Brian Cox

Born: 1946-06-01 in Dundee, Scotland, UK

Known For: Acting

Biography

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.

Filmography

2026

Glenrothan as Sandy
Super Troopers 3 as Capt. John O’Hagan
The Sunrise File as Oded Ailam (voice)

2025

Dexter: Resurrection as New York Ripper
The Electric State as Popfly (voice)
The Parenting as Frank
VE Day 80 as Self
The Marbles as Self - Interviewee
Raoul Wallenberg: Missing Inaction as Gustaf Wallenberg (voice)
AMR: Dying to Change the World as AMR
Seven Jewish Children ... (Executive Producer)

2024

The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim as Helm Hammerhand (voice)
That Christmas as Santa (voice)
Unsinkable as Robert Dodds
Little Wing as Jaan Vari
Skelly as Grandpa

2023

007: Road to a Million as The Controller
Shakespeare: Rise of a Genius as Self
Quasi as Narrator (voice)
Prisoner's Daughter as Max
Mending the Line as Ike Fletcher
Made of Money with Brian Cox
Bill Douglas: My Best Friend as Narrator (voice)
An Interview with Brian Cox as Himself

2022

Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg as Self – Actor
Remembers…
Bonnie as Self
The Independent as Nick Booker
Piers Morgan Uncensored as Self
Peter O'Toole: Along the Sky Road to Aqaba as Self
Brian Cox: How The Other Half Live as Presenter
Ooh the Banter! as Self
Ukraine: Answering the Call as Self

2021

Blade Runner: Black Lotus as Niander Wallace Sr. (voice)
Separation as Rivers
Amol Rajan Interviews as Self - Interviewed Guest
Oleg: The Oleg Vidov Story as Narrator (voice)
The Simpsons: A Serious Flanders as Kostas Becker (voice)

2020

Last Moment of Clarity as Gilles
The Bay of Silence as Milton
Lawrence After Arabia as Father (Voice)
John Rebus: The Lockdown Blues as John Rebus

2019

Good Omens as Death (voice)
Strange but True as Bill
Remember Me as Shane
The Last Right as Father Reilly
Pretenders as Henry

2018

Succession as Logan Roy
Super Troopers 2 as John O'Hagen
The Etruscan Smile as Rory MacNeil
Kubrick by Candlelight as The Narrator
Widdershins as voice

2017

Carpool Karaoke: The Series as Self
The Russell Howard Hour as Self
Churchill as Winston Churchill
Bob the Builder: Mega Machines - The Movie as Conrad / Crunch (voice)
Brian Cox's Russia as Host
An Evening with Brian Cox as Himself
Vegalta: Soccer, Tsunami and the Hope of a Nation as Narrator

2016

Medici: Masters of Florence as Bernardo Guadagni
The Autopsy of Jane Doe as Tommy Tilden
War and Peace as Mikhail Kutuzov
Morgan as Jim Bryce
The Carer as Sir Michael
Alan Clarke: Out of His Own Light as Self
Darcey Bussell: My Life on the BBC as Self

2015

The Late Show with Stephen Colbert as Self - Guest
Pixels as Admiral Porter
The Slap as Manolis
Forsaken as James McCurdy
Killing Thyme as Norman
Pacific Warriors as Narrator
Andrew Carnegie: Rags to Riches, Power to Peace as Andrew Carnegie (voice)

2014

The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon as Self
Late Night with Seth Meyers as Self
Last Week Tonight with John Oliver as God
Variety Studio: Actors on Actors as Self
Penny Dreadful as Jared Talbot
The Game as Daddy
The Anomaly as Dr. Langham
The Great War: The People's Story as Rev. Andrew Clark
The Gospel of John as Narrator (voice) – King James Version
Scotland In A Day

2013

Shetland as Magnus Bain
The Last Leg as Self
Her as Alan Watts (voice)
RED 2 as Ivan
Anna as Sebastian
Bob Servant as Bob Servant
An Adventure in Space and Time as Sydney Newman
Believe as Matt Busby
Blumenthal as Harold Blumenthal
The Curse of Edgar as Edgar Hoover

2012

A Touch of Cloth as Bill Ball
The Campaign as Raymond
The Straits as Harry Montebello
Tooned as The Mechanic
Blood as Lenny Fairburn
All at Sea as Wally
Addicted to Pleasure as Self - Host
I Missed My Mother's Funeral as Old Man

2011

The Jonathan Ross Show as Self
Celebrity Antiques Road Trip as Self - Participant
Rise of the Planet of the Apes as John Landon
Ironclad as Albany
The Sinking of the Laconia as Captain Sharp
Coriolanus as Menenius
The Veteran as Gerry
Exit Humanity as Malcolm Young (voice)
Edwin Boyd: Citizen Gangster as Glover
The Key Man as Irving

2010

RED as Ivan Simanov
As Good As Dead as Reverend Kalahan
On Expenses as Michael Martin

2009

Fantastic Mr. Fox as Action 12 Reporter (voice)
Kings as King Vesper Abaddon
The Take as Ozzy
The Day of the Triffids as Dennis Masen
Scooby-Doo! and the Samurai Sword as Green Dragon (voice)
Tell-Tale as Van Doren
The Good Heart as Jacques
Brian Cox's Jute Journey as Self

2008

The Colour of Magic as Narrator
Red as Avery Ludlow
The Escapist as Frank Perry
Agent Crush as Spanners (voice)
The Color of Magic - Die Reise des Zauberers Teil 2 as Narrator
The Color of Magic - Die Reise des Zauberers Teil 1 as Narrator

2007

The Graham Norton Show as Self
Zodiac as Melvin Belli
The Bourne Ultimatum as Ward Abbott (voice) (archive footage) (uncredited)
M.I. High as Voice of the Mastermind
Trick 'r Treat as Mr. Kreeg
The Water Horse as Old Angus
Battle for Terra as General Hemmer (voice)
Shoot on Sight as Daniel Tennant
The Secret of the Nutcracker as Drosselmeyer
A Woman in Winter as Dr. Hunt

2006

The One Show as Self - Guest
Running with Scissors as Dr. Finch
The Flying Scotsman as Douglas Baxter
Carry On Ken as Self
The Outsiders as Gabriel

2001

Richard & Judy as Self
Super Troopers as Captain O'Hagen
L.I.E. as Big John Harrigan
The Affair of the Necklace as Minister Breteuil
Inside 'Manhunter' as Himself
Strictly Sinatra as Chisolm

2000

Aqua Teen Hunger Force as Anubis (voice)
Nuremberg as Herman Wilhelm Goering
Longitude as Lord Morton
Longitude as Lord Morton
Mad About Mambo as Sidney McLoughlin
A Shot at Glory as Martin Smith
Complicity as Inspector McDunn
Saltwater as George Beneventi
The Making of 'Rushmore' as Self
The Invention of Dr. Morel as Dr. Morel

1999

For Love of the Game as Gary Wheeler
The Corruptor as Sean Wallace
The Minus Man as Doug
The History of the British Police Force as Narrator (voice)

1998

Rushmore as Dr. Nelson Guggenheim
Desperate Measures as Captain Jeremiah Cassidy
Poodle Springs as Clayton Blackstone
Merchants of Venus as Uncle Vladimir
Battle of the Clans as Narrator

1997

Oz ... (Director)
Kiss the Girls as Chief Hatfield, Durham PD
The Boxer as Joe Hamill
Sharpe: The Legend as Hogan
I, Caesar – The Rise and Fall of the Roman Empire as Narrator
Food for Ravens as Aneurin Bevan

1996

The Daily Show as Self
Superman: The Animated Series as Dr. Earl Garver (voice)
The Long Kiss Goodnight as Dr. Nathan Waldman
Chain Reaction as Lyman Earl Collier
The Glimmer Man as Mr. Smith
Witness Against Hitler as Judge Freisler

1995

Braveheart as Argyle Wallace
Rob Roy as Killearn

1994

Iron Will as Angus McTeague
Prince of Jutland as Aethelwine
The Negotiator as Charlie King
The Maltese Double Cross as Narrator (voice)
Grushko as Colonel Yevgeni Grushko

1993

Frasier as Harry Moon
Sharpe as Major Hogan
Sharpe's Rifles as Major Michael Hogan
Sharpe's Eagle as Major Michael Hogan

1992

Shakespeare: The Animated Tales as Macbeth (voice)
The Cloning of Joanna May as Carl May
The Big Battalions as Edward Hoyland
The Cutter
The Lost Language of Cranes as Owen Benjamin
The Cloning of Joanna May as Carl May
Six Characters in Search of An Author as The Director
Deceptions as Carlton Heard

1991

Performance as The Director
Red Fox as Geoffrey Harrison

1990

Have I Got News for You as Self
Perfect Scoundrels as Father Amedy
Hidden Agenda as Peter Kerrigan
Secret Weapon as Andrew Neil
The Making of 'Hidden Agenda' as self

1989

The Simpsons as Kostas Becker (voice)
Murder on the Moon as Voronov
The Blasphemers' Banquet as Rev. Wallace (voice)
Brian Cox on Acting in Tragedy as Self

1988

LIVE with Kelly and Mark as Self - Guest
Red Dwarf as The King
The Modern World: Ten Great Writers as Henrik Ibsen (voice)
Beryl Markham: A Shadow on the Sun as Jack Purves
Directed by Andrei Tarkovsky as Voiceover Narrator

1987

Inspector Morse as Michael Steppings
French & Saunders as King Lear
Acting
Rat in the Skull as Detective Inspector Nelson
Shoot for the Sun as Dunny
Gramsci: Everything that Concerns People as Narrator

1986

Unnatural Causes as Vic
Home Cooking as Vic
Manhunter as Dr. Hannibal Lecktor

1985

Florence Nightingale as Dr. McGregor
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
A Cotswold Death as Dr. Gillespie

1981

House on the Hill as Leon Douglas

1980

Hammer House of Horror as Chuck
Therese Raquin as Laurent LeClaire
Dalhousie's Luck as Dalhousie

1979

Minder as Frank
Question Time as Self - Panellist

1978

Out as McGrath
The Devil's Crown as Henry II

1977

Target as Billy Voss

1976

Clay, Smeddum and Greenden as George Simpson

1975

Shades of Greene as Harry
In Celebration as Steven Shaw

1974

Playhouse as Dalhousie
Churchill's People as William Wallace
The Changeling as Alsemero

1972

Van der Valk as Stefan Szabo

1971

Great Performances as Self - Narration (voice)
Nicholas and Alexandra as Trotsky
Stage 2 as Hastings

1970

Play for Today as Dr. Gillespie
Manhunt as Anton

1968

The Year of the Sex Olympics as Lasar Opie

1967

ITV Playhouse as Apeman
The Gamblers as Mickey

1965

BBC Play of the Month as Alsemero
Thirty-Minute Theatre as Josef Stalin
A Knight in Tarnished Armour as Nelson

1964

Theatre 625 as Lasar Opie
The Wednesday Play as Nelson