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 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
- 2021 · Blade Runner: Black Lotus as Niander Wallace Sr. (voice)
- 2019 · Good Omens as Death (voice)
- 2018 · Succession as Logan Roy
- 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 · 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 · 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 · Shetland as Magnus Bain
- 2013 · The Last Leg as Self
- 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
- 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 · The Graham Norton Show as Self
- 2006 · The One Show as Self - Guest
- 2005 · The Ringer as Gary Barker
- 2005 · The Colbert Report as
- 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 · Real Time with Bill Maher as Self
- 2003 · Jimmy Kimmel Live! as Self - Guest
- 2002 · Adaptation. as Robert McKee
- 2002 · Top Gear as Self
- 2002 · The Ring as Richard Morgan
- 2002 · The Bourne Identity as Ward Abbott
- 2001 · Richard & Judy as Self
- 2001 · Super Troopers as John O'Hagen
- 2000 · Aqua Teen Hunger Force as Anubis (voice)
- 2000 · Nuremberg as Herman Wilhelm Goering
- 1999 · The Corruptor as Sean Wallace
- 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
- 1993 · Sharpe as Major Hogan
- 1991 · Performance as The Director
- 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
- 1987 · Inspector Morse as Michael Steppings
- 1979 · Minder as Frank
- 1979 · Question Time as Self - Panellist
- 1974 · Playhouse as Dalhousie
- 1972 · Van der Valk as Stefan Szabo
- 1971 · Great Performances as Self - Narration (voice)
- 1970 · Play for Today as Dr. Gillespie
- 1965 · BBC Play of the Month as Alsemero
- 1964 · Theatre 625 as Lasar Opie
- Future · Have I Got a Bit More News for You as Himself - Panellist
- 2026 · Super Troopers 3: Winter Soldiers as Capt. John O’Hagan
- 2025 · Glenrothan as Sandy
- 2025 · VE Day 80 as Self
- 2024 · Unsinkable as Robert Dodds
- 2023 · Made of Money with Brian Cox as
- 2023 · Prisoner's Daughter as Max
- 2023 · Mending the Line as Ike Fletcher
- 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 · Piers Morgan Uncensored as Self
- 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
- 2019 · The Last Right as Father Reilly
- 2019 · Strange But True as Bill
- 2018 · Widdershins as voice
- 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 · Alan Clarke: Out of His Own Light as Self
- 2015 · Killing Thyme as Norman
- 2015 · Pacific Warriors as Narrator
- 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 · Scotland In A Day as
- 2014 · The Great War: The People's Story as Rev. Andrew Clark
- 2013 · An Adventure in Space and Time as Sydney Newman
- 2013 · The Curse of Edgar as Edgar Hoover
- 2013 · Blumenthal as Harold Blumenthal
- 2013 · Bob Servant as Bob Servant
- 2012 · Addicted to Pleasure as Self - Host
- 2012 · Tooned as The Mechanic
- 2012 · All at Sea as Wally
- 2011 · Edwin Boyd: Citizen Gangster as Glover
- 2011 · The Key Man as Irving
- 2011 · Coriolanus as Menenius
- 2010 · On Expenses as
- 2010 · As Good As Dead as Reverend Kalahan
- 2009 · The Good Heart as Jacques
- 2009 · Scooby-Doo! and the Samurai Sword as Green Dragon (voice)
- 2007 · The Secret of the Nutcracker as Drosselmeyer
- 2007 · Shoot on Sight as Daniel Tennant
- 2007 · Battle for Terra as General Hemmer (voice)
- 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 Strange Case of Sherlock Holmes & Arthur Conan Doyle as Joseph Bell
- 2005 · Danny Phantom: Reign Storm as Pariah Dark (Voice)
- 2005 · Hitler in Colour as Narrator
- 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
- 2003 · One Life as
- 2001 · The Affair of the Necklace as Minister Breteuil
- 2000 · A Shot at Glory as Martin Smith
- 2000 · Mad About Mambo as Sidney McLoughlin
- 2000 · The Making of 'Rushmore' as Self
- 1999 · The Minus Man as Doug
- 1997 · Food for Ravens as Aneurin Bevan
- 1997 · I, Caesar – The Rise and Fall of the Roman Empire as Narrator
- 1996 · Witness Against Hitler as Judge Freisler
- 1994 · Prince of Jutland as Aethelwine
- 1992 · Six Characters in Search of An Author as The Director
- 1992 · The Cutter as
- 1992 · The Lost Language of Cranes as Owen Benjamin
- 1989 · Murder on the Moon as Voronov
- 1988 · Directed by Andrei Tarkovsky as Voiceover Narrator
- 1984 · Pope John Paul II as Father Góra
- 1982 · A Cotswold Death as Dr. Gillespie
- 1980 · Therese Raquin as Laurent
- 1976 · Clay, Smeddum and Greenden as George Simpson
- 1974 · The Changeling as Alsemero
- 1971 · Nicholas and Alexandra as Trotsky
- Future · Old Pals as Jimmy
- Future · Wittgenstein's Poker as Bertrand Russell (voice)
- 2003 · X2 as William Stryker
- 2001 · L.I.E. as Big John Harrigan
- 2001 · Strictly Sinatra as Chisolm
- 2001 · Inside 'Manhunter' as Himself
- 1999 · For Love of the Game as Gary Wheeler
- 1998 · Merchants of Venus as Uncle Vladimir
- 1997 · The Boxer as Joe Hamill
- 1997 · Sharpe: The Legend as Hogan
- 1996 · The Glimmer Man as Mr. Smith
- 1994 · Iron Will as Angus McTeague
- 1993 · Sharpe's Eagle as Major Michael Hogan
- 1993 · Sharpe's Rifles as Major Michael Hogan
- 1992 · Macbeth as Macbeth
- 1992 · The Big Battalions as Edward Hoyland
- 1992 · Deceptions as Carlton Heard
- 1990 · Perfect Scoundrels as Father Amedy
- 1988 · Beryl Markham: A Shadow on the Sun as Jack Purves
- 1987 · Acting as
- 1982 · The Privilege as Young Laird
- 1980 · Dalhousie's Luck as Dalhousie
- 1978 · Out as McGrath
- 1978 · The Devil's Crown as Henry II
- 1967 · The Gamblers as Mickey
- Future · The Planets as
- 1968 · The Year of the Sex Olympics as Lasar Opie
- Future · A Modern Magician as The Voice
- 2025 · The Marbles as Self - Interviewee
- 2025 · Raoul Wallenberg: Missing Inaction as Self — Gustaf Wallenberg (voice)
- 2025 · The Parenting as Frank
- 2025 · AMR: Dying to Change the World as AMR
- 2024 · That Christmas as Santa (voice)
- 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 · Bill Douglas: My Best Friend as Narrator (voice)
- 2023 · Quasi as Narrator (voice)
- 2023 · An Interview with Brian Cox as Himself
- 2022 · Bonnie as Self
- 2022 · The Independent as Nick Booker
- 2022 · Ukraine: Answering the Call as Self
- 2020 · John Rebus: The Lockdown Blues as John Rebus
- 2020 · Lawrence After Arabia as Father (Voice)
- 2019 · Pretenders as Henry
- 2019 · Remember Me as Shane
- 2018 · Kubrick by Candlelight as The Narrator
- 2017 · The Russell Howard Hour as Self
- 2017 · An Evening with Brian Cox as Himself
- 2016 · Darcey Bussell: My Life on the BBC as Self
- 2016 · Morgan as Jim Bryce
- 2016 · The Carer as Sir Michael
- 2014 · The Game as Daddy
- 2014 · The Anomaly as Dr. Langham
- 2013 · Anna as Sebastian
- 2013 · Believe as Matt Busby
- 2013 · RED 2 as Ivan
- 2012 · Blood as Lenny Fairburn
- 2012 · A Touch of Cloth as Bill Ball
- 2012 · The Campaign as Raymond
- 2012 · The Straits as Harry Montebello
- 2012 · I Missed My Mother's Funeral as Old Man
- 2011 · Exit Humanity as Malcolm Young (voice)
- 2011 · The Sinking of the Laconia as Captain Sharp
- 2009 · The Day of the Triffids as Dennis Masen
- 2009 · Brian Cox's Jute Journey as Self
- 2009 · The Take as Ozzy
- 2009 · Tell-Tale as Van Doren
- 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
- 2005 · Match Point as Alec Hewett
- 2005 · Red Eye as Joe Reisert
- 2005 · Blue/Orange as Dr. Robert Smith
- 2005 · Japan's War in Colour as Self - Narrator (voice)
- 2004 · Murder by Numbers as Self
- 2003 · The Evolution of an American Filmmaker as Self
- 2003 · Sin as Captain Oakes
- 2002 · 25th Hour as James Brogan
- 2002 · Aleister Crowley - The Wickedest Man in the World as Narrator
- 2002 · The Trials of Henry Kissinger as
- 2002 · The Biographer as Michael O'Mara
- 2002 · Loch Lomond: Legend of the Loch as Narrator
- 2002 · The Rookie as Jim Morris Sr.
- 2002 · Bug as Cyr
- 2002 · Rasputin: The Devil in the Flesh as Narrator
- 2002 · Smallpox 2002: Silent Weapon as Narrator
- 2000 · Saltwater as George Beneventi
- 2000 · Complicity as Inspector McDunn
- 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)
- 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 · 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 · Grushko as Colonel Yevgeni Grushko
- 1992 · Shakespeare: The Animated Tales as Macbeth (voice)
- 1992 · The Cloning of Joanna May as Carl May
- 1991 · Red Fox as Geoffrey Harrison
- 1990 · Hidden Agenda as Peter Kerrigan
- 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)
- 1988 · The Modern World: Ten Great Writers as Henrik Ibsen (voice)
- 1987 · Shoot for the Sun as Dunny
- 1987 · French & Saunders as King Lear
- 1965 · A Knight in Tarnished Armour as Nelson
- Future · The Glove as
- 1987 · Rat in the Skull as Detective Inspector Nelson
- 1987 · Gramsci: Everything that Concerns People as Narrator
- 1986 · Home Cooking as Vic
- 1986 · Unnatural Causes as Vic
- 1986 · Manhunter as Dr. Hannibal Lecktor
- 1985 · Florence Nightingale as Dr. McGregor
- 1985 · The Cantor of St Thomas's as Johann Sebastian Bach
- 1983 · King Lear as Burgundy
- 1981 · House on the Hill as Leon Douglas
- 1980 · Hammer House of Horror as Chuck
- 1977 · Target as Billy Voss
- 1975 · In Celebration as Steven Shaw
- 1974 · Churchill's People as William Wallace
- 1970 · Manhunt as Anton