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
- 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 · Prisoner's Daughter as Max
- 2022 · Bonnie as Self
- 2022 · The Independent as Nick Booker
- 2022 · Remembers… as
- 2022 · Piers Morgan Uncensored as Self
- 2021 · Separation as Rivers
- 2020 · The Bay of Silence as Milton
- 2020 · Last Moment of Clarity as Gilles
- 2019 · Strange but True as Bill
- 2018 · Succession as Logan Roy
- 2018 · Super Troopers 2 as John O'Hagen
- 2016 · The Autopsy of Jane Doe as Tommy Tilden
- 2015 · Forsaken as James McCurdy
- 2015 · The Late Show with Stephen Colbert as
- 2015 · The Late Show with Stephen Colbert as Self
- 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 · 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 · 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 · Tooned as The Mechanic
- 2012 · All at Sea as Wally
- 2012 · The Straits as Harry Montebello
- 2011 · The Jonathan Ross Show as Self
- 2011 · The Jonathan Ross Show as Self - Guest
- 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 · Kings as King Vesper Abaddon
- 2008 · Red as Avery Ludlow
- 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 · Zodiac as Melvin Belli
- 2007 · The Graham Norton Show as Self
- 2006 · The One Show as Self - Guest
- 2005 · The Colbert Report as
- 2004 · The Tony Danza Show as Self
- 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 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 · 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
- 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 · Rob Roy as Killearn
- 1994 · Iron Will as Angus McTeague
- 1993 · Frasier as Harry Moon
- 1992 · The Big Battalions as Edward Hoyland
- 1992 · Shakespeare: The Animated Tales as Macbeth (voice)
- 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 · Beryl Markham: A Shadow on the Sun as Jack Purves
- 1988 · Red Dwarf as The King
- 1988 · The Modern World: Ten Great Writers as Henrik Ibsen (voice)
- 1987 · Acting as
- 1986 · Unnatural Causes as Vic
- 1981 · House on the Hill as Leon Douglas
- 1980 · Therese Raquin as Laurent LeClaire
- 1979 · Minder as Frank
- 1979 · Question Time as Self - Panellist
- 1978 · Out as McGrath
- 1978 · The Devil's Crown as Henry II
- 1977 · Target as Billy Voss
- 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 · Glenrothan as Sandy
- 2024 · Skelly as Grandpa
- 2024 · Little Wing as Jaan Vari
- 2023 · Bill Douglas: My Best Friend as Narrator (voice)
- 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
- 2021 · Oleg: The Oleg Vidov Story as Narrator (voice)
- 2020 · Lawrence After Arabia as Father (Voice)
- 2019 · Pretenders as Henry
- 2019 · Remember Me as Shane
- 2018 · The Etruscan Smile as Rory MacNeil
- 2017 · Bob the Builder: Mega Machines - The Movie as Conrad / Crunch (voice)
- 2016 · The Carer as Sir Michael
- 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
- 2012 · Addicted to Pleasure as Self - Host
- 2012 · Blood as Lenny Fairburn
- 2011 · Exit Humanity as Malcolm Young (voice)
- 2011 · Edwin Boyd: Citizen Gangster as Glover
- 2010 · As Good As Dead as Reverend Kalahan
- 2009 · The Good Heart as Jacques
- 2009 · Tell-Tale as Van Doren
- 2009 · Scooby-Doo! and the Samurai Sword as Green Dragon (voice)
- 2008 · The Escapist as Frank Perry
- 2008 · Agent Crush as Spanners (voice)
- 2007 · The Secret of the Nutcracker as Drosselmeyer
- 2007 · Shoot on Sight as Daniel Tennant
- 2006 · Running with Scissors as Dr. Finch
- 2006 · The Outsiders as Gabriel
- 2006 · The Flying Scotsman as Douglas Baxter
- 2005 · The Ringer as Gary Barker
- 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
- 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 · X2 as William Stryker
- 2003 · Sin as Captain Oakes
- 2002 · Loch Lomond: Legend of the Loch as Narrator
- 2002 · Bug as Cyr
- 2001 · The Affair of the Necklace as Minister Breteuil
- 2001 · Strictly Sinatra as Chisolm
- 2000 · Saltwater as George Beneventi
- 2000 · Complicity as Inspector McDunn
- 2000 · A Shot at Glory as Martin Smith
- 1999 · The Minus Man as Doug
- 1998 · Merchants of Venus as Uncle Vladimir
- 1998 · Desperate Measures as Captain Jeremiah Cassidy
- 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
- 1994 · The Negotiator as Charlie King
- 1994 · Prince of Jutland as Aethelwine
- 1993 · Sharpe's Eagle as Major Michael Hogan
- 1993 · Sharpe's Rifles as Major Michael Hogan
- 1992 · The Lost Language of Cranes as Owen Benjamin
- 1991 · Red Fox as Geoffrey Harrison
- 1990 · Hidden Agenda as Peter Kerrigan
- 1988 · Directed by Andrei Tarkovsky as Voiceover Narrator
- 1987 · Rat in the Skull as Detective Inspector Nelson
- 1986 · Home Cooking as Vic
- 1985 · Florence Nightingale as Dr. McGregor
- 1982 · A Cotswold Death as Dr. Gillespie
- 1967 · The Gamblers as Mickey
- Future · The Glove as
- 2026 · Super Troopers 3: Winter Soldiers as Capt. John O’Hagan
- 2025 · Raoul Wallenberg: Missing Inaction as Gustaf Wallenberg (voice)
- 2023 · Made of Money with Brian Cox as
- 2022 · Ooh the Banter! as Self
- 2022 · Ukraine: Answering the Call as Self
- 2020 · John Rebus: The Lockdown Blues as John Rebus
- 2019 · The Last Right as Father Reilly
- 2017 · An Evening with Brian Cox as Himself
- 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
- 2007 · A Woman in Winter as Dr. Hunt
- 2006 · Carry On Ken as Self
- 2005 · Japan's War in Colour as Self - Narrator (voice)
- 2003 · The Evolution of an American Filmmaker as Self
- 2002 · The Trials of Henry Kissinger as Self
- 2002 · Masters of Darkness as Narrator
- 2002 · Smallpox 2002: Silent Weapon as Narrator
- 2001 · Inside 'Manhunter' as Himself
- 2000 · Mad About Mambo as Sidney McLoughlin
- 1999 · The History of the British Police Force as Narrator (voice)
- 1996 · Witness Against Hitler as Judge Freisler
- 1994 · Grushko as Colonel Yevgeni Grushko
- 1992 · Macbeth as Macbeth
- 1992 · The Cutter as
- 1992 · The Cloning of Joanna May as Carl May
- 1990 · The Making of 'Hidden Agenda' as self
- 1989 · Murder on the Moon as Voronov
- 1976 · Clay, Smeddum and Greenden as George Simpson
- 1975 · In Celebration as Steven Shaw
- 1974 · The Changeling as Alsemero
- Future · Old Pals as Jimmy
- 1968 · The Year of the Sex Olympics as Lasar Opie
- Future · Wittgenstein's Poker as Bertrand Russell (voice)
- 2025 · The Marbles as Self - Interviewee
- 2025 · AMR: Dying to Change the World as AMR
- 2025 · The Electric State as Popfly (voice)
- 2024 · The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim as Helm Hammerhand (voice)
- 2023 · An Interview with Brian Cox as Himself
- 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 · Kubrick by Candlelight as The Narrator
- 2018 · Widdershins as voice
- 2017 · The Russell Howard Hour as Self
- 2017 · Carpool Karaoke: The Series as Self
- 2017 · Churchill as Winston Churchill
- 2017 · Vegalta: Soccer, Tsunami and the Hope of a Nation as Narrator
- 2016 · Medici: Masters of Florence as Bernardo Guadagni
- 2016 · Morgan as Jim Bryce
- 2016 · Alan Clarke: Out of His Own Light as Self
- 2016 · War and Peace as Mikhail Kutuzov
- 2015 · Pixels as Admiral Porter
- 2014 · Penny Dreadful as Jared Talbot
- 2013 · Her as Alan Watts (voice)
- 2012 · The Campaign as Raymond
- 2012 · I Missed My Mother's Funeral as Old Man
- 2011 · Celebrity Antiques Road Trip as Self - Participant
- 2011 · Rise of the Planet of the Apes as John Landon
- 2011 · The Key Man as Irving
- 2010 · RED as Ivan Simanov
- 2010 · On Expenses as
- 2009 · Fantastic Mr. Fox as Action 12 Reporter (voice)
- 2009 · Brian Cox's Jute Journey as Self
- 2007 · The Bourne Ultimatum as Ward Abbott (voice) (archive footage) (uncredited)
- 2007 · M.I. High as Voice of the Mastermind
- 2005 · Match Point as Alec Hewett
- 2005 · Red Eye as Joe Reisert
- 2004 · The Bourne Supremacy as Ward Abbott
- 2004 · Troy as King Agamemnon
- 2004 · Murder by Numbers as Self
- 2002 · Aleister Crowley: The Wickedest Man in the World as Narrator
- 2002 · The Ring as Richard Morgan
- 2002 · The Biographer as Michael O'Mara
- 2002 · The Bourne Identity as Ward Abbott
- 2002 · Rasputin: The Devil in the Flesh as Narrator
- 2000 · The Invention of Dr. Morel as Dr. Morel
- 2000 · The Making of 'Rushmore' as Self
- 1998 · Battle of the Clans as Narrator
- 1995 · Braveheart as Argyle Wallace
- 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 · Deceptions as Carlton Heard
- 1991 · Performance as The Director
- 1990 · Secret Weapon as Andrew Neil
- 1989 · Brian Cox on Acting in Tragedy as Self
- 1989 · The Blasphemers' Banquet as Rev. Wallace (voice)
- 1987 · Shoot for the Sun as Dunny
- 1987 · French & Saunders as King Lear
- 1987 · Inspector Morse as Michael Steppings
- 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
- 1984 · Pope John Paul II as Father Góra
- 1983 · King Lear as Burgundy
- 1982 · The Privilege as Young Laird
- 1980 · Hammer House of Horror as Chuck
- 1980 · Dalhousie's Luck as Dalhousie
- 1974 · Churchill's People as William Wallace
- 1972 · Van der Valk as Stefan Szabo
- Future · The Planets as
- Future · A Modern Magician as The Voice
- 1965 · A Knight in Tarnished Armour as Nelson
- 1964 · Theatre 625 as Lasar Opie
- Future · The Sunrise File as Oded Ailam (voice)



