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 · 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)
- 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 · The Late Show with Stephen Colbert as Self - Guest
- 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
- 2010 · RED as Ivan Simanov
- 2009 · Fantastic Mr. Fox as Action 12 Reporter (voice)
- 2009 · Kings as King Vesper Abaddon
- 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 · The One Show as Self - Guest
- 2005 · The Colbert Report as
- 2004 · The Tony Danza Show as Self
- 2004 · The Bourne Supremacy as Ward Abbott
- 2004 · Troy as Agamemnon
- 2004 · Deadwood as Jack Langrishe
- 2003 · Real Time with Bill Maher as Self
- 2003 · Jimmy Kimmel Live! as Self - Guest
- 2002 · Top Gear as Self
- 2002 · The Ring as Richard Morgan
- 2002 · The Bourne Identity as Ward Abbott
- 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
- 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 · French & Saunders as King Lear
- 1987 · Inspector Morse as Michael Steppings
- 1979 · Minder as Frank
- 1979 · Question Time as Self - Panellist
- 1977 · Target as Billy Voss
- 1974 · Churchill's People as William Wallace
- 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
- 1967 · ITV Playhouse as Apeman
- 1965 · BBC Play of the Month as Alsemero
- 1965 · Thirty-Minute Theatre as Josef Stalin
- 1965 · Thirty-Minute Theatre as Rod
- 1964 · The Wednesday Play as Nelson
- 1964 · Theatre 625 as Lasar Opie
- Future · Have I Got a Bit More News for You as Himself - Panellist
- 2026 · Super Troopers 3 as Capt. John O’Hagan
- 2025 · The Marbles as Self - Interviewee
- 2025 · VE Day 80 as Self
- 2023 · Shakespeare: Rise of a Genius as Self
- 2023 · Prisoner's Daughter as Max
- 2023 · Quasi as Narrator (voice)
- 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
- 2021 · Oleg: The Oleg Vidov Story as Narrator (voice)
- 2019 · The Last Right as Father Reilly
- 2019 · Pretenders as Henry
- 2018 · The Etruscan Smile as Rory MacNeil
- 2017 · Churchill as Winston Churchill
- 2016 · The Carer as Sir Michael
- 2014 · The Gospel of John as Narrator (voice) – King James Version
- 2014 · Scotland In A Day as
- 2013 · An Adventure in Space and Time as Sydney Newman
- 2013 · The Curse of Edgar as Edgar Hoover
- 2013 · Bob Servant as Bob Servant
- 2012 · Blood as Lenny Fairburn
- 2011 · Exit Humanity as Malcolm Young (voice)
- 2011 · Edwin Boyd: Citizen Gangster as Glover
- 2011 · The Key Man as Irving
- 2010 · As Good As Dead as Reverend Kalahan
- 2009 · The Good Heart as Jacques
- 2009 · Tell-Tale as Van Doren
- 2008 · Agent Crush as Spanners (voice)
- 2008 · The Color of Magic - Die Reise des Zauberers Teil 2 as Narrator
- 2008 · The Color of Magic - Die Reise des Zauberers Teil 1 as Narrator
- 2007 · The Secret of the Nutcracker as Drosselmeyer
- 2007 · Shoot on Sight as Daniel Tennant
- 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
- 2005 · The Strange Case of Sherlock Holmes & Arthur Conan Doyle as Joseph Bell
- 2005 · Blue/Orange as Dr. Robert Smith
- 2004 · Murder by Numbers as Self
- 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
- 2002 · The Trials of Henry Kissinger as Self
- 2002 · Bug as Cyr
- 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 · Inside 'Manhunter' as Himself
- 2000 · Saltwater as George Beneventi
- 2000 · Mad About Mambo as Sidney McLoughlin
- 2000 · The Invention of Dr. Morel as Dr. Morel
- 2000 · The Making of 'Rushmore' as Self
- 1999 · The Minus Man as Doug
- 1998 · Merchants of Venus as Uncle Vladimir
- 1997 · Food for Ravens as Aneurin Bevan
- 1996 · Witness Against Hitler as Judge Freisler
- 1994 · Grushko as Colonel Yevgeni Grushko
- 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 Lost Language of Cranes as Owen Benjamin
- 1992 · The Cloning of Joanna May as Carl May
- 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
- 1987 · Acting as
- 1987 · Shoot for the Sun as Dunny
- 1982 · A Cotswold Death as Dr. Gillespie
- 1980 · Dalhousie's Luck as Dalhousie
- 1980 · Therese Raquin as Laurent LeClaire
- Future · Old Pals as Jimmy
- 2026 · The Sunrise File as Oded Ailam (voice)
- 2026 · Glenrothan as Sandy
- 2024 · Skelly as Grandpa
- 2023 · Mending the Line as Ike Fletcher
- 2021 · Amol Rajan Interviews as Self - Interviewed Guest
- 2017 · Bob Constructorul: Mega Mașini as Conrad / Crunch (voice)
- 2016 · Alan Clarke: Out of His Own Light as Self
- 2015 · Killing Thyme as Norman
- 2013 · Believe as Matt Busby
- 2013 · Blumenthal as Harold Blumenthal
- 2012 · Addicted to Pleasure as Self - Host
- 2012 · All at Sea as Wally
- 2010 · On Expenses as Michael Martin
- 2006 · Carry On Ken as Self
- 2005 · Hitler in Colour as Narrator
- 2004 · Lindsay Anderson: Lucky Man? as Self
- 2004 · Unforgivable Blackness: The Rise and Fall of Jack Johnson as Other Voices (voice)
- 2003 · X2 as William Stryker
- 2003 · Sin as Captain Oakes
- 2002 · The Biographer as Michael O'Mara
- 2001 · Strictly Sinatra as Chisolm
- 2000 · Complicity as Inspector McDunn
- 2000 · A Shot at Glory as Martin Smith
- 2000 · Longitude as Lord Morton
- 1997 · Sharpe: The Legend as Hogan
- 1997 · I, Caesar – The Rise and Fall of the Roman Empire as Narrator
- 1992 · The Cutter as
- 1991 · Red Fox as Geoffrey Harrison
- 1987 · Rat in the Skull as Detective Inspector Nelson
- 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 · The Privilege as Young Laird
- 1978 · The Devil's Crown as Henry II
- 1975 · In Celebration as Steven Shaw
- 1974 · The Changeling as Alsemero
- 1971 · Nicholas and Alexandra as Trotsky
- 1971 · Stage 2 as Hastings
- 1968 · The Year of the Sex Olympics as Lasar Opie
- Future · The Glove as
- 2025 · Raoul Wallenberg: Missing Inaction as Gustaf Wallenberg (voice)
- 2025 · The Parenting as Frank
- 2025 · AMR: Dying to Change the World as AMR
- 2024 · That Christmas as Santa (voice)
- 2024 · Unsinkable as Robert Dodds
- 2024 · Little Wing as Jaan Vari
- 2023 · 007: Road to a Million as The Controller
- 2023 · Made of Money with Brian Cox as
- 2023 · Bill Douglas: My Best Friend 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
- 2022 · Piers Morgan Uncensored as Self
- 2021 · The Simpsons: A Serious Flanders as Kostas Becker (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 · Strange but True as Bill
- 2019 · Remember Me as Shane
- 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 · 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 · Morgan as Jim Bryce
- 2015 · Forsaken as James McCurdy
- 2015 · Pacific Warriors as Narrator
- 2009 · Brian Cox's Jute Journey as Self
- 2005 · Japan's War in Colour as Self - Narrator (voice)
- Future · Wittgenstein's Poker as Bertrand Russell (voice)
- 2015 · Andrew Carnegie: Rags to Riches, Power to Peace as Andrew Carnegie (voice)
- 2014 · The Game as Daddy
- 2014 · The Great War: The People's Story as Rev. Andrew Clark
- 2014 · The Anomaly as Dr. Langham
- 2013 · Anna as Sebastian
- 2013 · RED 2 as Ivan
- 2012 · A Touch of Cloth as Bill Ball
- 2012 · The Campaign as Raymond
- 2012 · Tooned as The Mechanic
- 2012 · The Straits as Harry Montebello
- 2012 · I Missed My Mother's Funeral as Old Man
- 2011 · The Veteran as Gerry
- 2011 · Ironclad as Albany
- 2011 · Coriolanus as Menenius
- 2011 · The Sinking of the Laconia as Captain Sharp
- 2009 · The Day of the Triffids as Dennis Masen
- 2009 · The Take as Ozzy
- 2009 · Scooby-Doo! and the Samurai Sword as Green Dragon (voice)
- 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)
- 2005 · The Ringer as Gary Barker
- 2005 · Match Point as Alec Hewett
- 2005 · Red Eye as Joe Reisert
- 2003 · One Life as
- 2002 · 25th Hour as James Brogan
- 2002 · Adaptation. as Robert McKee
- 2002 · Aleister Crowley: The Wickedest Man in the World as Narrator
- 2002 · Loch Lomond: Legend of the Loch as Narrator
- 2002 · The Rookie as Jim Morris Sr.
- 2002 · Masters of Darkness as Narrator
- 2002 · Rasputin: The Devil in the Flesh as Narrator
- 2001 · Super Troopers as Captain O'Hagen
- 2000 · Nuremberg as Herman Wilhelm Goering
- 2000 · Longitude as Lord Morton
- 1999 · The History of the British Police Force as Narrator (voice)
- 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 · Battle of the Clans as Narrator
- 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 · 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 · Iron Will as Angus McTeague
- 1992 · Six Characters in Search of An Author as The Director
- 1992 · Shakespeare: The Animated Tales as Macbeth (voice)
- 1992 · The Cloning of Joanna May as Carl May
- 1992 · Deceptions as Carlton Heard
- 1990 · Perfect Scoundrels as Father Amedy
- 1988 · Beryl Markham: A Shadow on the Sun as Jack Purves
- Future · The Planets as
- 1989 · Brian Cox on Acting in Tragedy as Self
- 1988 · The Modern World: Ten Great Writers as Henrik Ibsen (voice)
- 1987 · Gramsci: Everything that Concerns People as Narrator
- 1986 · Unnatural Causes as Vic
- 1986 · Manhunter as Dr. Hannibal Lecktor
- 1985 · The Cantor of St Thomas's as Johann Sebastian Bach
- 1981 · House on the Hill as Leon Douglas
- 1980 · Hammer House of Horror as Chuck
- 1978 · Out as McGrath
- 1976 · Clay, Smeddum and Greenden as George Simpson
- 1975 · Shades of Greene as Harry
- 1970 · Manhunt as Anton
- 1967 · The Gamblers as Mickey
- 1965 · A Knight in Tarnished Armour as Nelson
- Future · A Modern Magician as The Voice



