kings as King Vesper Abaddon
- 2008 · Red as Avery Ludlow
- 2008 · The Escapist as Frank Perry
- 2008 · The Colour of Magic as Narrator
- 2008 · Agent Crush as Spanners (voice)
- 2007 · The Water Horse as Old Angus
- 2007 · Shoot on Sight as Daniel Tennant
- 2007 · Trick 'r Treat as Mr. Kreeg
- 2007 · Battle for Terra as General Hemmer (voice)
- 2007 · A Woman in Winter as Dr. Hunt
- 2007 · The Graham Norton Show as Self
- 2006 · Running with Scissors as Dr. Finch
- 2006 · The Outsiders as Gabriel
- 2006 · The Flying Scotsman as Douglas Baxter
- 2006 · The One Show as Self - Guest
- 2006 · Carry On Ken as Self
- 2005 · The Ringer as Gary Barker
- 2005 · The Colbert Report as
- 2005 · The Strange Case of Sherlock Holmes & Arthur Conan Doyle as Joseph Bell
- 2005 · Red Eye as Joe Reisert
- 2005 · Blue/Orange as Dr. Robert Smith
- 2005 · Japan's War in Colour as Self - Narrator (voice)
- 2004 · The Tony Danza Show as Self
- 2004 · Unforgivable Blackness: The Rise and Fall of Jack Johnson as Other Voices (voice)
- 2004 · Troy as King Agamemnon
- 2004 · Deadwood as Jack Langrishe
- 2004 · Murder by Numbers as Self
- 2004 · The Reckoning as Tobias
- 2003 · The Second Uncanny Issue of X-Men! Making X2 as Self
- 2003 · One Life as
- 2003 · The Evolution of an American Filmmaker as Self
- 2003 · X2 as William Stryker
- 2003 · Real Time with Bill Maher as Self
- 2003 · Jimmy Kimmel Live! as Self - Guest
- 2003 · Sin as Captain Oakes
- 2002 · 25th Hour as James Brogan
- 2002 · Adaptation. as Robert McKee
- 2002 · Aleister Crowley: The Wickedest Man in the World as Narrator
- 2002 · Top Gear as Self
- 2002 · The Trials of Henry Kissinger as Self
- 2002 · The Biographer as Michael O'Mara
- 2002 · The Rookie as Jim Morris Sr.
- 2002 · Bug as Cyr
- 2002 · Masters of Darkness as Narrator
- 2001 · The Affair of the Necklace as Minister Breteuil
- 2001 · Richard & Judy as Self
- 2001 · L.I.E. as Big John Harrigan
- 2001 · Strictly Sinatra as Chisolm
- 2001 · Super Troopers as Captain O'Hagen
- 2001 · Inside 'Manhunter' as Himself
- 2000 · Aqua Teen Hunger Force as Anubis (voice)
- 2000 · Saltwater as George Beneventi
- 2000 · Nuremberg as Herman Wilhelm Goering
- 2000 · Complicity as Inspector McDunn
- 2000 · A Shot at Glory as Martin Smith
- 2000 · Mad About Mambo as Sidney McLoughlin
- 2000 · The Invention of Dr. Morel as Dr. Morel
- 2000 · The Making of 'Rushmore' as Self
- 2000 · Longitude as Lord Morton
- 2000 · Longitude as Lord Morton
- 1999 · The Minus Man as Doug
- 1999 · For Love of the Game as Gary Wheeler
- 1999 · The Corruptor as Sean Wallace
- 1998 · Rushmore as Dr. Nelson Guggenheim
- 1998 · Poodle Springs as Clayton Blackstone
- 1998 · Merchants of Venus as Uncle Vladimir
- 1998 · Desperate Measures as Captain Jeremiah Cassidy
- 1997 · The Boxer as Joe Hamill
- 1997 · Sharpe: The Legend as Hogan
- 1997 · Kiss the Girls as Chief Hatfield, Durham PD
- 1997 · I, Caesar – The Rise and Fall of the Roman Empire as Narrator
- 1996 · The Long Kiss Goodnight as Dr. Nathan Waldman
- 1996 · The Glimmer Man as Mr. Smith
- 1996 · Superman: The Animated Series as Dr. Earl Garver (voice)
- 1996 · Chain Reaction as Lyman Earl Collier
- 1996 · The Daily Show as Self
- 1996 · Witness Against Hitler as Judge Freisler
- 1995 · Rob Roy as Killearn
- 1994 · The Negotiator as Charlie King
- 1994 · Grushko as Colonel Yevgeni Grushko
- 1994 · Prince of Jutland as Aethelwine
- 1994 · Iron Will as Angus McTeague
- 1993 · Frasier as Harry Moon
- 1993 · Sharpe's Eagle as Major Michael Hogan
- 1993 · Sharpe's Rifles as Major Michael Hogan
- 1992 · The Big Battalions as Edward Hoyland
- 1992 · Shakespeare: The Animated Tales as Macbeth (voice)
- 1992 · The Cutter as
- 1992 · The Lost Language of Cranes as Owen Benjamin
- 1992 · Deceptions as Carlton Heard
- 1991 · Red Fox as Geoffrey Harrison
- 1990 · Hidden Agenda as Peter Kerrigan
- 1990 · Have I Got News for You as Self
- 1990 · Perfect Scoundrels as Father Amedy
- 1989 · The Simpsons as Kostas Becker (voice)
- 1989 · Murder on the Moon as Voronov
- 1988 · Directed by Andrei Tarkovsky as Voiceover Narrator
- 1988 · LIVE with Kelly and Mark as Self - Guest
- 1988 · Beryl Markham: A Shadow on the Sun as Jack Purves
- 1988 · Red Dwarf as The King
- 1988 · The Modern World: Ten Great Writers as Henrik Ibsen (voice)
- 1987 · Acting as
- 1987 · Shoot for the Sun as Dunny
- 1987 · Inspector Morse as Michael Steppings
- 1987 · Rat in the Skull as Detective Inspector Nelson
- 1987 · Gramsci: Everything that Concerns People as Narrator
- 1986 · Unnatural Causes as Vic
- 1986 · Home Cooking as Vic
- 1985 · Florence Nightingale as Dr. McGregor
- 1984 · Pope John Paul II as Father Góra
- 1983 · King Lear as Burgundy
- 1982 · A Cotswold Death as Dr. Gillespie
- 1982 · The Privilege as Young Laird
- 1981 · House on the Hill as Leon Douglas
- 1980 · Hammer House of Horror as Chuck
- 1980 · Dalhousie's Luck as Dalhousie
- 1980 · Therese Raquin as Laurent LeClaire
- 1979 · Minder as Frank
- 1979 · Question Time as Self - Panellist
- 1978 · Out as McGrath
- 1978 · The Devil's Crown as Henry II
- 1977 · Target as Billy Voss
- 1976 · Clay, Smeddum and Greenden as George Simpson
- 1975 · In Celebration as Steven Shaw
- 1974 · The Changeling as Alsemero
- 1971 · Nicholas and Alexandra as Trotsky
- 1971 · Great Performances as Self - Narration (voice)
- 1970 · Play for Today as Dr. Gillespie
- 1970 · Manhunt as Anton
- 1967 · The Gamblers as Mickey
- 1965 · BBC Play of the Month as Alsemero
- 1964 · The Wednesday Play as Nelson
- Future · Have I Got a Bit More News for You as Himself - Panellist
- 2025 · Dexter: Resurrection as New York Ripper
- 2025 · The Electric State as Popfly (voice)
- 2024 · The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim as Helm Hammerhand (voice)
- 2022 · Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg as Self – Actor
- 2022 · Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg as Self - Actor
- 2022 · Remembers… as
- 2021 · Blade Runner: Black Lotus as Niander Wallace Sr. (voice)
- 2017 · The Russell Howard Hour as Self
- 2017 · Carpool Karaoke: The Series as Self
- 2016 · The Autopsy of Jane Doe as Tommy Tilden
- 2016 · Medici: Masters of Florence as Bernardo Guadagni
- 2016 · War and Peace as Mikhail Kutuzov
- 2015 · Pixels as Admiral Porter
- 2014 · Penny Dreadful as Jared Talbot
- 2013 · Her as Alan Watts (voice)
- 2013 · RED 2 as Ivan
- 2011 · Celebrity Antiques Road Trip as Self - Participant
- 2011 · Rise of the Planet of the Apes as John Landon
- 2010 · RED as Ivan Simanov
- 2009 · Fantastic Mr. Fox as Action 12 Reporter (voice)
- 2007 · The Bourne Ultimatum as Ward Abbott (voice) (archive footage) (uncredited)
- 2007 · Zodiac as Melvin Belli
- 2007 · M.I. High as Voice of the Mastermind
- 2005 · Match Point as Alec Hewett
- 2004 · The Bourne Supremacy as Ward Abbott
- 2002 · The Ring as Richard Morgan
- 2002 · The Bourne Identity as Ward Abbott
- 1995 · Braveheart as Argyle Wallace
- 1993 · Sharpe as Major Hogan
- 1991 · Performance as The Director
- 1987 · French & Saunders as King Lear
- 1974 · Churchill's People as William Wallace
- 1974 · Playhouse as Dalhousie
- 1972 · Van der Valk as Stefan Szabo
- 1967 · ITV Playhouse as Apeman
- 1964 · Theatre 625 as Lasar Opie
- Future · Old Pals as Jimmy
- 2025 · AMR: Dying to Change the World as AMR
- 2023 · Bill Douglas: My Best Friend as Narrator (voice)
- 2023 · An Interview with Brian Cox as Himself
- 2022 · Ooh the Banter! as Self
- 2022 · Ukraine: Answering the Call as Self
- 2020 · John Rebus: The Lockdown Blues as John Rebus
- 2018 · Kubrick by Candlelight as The Narrator
- 2017 · An Evening with Brian Cox as Himself
- 2016 · Darcey Bussell: My Life on the BBC as Self
- 2015 · Pacific Warriors as Narrator
- 2007 · The Secret of the Nutcracker as Drosselmeyer
- 2004 · Lindsay Anderson: Lucky Man? as Self
- 2002 · Smallpox 2002: Silent Weapon as Narrator
- 1997 · Food for Ravens as Aneurin Bevan
- Future · The Glove as
- 1992 · Six Characters in Search of An Author as The Director
- Future · Wittgenstein's Poker as Bertrand Russell (voice)
- 2018 · Widdershins as voice
- 2015 · Andrew Carnegie: Rags to Riches, Power to Peace as Andrew Carnegie (voice)
- 2012 · I Missed My Mother's Funeral as Old Man
- 2009 · Brian Cox's Jute Journey as Self
- 2005 · Hitler in Colour as Narrator
- 2002 · Loch Lomond: Legend of the Loch as Narrator
- 2002 · Rasputin: The Devil in the Flesh as Narrator
- 1999 · The History of the British Police Force as Narrator (voice)
- 1998 · Battle of the Clans as Narrator
- 1994 · The Maltese Double Cross as Narrator (voice)
- 1992 · The Cloning of Joanna May as Carl May
- 1990 · The Making of 'Hidden Agenda' as self
- 1990 · Secret Weapon as Andrew Neil
- 1989 · Brian Cox on Acting in Tragedy as Self
- 1989 · The Blasphemers' Banquet as Rev. Wallace (voice)
- 1986 · Manhunter as Dr. Hannibal Lecktor
- 1965 · A Knight in Tarnished Armour as Nelson
- Future · The Planets as
- 1985 · The Cantor of St Thomas's as Johann Sebastian Bach
- 1968 · The Year of the Sex Olympics as Lasar Opie
- Future · A Modern Magician as The Voice