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: Winter Soldiers as Capt. John O’Hagan
- 2024 · The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim as Helm Hammerhand (voice)
- 2024 · That Christmas as Santa (voice)
- 2018 · Succession as Logan Roy
- 2017 · Carpool Karaoke: The Series as Self
- 2016 · The Autopsy of Jane Doe as Tommy Tilden
- 2015 · The Late Show with Stephen Colbert as
- 2015 · The Late Show with Stephen Colbert as Self
- 2015 · Pixels as Admiral Porter
- 2014 · Variety Studio: Actors on Actors as Self
- 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 · Her as Alan Watts (voice)
- 2013 · Shetland as Magnus Bain
- 2007 · Zodiac as Melvin Belli
- 2007 · The Graham Norton Show as Self
- 2006 · The One Show as Self - Guest
- 2005 · The Colbert Report as
- 2004 · Troy as King Agamemnon
- 2004 · Deadwood as Jack Langrishe
- 2003 · Real Time with Bill Maher as Self
- 2002 · Top Gear as Self
- 2001 · Richard & Judy as Self
- 2000 · Aqua Teen Hunger Force as Anubis (voice)
- 1996 · Superman: The Animated Series as Dr. Earl Garver (voice)
- 1996 · The Daily Show as Self
- 1995 · Braveheart as Argyle Wallace
- 1993 · Frasier as Harry Moon
- 1990 · Have I Got News for You as Self
- 1989 · The Simpsons as Kostas Becker (voice)
- 1988 · LIVE with Kelly and Mark as Self - Guest
- 1988 · Red Dwarf as The King
- 1979 · Minder as Frank
- 1971 · Great Performances as Self - Narration (voice)
- Future · Have I Got a Bit More News for You as Himself - Panellist
- 2025 · Raoul Wallenberg: Missing Inaction as Self — Gustaf Wallenberg (voice)
- 2025 · VE Day 80 as Self
- 2025 · AMR: Dying to Change the World as AMR
- 2024 · Skelly as Grandpa
- 2023 · Bill Douglas: My Best Friend as Narrator (voice)
- 2022 · Piers Morgan Uncensored as Self
- 2021 · Oleg: The Oleg Vidov Story as Narrator (voice)
- 2018 · The Etruscan Smile as Rory MacNeil
- 2017 · Churchill as Winston Churchill
- 2015 · Andrew Carnegie: Rags to Riches, Power to Peace as Andrew Carnegie (voice)
- 2014 · The Great War: The People's Story as Rev. Andrew Clark
- 2013 · Bob Servant as Bob Servant
- 2012 · I Missed My Mother's Funeral as Old Man
- 2009 · Brian Cox's Jute Journey as Self
- 2005 · The Strange Case of Sherlock Holmes & Arthur Conan Doyle as Joseph Bell
- 2005 · Blue/Orange as Dr. Robert Smith
- 2003 · One Life as
- 2003 · Sin as Captain Oakes
- 2002 · Bug as Cyr
- 2001 · Inside 'Manhunter' as Himself
- 2000 · Complicity as Inspector McDunn
- 2000 · The Making of 'Rushmore' as Self
- 1996 · Witness Against Hitler as Judge Freisler
- 1994 · Grushko as Colonel Yevgeni Grushko
- 1990 · Perfect Scoundrels as Father Amedy
- 1989 · Brian Cox on Acting in Tragedy as Self
- 1986 · Home Cooking as Vic
- 1986 · Unnatural Causes as Vic
- 1985 · The Cantor of St Thomas's as Johann Sebastian Bach
- 1983 · King Lear as Burgundy
- 1982 · The Privilege as Young Laird
- 1980 · Dalhousie's Luck as Dalhousie
- 1980 · Therese Raquin as Laurent
- 1978 · Out as McGrath
- 1965 · A Knight in Tarnished Armour as Nelson
- Future · Old Pals as Jimmy
- 2025 · The Marbles as Self - Interviewee
- 2025 · Glenrothan as Sandy
- 2025 · The Parenting as Frank
- 2025 · The Electric State as Popfly (voice)
- 2024 · Unsinkable as Robert Dodds
- 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)
- 2023 · An Interview with Brian Cox as Himself
- 2022 · Ooh the Banter! as Self
- 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 · Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg as Self – Actor
- 2022 · Ukraine: Answering the Call as Self
- 2021 · Blade Runner: Black Lotus as Niander Wallace Sr. (voice)
- 2021 · Separation as Rivers
- 2020 · The Bay of Silence as Milton
- 2020 · John Rebus: The Lockdown Blues as John Rebus
- 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 · Kubrick by Candlelight as The Narrator
- 2018 · Widdershins as voice
- 2018 · Super Troopers 2 as John O'Hagen
- 2017 · The Russell Howard Hour as Self
- 2017 · An Evening with Brian Cox as Himself
- 2017 · Bob the Builder: Mega Machines - The Movie as Conrad / Crunch (voice)
- 2017 · Brian Cox's Russia as Host
- 2017 · Vegalta: Soccer, Tsunami and the Hope of a Nation as Narrator
- 2016 · Darcey Bussell: My Life on the BBC as Self
- 2016 · Medici: Masters of Florence as Bernardo Guadagni
- 2016 · Morgan as Jim Bryce
- 2016 · The Carer as Sir Michael
- 2016 · Alan Clarke: Out of His Own Light as Self
- 2016 · War and Peace as Mikhail Kutuzov
- 2015 · Killing Thyme as Norman
- 2015 · Forsaken as James McCurdy
- 2015 · Pacific Warriors as Narrator
- 2015 · The Slap as Manolis
- 2014 · The Gospel of John as Narrator (voice) – King James Version
- 2014 · The Game as Daddy
- 2014 · Scotland In A Day as
- 2014 · The Anomaly as Dr. Langham
- 2014 · Penny Dreadful as Jared Talbot
- 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 · RED 2 as Ivan
- 2013 · The Last Leg as Self
- 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 · Celebrity Antiques Road Trip as Self - Participant
- 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 · Rise of the Planet of the Apes as John Landon
- 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 · RED as Ivan Simanov
- 2010 · On Expenses as
- 2010 · As Good As Dead as Reverend Kalahan
- 2009 · The Day of the Triffids as Dennis Masen
- 2009 · Fantastic Mr. Fox as Action 12 Reporter (voice)
- 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 · The Secret of the Nutcracker as Drosselmeyer
- 2007 · Shoot on Sight as Daniel Tennant
- 2007 · Trick 'r Treat as Mr. Kreeg
- 2007 · Battle for Terra as General Hemmer (voice)
- 2007 · The Bourne Ultimatum as Ward Abbott (voice) (archive footage) (uncredited)
- 2007 · A Woman in Winter as Dr. Hunt
- 2006 · Running with Scissors as Dr. Finch
- 2006 · The Outsiders as Gabriel
- 2006 · The Flying Scotsman as Douglas Baxter
- 2006 · Carry On Ken as Self
- 2005 · The Ringer as Gary Barker
- 2005 · Match Point as Alec Hewett
- 2005 · Red Eye as Joe Reisert
- 2005 · Hitler in Colour as Narrator
- 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 · The Bourne Supremacy as Ward Abbott
- 2004 · Murder by Numbers as Self
- 2004 · The Reckoning as Tobias
- 2003 · The Second Uncanny Issue of X-Men! Making 'X2' as
- 2003 · The Evolution of an American Filmmaker as Self
- 2003 · X2 as William Stryker
- 2002 · 25th Hour as James Brogan
- 2002 · Adaptation. as Robert McKee
- 2002 · Aleister Crowley - The Wickedest Man in the World as Narrator
- 2002 · The Ring as Richard Morgan
- 2002 · The Trials of Henry Kissinger as
- 2002 · The Biographer as Michael O'Mara
- 2002 · The Bourne Identity as Ward Abbott
- 2002 · Loch Lomond: Legend of the Loch as Narrator
- 2002 · The Rookie as Jim Morris Sr.
- 2002 · Rasputin: The Devil in the Flesh as Narrator
- 2002 · Smallpox 2002: Silent Weapon as Narrator
- 2001 · The Affair of the Necklace as Minister Breteuil
- 2001 · L.I.E. as Big John Harrigan
- 2001 · Strictly Sinatra as Chisolm
- 2001 · Super Troopers as John O'Hagen
- 2000 · Saltwater as George Beneventi
- 2000 · Nuremberg as Herman Wilhelm Goering
- 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 · Longitude as Lord Morton
- 2000 · Longitude as Lord Morton
- 1999 · The History of the British Police Force as Narrator (voice)
- 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 · Food for Ravens as Aneurin Bevan
- 1997 · Sharpe: The Legend as Hogan
- 1997 · Kiss the Girls as Chief Hatfield, Durham PD
- 1996 · The Long Kiss Goodnight as Dr. Nathan Waldman
- 1996 · The Glimmer Man as Mr. Smith
- 1996 · Chain Reaction as Lyman Earl Collier
- 1995 · Rob Roy as Killearn
- 1994 · The Maltese Double Cross as Narrator (voice)
- 1994 · The Negotiator as Charlie King
- 1994 · Prince of Jutland as Aethelwine
- 1994 · Iron Will as Angus McTeague
- 1993 · Sharpe's Eagle as Major Michael Hogan
- 1993 · Sharpe as Major Hogan
- 1993 · Sharpe's Rifles as Major Michael Hogan
- 1992 · Six Characters in Search of An Author as The Director
- 1992 · Macbeth as Macbeth
- 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 · The Cloning of Joanna May as Carl May
- 1992 · Deceptions as Carlton Heard
- 1991 · Red Fox as Geoffrey Harrison
- 1991 · Performance as The Director
- 1990 · Hidden Agenda as Peter Kerrigan
- 1990 · The Making of 'Hidden Agenda' as self
- 1990 · Secret Weapon as Andrew Neil
- 1989 · The Blasphemers' Banquet as Rev. Wallace (voice)
- 1989 · Murder on the Moon as Voronov
- 1988 · Directed by Andrei Tarkovsky as Voiceover Narrator
- 1988 · Beryl Markham: A Shadow on the Sun as Jack Purves
- 1988 · The Modern World: Ten Great Writers as Henrik Ibsen (voice)
- 1986 · Manhunter as Dr. Hannibal Lecktor
- 1981 · House on the Hill as Leon Douglas
- 1978 · The Devil's Crown as Henry II
- Future · The Planets as
- 1987 · Acting as
- 1987 · Shoot for the Sun as Dunny
- 1987 · French & Saunders as King Lear
- 1987 · Inspector Morse as Michael Steppings
- 1987 · Rat in the Skull as Detective Inspector Nelson
- 1987 · Gramsci: Everything that Concerns People as Narrator
- 1985 · Florence Nightingale as Dr. McGregor
- 1984 · Pope John Paul II as Father Góra
- 1982 · A Cotswold Death as Dr. Gillespie
- 1980 · Hammer House of Horror as Chuck
- 1979 · Question Time as Self - Panellist
- 1977 · Target as Billy Voss
- 1976 · Clay, Smeddum and Greenden as George Simpson
- 1975 · In Celebration as Steven Shaw
- 1974 · Churchill's People as William Wallace
- 1974 · Playhouse as Dalhousie
- 1974 · The Changeling as Alsemero
- 1972 · Van der Valk as Stefan Szabo
- 1971 · Nicholas and Alexandra as Trotsky
- 1970 · Play for Today as Dr. Gillespie
- 1970 · Manhunt as Anton
- 1968 · The Year of the Sex Olympics as Lasar Opie
- 1967 · The Gamblers as Mickey
- 1965 · BBC Play of the Month as Alsemero
- 1964 · Theatre 625 as Lasar Opie
- Future · A Modern Magician as The Voice
- Future · Wittgenstein's Poker as Bertrand Russell (voice)
- Future · The Glove as