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 · 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
- 2024 · Skelly as Grandpa
- 2023 · 007: Road to a Million as The Controller
- 2023 · Shakespeare: Rise of a Genius as Self
- 2022 · Bonnie as Self
- 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 · The Bay of Silence as Milton
- 2020 · Last Moment of Clarity as Gilles
- 2019 · Strange but True as Bill
- 2019 · Remember Me as Shane
- 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
- 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 · Blumenthal as Harold Blumenthal
- 2013 · RED 2 as Ivan
- 2013 · Shetland as Magnus Bain
- 2013 · The Last Leg as Self
- 2013 · Bob Servant as Bob Servant
- 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 · 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 · 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 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
- 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
- 2006 · The Outsiders as Gabriel
- 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
- 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 John O'Hagen
- 2000 · Aqua Teen Hunger Force as Anubis (voice)
- 2000 · Nuremberg as Herman Wilhelm Goering
- 2000 · A Shot at Glory as Martin Smith
- 2000 · Longitude as Lord Morton
- 2000 · Longitude as Lord Morton
- 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 · Desperate Measures as Captain Jeremiah Cassidy
- 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 · The Negotiator as Charlie King
- 1994 · Iron Will as Angus McTeague
- 1993 · Frasier as Harry Moon
- 1990 · Have I Got News for You as Self
- 1990 · Perfect Scoundrels as Father Amedy
- 1989 · The Simpsons as Kostas Becker (voice)
- 1988 · Directed by Andrei Tarkovsky as Voiceover Narrator
- 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
- 1986 · Home Cooking as Vic
- 1981 · House on the Hill as Leon Douglas
- 1980 · Hammer House of Horror as Chuck
- 1979 · Minder as Frank
- 1978 · Out as McGrath
- 1977 · Target as Billy Voss
- 1974 · Churchill's People as William Wallace
- 1974 · Playhouse as Dalhousie
- 1971 · Nicholas and Alexandra as Trotsky
- 1971 · Great Performances as Self - Narration (voice)
- 1970 · Play for Today as Dr. Gillespie
- 1970 · Manhunt as Anton
- 1965 · BBC Play of the Month as Alsemero
- Future · Have I Got a Bit More News for You as Himself - Panellist
- 2026 · Super Troopers 3: Winter Soldiers as Capt. John O’Hagan
- 2026 · Glenrothan as Sandy
- 2025 · VE Day 80 as Self
- 2024 · Little Wing as Jaan Vari
- 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
- 2021 · Amol Rajan Interviews as Self - Interviewed Guest
- 2020 · Lawrence After Arabia as Father (Voice)
- 2019 · Pretenders as Henry
- 2018 · Widdershins as voice
- 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
- 2016 · The Carer as Sir Michael
- 2015 · Killing Thyme as Norman
- 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
- 2012 · Addicted to Pleasure as Self - Host
- 2012 · Blood as Lenny Fairburn
- 2012 · All at Sea as Wally
- 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 · The Good Heart as Jacques
- 2009 · Tell-Tale as Van Doren
- 2007 · Shoot on Sight as Daniel Tennant
- 2006 · Running with Scissors as Dr. Finch
- 2006 · The Flying Scotsman as Douglas Baxter
- 2005 · The Strange Case of Sherlock Holmes & Arthur Conan Doyle as Joseph Bell
- 2004 · Unforgivable Blackness: The Rise and Fall of Jack Johnson as Other Voices (voice)
- 2004 · The Reckoning as Tobias
- 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 · The Trials of Henry Kissinger as Self
- 2002 · Bug as Cyr
- 2001 · The Affair of the Necklace as Minister Breteuil
- 2001 · Strictly Sinatra as Chisolm
- 2000 · Complicity as Inspector McDunn
- 2000 · Mad About Mambo as Sidney McLoughlin
- 2000 · The Making of 'Rushmore' as Self
- 1999 · The Minus Man as Doug
- 1998 · Merchants of Venus as Uncle Vladimir
- 1997 · The Boxer as Joe Hamill
- 1997 · Sharpe: The Legend as Hogan
- 1994 · Prince of Jutland as Aethelwine
- 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 Cutter as
- 1992 · The Lost Language of Cranes as Owen Benjamin
- 1992 · Deceptions as Carlton Heard
- 1990 · Hidden Agenda as Peter Kerrigan
- 1987 · Acting as
- 1985 · Florence Nightingale as Dr. McGregor
- 1982 · The Privilege as Young Laird
- 1980 · Therese Raquin as Laurent
- 1978 · The Devil's Crown as Henry II
- Future · Old Pals as Jimmy
- 2025 · The Marbles as Self - Interviewee
- 2025 · Raoul Wallenberg: Missing Inaction as Gustaf Wallenberg (voice)
- 2022 · Ooh the Banter! as Self
- 2021 · Oleg: The Oleg Vidov Story as Narrator (voice)
- 2019 · The Last Right as Father Reilly
- 2017 · Vegalta: Soccer, Tsunami and the Hope of a Nation as Narrator
- 2016 · Darcey Bussell: My Life on the BBC as Self
- 2016 · Alan Clarke: Out of His Own Light as Self
- 2015 · Pacific Warriors as Narrator
- 2012 · I Missed My Mother's Funeral as Old Man
- 2008 · Agent Crush as Spanners (voice)
- 2007 · The Secret of the Nutcracker as Drosselmeyer
- 2007 · A Woman in Winter as Dr. Hunt
- 2006 · Carry On Ken as Self
- 2005 · Hitler in Colour as Narrator
- 2005 · Blue/Orange as Dr. Robert Smith
- 2005 · Japan's War in Colour as Self - Narrator (voice)
- 2004 · Murder by Numbers as Self
- 2001 · Inside 'Manhunter' as Himself
- 2000 · Saltwater as George Beneventi
- 1997 · Food for Ravens as Aneurin Bevan
- 1996 · Witness Against Hitler as Judge Freisler
- 1994 · Grushko as Colonel Yevgeni Grushko
- 1992 · The Cloning of Joanna May as Carl May
- 1991 · Red Fox as Geoffrey Harrison
- 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
- 1984 · Pope John Paul II as Father Góra
- 1982 · A Cotswold Death as Dr. Gillespie
- 1974 · The Changeling as Alsemero
- 1968 · The Year of the Sex Olympics as Lasar Opie
- Future · The Planets as
- Future · Wittgenstein's Poker as Bertrand Russell (voice)
- Future · The Glove as
- Future · A Modern Magician as The Voice
- 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 · 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
- 2015 · Andrew Carnegie: Rags to Riches, Power to Peace as Andrew Carnegie (voice)
- 2014 · Scotland In A Day as
- 2009 · Brian Cox's Jute Journey as Self
- 2002 · Aleister Crowley: The Wickedest Man in the World as Narrator
- 2002 · The Biographer as Michael O'Mara
- 2002 · Loch Lomond: Legend of the Loch as Narrator
- 2002 · Rasputin: The Devil in the Flesh as Narrator
- 2002 · Masters of Darkness as Narrator
- 2002 · Smallpox 2002: Silent Weapon as Narrator
- 2000 · The Invention of Dr. Morel as Dr. Morel
- 1999 · The History of the British Police Force as Narrator (voice)
- 1998 · Battle of the Clans as Narrator
- 1997 · I, Caesar – The Rise and Fall of the Roman Empire as Narrator
- 1994 · The Maltese Double Cross as Narrator (voice)
- 1993 · Sharpe as Major Hogan
- 1992 · Six Characters in Search of An Author as The Director
- 1992 · Macbeth as Macbeth
- 1992 · Shakespeare: The Animated Tales as Macbeth (voice)
- 1991 · Performance as The Director
- 1989 · Brian Cox on Acting in Tragedy as Self
- 1988 · Beryl Markham: A Shadow on the Sun as Jack Purves
- 1987 · Shoot for the Sun as Dunny
- 1987 · Rat in the Skull as Detective Inspector Nelson
- 1987 · Gramsci: Everything that Concerns People as Narrator
- 1986 · Manhunter as Dr. Hannibal Lecktor
- 1985 · The Cantor of St Thomas's as Johann Sebastian Bach
- 1983 · King Lear as Burgundy
- 1980 · Dalhousie's Luck as Dalhousie
- 1979 · Question Time as Self - Panellist
- 1976 · Clay, Smeddum and Greenden as George Simpson
- 1975 · In Celebration as Steven Shaw
- 1972 · Van der Valk as Stefan Szabo
- 1967 · The Gamblers as Mickey
- 1965 · A Knight in Tarnished Armour as Nelson
- 1964 · Theatre 625 as Lasar Opie