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
- 2025 · VE Day 80 as Self
- 2025 · The Parenting as Frank
- 2025 · The Electric State as Popfly (voice)
- 2024 · The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim as Helm Hammerhand (voice)
- 2024 · That Christmas as Santa (voice)
- 2024 · Unsinkable as Robert Dodds
- 2023 · 007: Road to a Million as The Controller
- 2023 · Shakespeare: Rise of a Genius as Self
- 2023 · Quasi as Narrator (voice)
- 2022 · The Independent as Nick Booker
- 2022 · Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg as Self – Actor
- 2022 · Remembers… as
- 2022 · Piers Morgan Uncensored as Self
- 2021 · Blade Runner: Black Lotus as Niander Wallace Sr. (voice)
- 2021 · Separation as Rivers
- 2020 · Last Moment of Clarity as Gilles
- 2019 · Good Omens as Death (voice)
- 2018 · Succession as Logan Roy
- 2018 · Super Troopers 2 as John O'Hagen
- 2017 · The Russell Howard Hour as Self
- 2017 · Carpool Karaoke: The Series as Self
- 2017 · Churchill as Winston Churchill
- 2016 · The Autopsy of Jane Doe as Tommy Tilden
- 2016 · Medici: Masters of Florence as Bernardo Guadagni
- 2016 · Morgan as Jim Bryce
- 2016 · War and Peace as Mikhail Kutuzov
- 2015 · Forsaken as James McCurdy
- 2015 · The Late Show with Stephen Colbert as
- 2015 · The Late Show with Stephen Colbert as Self
- 2015 · Pixels as Admiral Porter
- 2015 · The Slap as Manolis
- 2014 · Variety Studio: Actors on Actors as Self
- 2014 · The Game as Daddy
- 2014 · The Great War: The People's Story as Rev. Andrew Clark
- 2014 · Penny Dreadful as Jared Talbot
- 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 · Anna as Sebastian
- 2013 · RED 2 as Ivan
- 2013 · Shetland as Magnus Bain
- 2013 · The Last Leg as Self
- 2012 · Blood as Lenny Fairburn
- 2012 · A Touch of Cloth as Bill Ball
- 2012 · The Campaign as Raymond
- 2012 · Tooned as The Mechanic
- 2012 · The Straits as Harry Montebello
- 2011 · Celebrity Antiques Road Trip as Self - Participant
- 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 · Coriolanus as Menenius
- 2011 · The Sinking of the Laconia as Captain Sharp
- 2010 · RED as Ivan Simanov
- 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 · 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 · 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 · Zodiac as Melvin Belli
- 2007 · The Graham Norton Show as Self
- 2007 · M.I. High as Voice of the Mastermind
- 2006 · Running with Scissors as Dr. Finch
- 2006 · The One Show as Self - Guest
- 2005 · The Ringer as Gary Barker
- 2005 · Match Point as Alec Hewett
- 2005 · The Colbert Report as
- 2005 · Red Eye as Joe Reisert
- 2004 · The Tony Danza Show as Self
- 2004 · The Bourne Supremacy as Ward Abbott
- 2004 · Troy as King Agamemnon
- 2004 · Deadwood as Jack Langrishe
- 2004 · The Reckoning as Tobias
- 2003 · One Life as
- 2003 · Real Time with Bill Maher as Self
- 2003 · Jimmy Kimmel Live! as Self - Guest
- 2002 · 25th Hour as James Brogan
- 2002 · Adaptation. as Robert McKee
- 2002 · Top Gear as Self
- 2002 · The Ring as Richard Morgan
- 2002 · The Bourne Identity as Ward Abbott
- 2002 · The Rookie as Jim Morris Sr.
- 2001 · Richard & Judy as Self
- 2001 · L.I.E. as Big John Harrigan
- 2001 · Super Troopers as Captain O'Hagen
- 2000 · Aqua Teen Hunger Force as Anubis (voice)
- 2000 · Nuremberg as Herman Wilhelm Goering
- 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 · Desperate Measures as Captain Jeremiah Cassidy
- 1997 · The Boxer as Joe Hamill
- 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 · Superman: The Animated Series as Dr. Earl Garver (voice)
- 1996 · Chain Reaction as Lyman Earl Collier
- 1996 · The Daily Show as Self
- 1995 · Braveheart as Argyle Wallace
- 1995 · Rob Roy as Killearn
- 1994 · Prince of Jutland as Aethelwine
- 1994 · Iron Will as Angus McTeague
- 1993 · Frasier as Harry Moon
- 1993 · Sharpe as Major Hogan
- 1992 · Shakespeare: The Animated Tales as Macbeth (voice)
- 1991 · Performance as The Director
- 1990 · Have I Got News for You as Self
- 1990 · Perfect Scoundrels as Father Amedy
- 1989 · The Simpsons as Kostas Becker (voice)
- 1988 · LIVE with Kelly and Mark as Self - Guest
- 1988 · Red Dwarf as The King
- 1988 · The Modern World: Ten Great Writers as Henrik Ibsen (voice)
- 1987 · French & Saunders as King Lear
- 1987 · Inspector Morse as Michael Steppings
- 1986 · Unnatural Causes as Vic
- 1980 · Hammer House of Horror as Chuck
- 1980 · Therese Raquin as Laurent LeClaire
- 1979 · Minder as Frank
- 1979 · Question Time as Self - Panellist
- 1978 · Out as McGrath
- 1977 · Target as Billy Voss
- 1974 · Churchill's People as William Wallace
- 1974 · Playhouse as Dalhousie
- 1972 · Van der Valk as Stefan Szabo
- 1971 · Nicholas and Alexandra as Trotsky
- 1971 · Great Performances as Self - Narration (voice)
- 1970 · Play for Today as Dr. Gillespie
- Future · Have I Got a Bit More News for You as Himself - Panellist
- 2026 · Super Troopers 3 as Capt. John O’Hagan
- 2026 · Glenrothan as Sandy
- 2025 · The Marbles as Self - Interviewee
- 2025 · Raoul Wallenberg: Missing Inaction as Gustaf Wallenberg (voice)
- 2022 · Ukraine: Answering the Call as Self
- 2020 · Lawrence After Arabia as Father (Voice)
- 2017 · Brian Cox's Russia as Host
- 2016 · Darcey Bussell: My Life on the BBC as Self
- 2015 · Pacific Warriors as Narrator
- 2014 · Scotland In A Day as
- 2012 · Addicted to Pleasure as Self - Host
- 2012 · All at Sea as Wally
- 2011 · Edwin Boyd: Citizen Gangster as Glover
- 2007 · A Woman in Winter as Dr. Hunt
- 2006 · Carry On Ken as Self
- Future · Old Pals as Jimmy
- 2002 · The Trials of Henry Kissinger as Self
- 2002 · The Biographer as Michael O'Mara
- 2002 · Smallpox 2002: Silent Weapon as Narrator
- 2001 · Strictly Sinatra as Chisolm
- 2000 · A Shot at Glory as Martin Smith
- 2000 · Mad About Mambo as Sidney McLoughlin
- 2000 · The Invention of Dr. Morel as Dr. Morel
- 1992 · Six Characters in Search of An Author as The Director
- 1992 · Macbeth as Macbeth
- 1992 · The Cutter as
- 1992 · Deceptions as Carlton Heard
- 1990 · The Making of 'Hidden Agenda' as self
- 1990 · Secret Weapon as Andrew Neil
- 1989 · Brian Cox on Acting in Tragedy as Self
- 1988 · Directed by Andrei Tarkovsky as Voiceover Narrator
- 1987 · Gramsci: Everything that Concerns People as Narrator
- 1982 · A Cotswold Death as Dr. Gillespie
- 1982 · The Privilege as Young Laird
- 1976 · Clay, Smeddum and Greenden as George Simpson
- 1974 · The Changeling as Alsemero
- 1968 · The Year of the Sex Olympics as Lasar Opie
- Future · The Glove as
- 2025 · AMR: Dying to Change the World as AMR
- 2024 · Skelly as Grandpa
- 2024 · Little Wing as Jaan Vari
- 2023 · Made of Money with Brian Cox as
- 2023 · Bill Douglas: My Best Friend as Narrator (voice)
- 2023 · Prisoner's Daughter as Max
- 2023 · Mending the Line as Ike Fletcher
- 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
- 2021 · Amol Rajan Interviews as Self - Interviewed Guest
- 2021 · Oleg: The Oleg Vidov Story as Narrator (voice)
- 2020 · The Bay of Silence as Milton
- 2020 · John Rebus: The Lockdown Blues as John Rebus
- 2019 · The Last Right as Father Reilly
- 2019 · Strange but True as Bill
- 2019 · Pretenders as Henry
- 2019 · Remember Me as Shane
- 2018 · Kubrick by Candlelight as The Narrator
- 2018 · Widdershins as voice
- 2018 · The Etruscan Smile as Rory MacNeil
- 2017 · An Evening with Brian Cox as Himself
- 2017 · Bob the Builder: Mega Machines - The Movie as Conrad / Crunch (voice)
- 2017 · Vegalta: Soccer, Tsunami and the Hope of a Nation as Narrator
- 2016 · The Carer as Sir Michael
- 2016 · Alan Clarke: Out of His Own Light as Self
- 2015 · Killing Thyme as Norman
- 2015 · Andrew Carnegie: Rags to Riches, Power to Peace as Andrew Carnegie (voice)
- 2014 · The Gospel of John as Narrator (voice) – King James Version
- 2014 · The Anomaly as Dr. Langham
- 2013 · An Adventure in Space and Time as Sydney Newman
- 2013 · The Curse of Edgar as Edgar Hoover
- 2013 · Believe as Matt Busby
- 2013 · Blumenthal as Harold Blumenthal
- 2013 · Bob Servant as Bob Servant
- 2012 · I Missed My Mother's Funeral as Old Man
- 2011 · Exit Humanity as Malcolm Young (voice)
- 2011 · The Key Man as Irving
- 2010 · On Expenses as
- 2010 · As Good As Dead as Reverend Kalahan
- 2009 · Brian Cox's Jute Journey as Self
- 2009 · Tell-Tale as Van Doren
- 2007 · The Secret of the Nutcracker as Drosselmeyer
- 2007 · Shoot on Sight as Daniel Tennant
- 2006 · The Outsiders as Gabriel
- 2006 · The Flying Scotsman as Douglas Baxter
- 2005 · The Strange Case of Sherlock Holmes & Arthur Conan Doyle as Joseph Bell
- 2005 · Hitler in Colour as Narrator
- 2005 · Blue/Orange as Dr. Robert Smith
- 2005 · Japan's War in Colour as Self - Narrator (voice)
- 2004 · Unforgivable Blackness: The Rise and Fall of Jack Johnson as Other Voices (voice)
- 2004 · Murder by Numbers as Self
- 2003 · The Second Uncanny Issue of X-Men! Making X2 as Self
- 2003 · The Evolution of an American Filmmaker as Self
- 2003 · X2 as William Stryker
- 2003 · Sin as Captain Oakes
- 2002 · Aleister Crowley: The Wickedest Man in the World as Narrator
- 2002 · Loch Lomond: Legend of the Loch as Narrator
- 2002 · Bug as Cyr
- 2002 · Rasputin: The Devil in the Flesh as Narrator
- 2002 · Masters of Darkness as Narrator
- 2001 · The Affair of the Necklace as Minister Breteuil
- 2001 · Inside 'Manhunter' as Himself
- 2000 · Saltwater as George Beneventi
- 2000 · Nuremberg as Herman Wilhelm Goering
- 2000 · Complicity as Inspector McDunn
- 2000 · The Making of 'Rushmore' as Self
- 1999 · The History of the British Police Force as Narrator (voice)
- 1998 · Poodle Springs as Clayton Blackstone
- 1998 · Battle of the Clans as Narrator
- 1998 · Merchants of Venus as Uncle Vladimir
- 1997 · Food for Ravens as Aneurin Bevan
- 1997 · Sharpe: The Legend as Hogan
- 1997 · I, Caesar – The Rise and Fall of the Roman Empire as Narrator
- 1996 · Witness Against Hitler as Judge Freisler
- 1994 · The Maltese Double Cross as Narrator (voice)
- 1994 · The Negotiator as Charlie King
- 1994 · Grushko as Colonel Yevgeni Grushko
- 1993 · Sharpe's Eagle as Major Michael Hogan
- 1993 · Sharpe's Rifles as Major Michael Hogan
- 1992 · The Big Battalions as Edward Hoyland
- 1992 · The Lost Language of Cranes as Owen Benjamin
- 1992 · The Cloning of Joanna May as Carl May
- 1991 · Red Fox as Geoffrey Harrison
- 1990 · Hidden Agenda as Peter Kerrigan
- 1986 · Home Cooking as Vic
- 1980 · Dalhousie's Luck as Dalhousie
- Future · The Planets as
- Future · Wittgenstein's Poker as Bertrand Russell (voice)
- 1989 · The Blasphemers' Banquet as Rev. Wallace (voice)
- 1989 · Murder on the Moon as Voronov
- 1988 · Beryl Markham: A Shadow on the Sun as Jack Purves
- 1987 · Acting as
- 1987 · Shoot for the Sun as Dunny
- 1987 · Rat in the Skull as Detective Inspector Nelson
- 1986 · Manhunter as Dr. Hannibal Lecktor
- 1985 · Florence Nightingale as Dr. McGregor
- 1985 · The Cantor of St Thomas's as Johann Sebastian Bach
- 1984 · Pope John Paul II as Father Góra
- 1983 · King Lear as Burgundy
- 1981 · House on the Hill as Leon Douglas
- 1978 · The Devil's Crown as Henry II
- 1975 · In Celebration as Steven Shaw
- 1970 · Manhunt as Anton
- 1967 · The Gamblers as Mickey
- 1967 · ITV Playhouse as Apeman
- 1965 · BBC Play of the Month as Alsemero
- 1965 · A Knight in Tarnished Armour as Nelson
- 1964 · Theatre 625 as Lasar Opie
- Future · The Sunrise File as Oded Ailam (voice)
- Future · A Modern Magician as The Voice