Acting · Dundee, Scotland, UK · Born June 1, 1946
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.
MovieSuper Troopers 3
2026
as Capt. John O’Hagan
MovieThe Sunrise File
2026
as Oded Ailam (voice)
MovieGlenrothan
2026
as Sandy
MovieThe Marbles
2025
as Self - Interviewee
MovieRaoul Wallenberg: Missing Inaction
2025
as Gustaf Wallenberg (voice)
TVDexter: Resurrection
2025
as New York Ripper
TVVE Day 80
2025
as Self
MovieThe Parenting
2025
as Frank
AMR: Dying to Change the World
2025
as AMR
MovieThe Electric State
2025
as Popfly (voice)
MovieThe Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim
2024
as Helm Hammerhand (voice)
MovieThat Christmas
2024
as Santa (voice)
TVUnsinkable
2024
as Robert Dodds
MovieSkelly
2024
as Grandpa
MovieLittle Wing
2024
as Jaan Vari
TV007: Road to a Million
2023
as The Controller
TVShakespeare: Rise of a Genius
2023
as Self
TVMade of Money with Brian Cox
2023
MovieBill Douglas: My Best Friend
2023
as Narrator (voice)
MoviePrisoner's Daughter
2023
as Max
MovieMending the Line
2023
as Ike Fletcher
MovieQuasi
2023
as Narrator (voice)
MovieAn Interview with Brian Cox
2023
as Himself
MovieOoh the Banter!
2022
as Self
MoviePeter O'Toole: Along the Sky Road to Aqaba
2022
as Self
TVBrian Cox: How The Other Half Live
2022
as Presenter
MovieBonnie
2022
as Self
MovieThe Independent
2022
as Nick Booker
TVSunday with Laura Kuenssberg
2022
as Self – Actor
MovieUkraine: Answering the Call
2022
as Self
TVRemembers…
2022
TVPiers Morgan Uncensored
2022
as Self
TVBlade Runner: Black Lotus
2021
as Niander Wallace Sr. (voice)
MovieThe Simpsons: A Serious Flanders
2021
as Kostas Becker (voice)
TVAmol Rajan Interviews
2021
as Self - Interviewed Guest
MovieSeparation
2021
as Rivers
MovieOleg: The Oleg Vidov Story
2021
as Narrator (voice)
MovieThe Bay of Silence
2020
as Milton
MovieJohn Rebus: The Lockdown Blues
2020
as John Rebus
MovieLast Moment of Clarity
2020
as Gilles
MovieLawrence After Arabia
2020
as Father (Voice)
MovieThe Last Right
2019
as Father Reilly
MovieStrange but True
2019
as Bill
MoviePretenders
2019
as Henry
MovieRemember Me
2019
as Shane
TVGood Omens
2019
as Death (voice)
MovieKubrick by Candlelight
2018
as The Narrator
MovieWiddershins
2018
as voice
TVSuccession
2018
as Logan Roy
MovieSuper Troopers 2
2018
as John O'Hagen
MovieThe Etruscan Smile
2018
as Rory MacNeil
TVThe Russell Howard Hour
2017
as Self
TVCarpool Karaoke: The Series
2017
as Self
An Evening with Brian Cox
2017
as Himself
MovieBob Constructorul: Mega Mașini
2017
as Conrad / Crunch (voice)
MovieChurchill
2017
as Winston Churchill
TVBrian Cox's Russia
2017
as Host
MovieVegalta: Soccer, Tsunami and the Hope of a Nation
2017
as Narrator
MovieDarcey Bussell: My Life on the BBC
2016
as Self
MovieThe Autopsy of Jane Doe
2016
as Tommy Tilden
TVMedici: Masters of Florence
2016
as Bernardo Guadagni
MovieMorgan
2016
as Jim Bryce
MovieThe Carer
2016
as Sir Michael
MovieAlan Clarke: Out of His Own Light
2016
as Self
TVWar and Peace
2016
as Mikhail Kutuzov
MovieKilling Thyme
2015
as Norman
MovieForsaken
2015
as James McCurdy
MoviePacific Warriors
2015
as Narrator
TVThe Late Show with Stephen Colbert
2015
as Self - Guest
MoviePixels
2015
as Admiral Porter
MovieAndrew Carnegie: Rags to Riches, Power to Peace
2015
as Andrew Carnegie (voice)
TVThe Slap
2015
as Manolis
TVVariety Studio: Actors on Actors
2014
as Self
MovieThe Gospel of John
2014
as Narrator (voice) – King James Version
TVThe Game
2014
as Daddy
Scotland In A Day
2014
TVThe Great War: The People's Story
2014
as Rev. Andrew Clark
MovieThe Anomaly
2014
as Dr. Langham
TVPenny Dreadful
2014
as Jared Talbot
TVLast Week Tonight with John Oliver
2014
as God
TVLate Night with Seth Meyers
2014
as Self
TVThe Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon
2014
as Self
MovieHer
2013
as Alan Watts (voice)
MovieAn Adventure in Space and Time
2013
as Sydney Newman
MovieThe Curse of Edgar
2013
as Edgar Hoover
MovieAnna
2013
as Sebastian
MovieBelieve
2013
as Matt Busby
Blumenthal
2013
as Harold Blumenthal
MovieRED 2
2013
as Ivan
TVShetland
2013
as Magnus Bain
TVThe Last Leg
2013
as Self
TVBob Servant
2013
as Bob Servant
TVAddicted to Pleasure
2012
as Self - Host
MovieBlood
2012
as Lenny Fairburn
TVA Touch of Cloth
2012
as Bill Ball
MovieThe Campaign
2012
as Raymond
TVTooned
2012
as The Mechanic
MovieAll at Sea
2012
as Wally
TVThe Straits
2012
as Harry Montebello
I Missed My Mother's Funeral
2012
as Old Man
TVCelebrity Antiques Road Trip
2011
as Self - Participant
MovieExit Humanity
2011
as Malcolm Young (voice)
MovieEdwin Boyd: Citizen Gangster
2011
as Glover
TVThe Jonathan Ross Show
2011
as Self
MovieRise of the Planet of the Apes
2011
as John Landon
MovieThe Veteran
2011
as Gerry
MovieIronclad
2011
as Albany
MovieThe Key Man
2011
as Irving
MovieCoriolanus
2011
as Menenius
TVThe Sinking of the Laconia
2011
as Captain Sharp
MovieRED
2010
as Ivan Simanov
MovieOn Expenses
2010
as Michael Martin
MovieAs Good As Dead
2010
as Reverend Kalahan
TVThe Day of the Triffids
2009
as Dennis Masen
MovieFantastic Mr. Fox
2009
as Action 12 Reporter (voice)
MovieBrian Cox's Jute Journey
2009
as Self
MovieThe Good Heart
2009
as Jacques
TVThe Take
2009
as Ozzy
MovieTell-Tale
2009
as Van Doren
MovieScooby-Doo! and the Samurai Sword
2009
as Green Dragon (voice)
TVKings
2009
as King Vesper Abaddon
MovieRed
2008
as Avery Ludlow
MovieThe Escapist
2008
as Frank Perry
TVThe Colour of Magic
2008
as Narrator
MovieAgent Crush
2008
as Spanners (voice)
MovieThe Color of Magic - Die Reise des Zauberers Teil 1
2008
as Narrator
MovieThe Color of Magic - Die Reise des Zauberers Teil 2
2008
as Narrator
MovieThe Water Horse
2007
as Old Angus
MovieThe Secret of the Nutcracker
2007
as Drosselmeyer
MovieShoot on Sight
2007
as Daniel Tennant
MovieTrick 'r Treat
2007
as Mr. Kreeg
MovieBattle for Terra
2007
as General Hemmer (voice)
MovieThe Bourne Ultimatum
2007
as Ward Abbott (voice) (archive footage) (uncredited)
MovieA Woman in Winter
2007
as Dr. Hunt
MovieZodiac
2007
as Melvin Belli
TVThe Graham Norton Show
2007
as Self
TVM.I. High
2007
as Voice of the Mastermind
MovieRunning with Scissors
2006
as Dr. Finch
The Outsiders
2006
as Gabriel
MovieThe Flying Scotsman
2006
as Douglas Baxter
TVThe One Show
2006
as Self - Guest
MovieCarry On Ken
2006
as Self
MovieThe Ringer
2005
as Gary Barker
MovieMatch Point
2005
as Alec Hewett
TVThe Colbert Report
2005
MovieThe Strange Case of Sherlock Holmes & Arthur Conan Doyle
2005
as Joseph Bell
MovieRed Eye
2005
as Joe Reisert
MovieHitler in Colour
2005
as Narrator
MovieBlue/Orange
2005
as Dr. Robert Smith
MovieJapan's War in Colour
2005
as Self - Narrator (voice)
Lindsay Anderson: Lucky Man?
2004
as Self
The Tony Danza Show
2004
as Self
MovieUnforgivable Blackness: The Rise and Fall of Jack Johnson
2004
as Other Voices (voice)
MovieThe Bourne Supremacy
2004
as Ward Abbott
MovieTroy
2004
as Agamemnon
TVDeadwood
2004
as Jack Langrishe
MovieMurder by Numbers
2004
as Self
MovieThe Reckoning
2004
as Tobias
MovieThe Second Uncanny Issue of X-Men! Making X2
2003
as Self
One Life
2003
MovieThe Evolution of an American Filmmaker
2003
as Self
MovieX2
2003
as William Stryker
TVReal Time with Bill Maher
2003
as Self
TVJimmy Kimmel Live!
2003
as Self - Guest
MovieSin
2003
as Captain Oakes
Movie25th Hour
2002
as James Brogan
MovieAdaptation.
2002
as Robert McKee
Aleister Crowley: The Wickedest Man in the World
2002
as Narrator
TVTop Gear
2002
as Self
MovieThe Ring
2002
as Richard Morgan
MovieThe Trials of Henry Kissinger
2002
as Self
MovieThe Biographer
2002
as Michael O'Mara
MovieThe Bourne Identity
2002
as Ward Abbott
MovieLoch Lomond: Legend of the Loch
2002
as Narrator
MovieThe Rookie
2002
as Jim Morris Sr.
MovieBug
2002
as Cyr
MovieRasputin: The Devil in the Flesh
2002
as Narrator
Masters of Darkness
2002
as Narrator
MovieSmallpox 2002: Silent Weapon
2002
as Narrator
MovieThe Affair of the Necklace
2001
as Minister Breteuil
TVRichard & Judy
2001
as Self
MovieL.I.E.
2001
as Big John Harrigan
MovieStrictly Sinatra
2001
as Chisolm
MovieSuper Troopers
2001
as Captain O'Hagen
MovieInside 'Manhunter'
2001
as Himself
TVAqua Teen Hunger Force
2000
as Anubis (voice)
MovieSaltwater
2000
as George Beneventi
TVNuremberg
2000
as Herman Wilhelm Goering
MovieComplicity
2000
as Inspector McDunn
MovieA Shot at Glory
2000
as Martin Smith
MovieMad About Mambo
2000
as Sidney McLoughlin
MovieThe Invention of Dr. Morel
2000
as Dr. Morel
MovieThe Making of 'Rushmore'
2000
as Self
MovieLongitude
2000
as Lord Morton
TVLongitude
2000
as Lord Morton
The History of the British Police Force
1999
as Narrator (voice)
MovieThe Minus Man
1999
as Doug
MovieFor Love of the Game
1999
as Gary Wheeler
MovieThe Corruptor
1999
as Sean Wallace
MovieRushmore
1998
as Dr. Nelson Guggenheim
MoviePoodle Springs
1998
as Clayton Blackstone
MovieBattle of the Clans
1998
as Narrator
MovieMerchants of Venus
1998
as Uncle Vladimir
MovieDesperate Measures
1998
as Captain Jeremiah Cassidy
MovieThe Boxer
1997
as Joe Hamill
MovieFood for Ravens
1997
as Aneurin Bevan
MovieSharpe: The Legend
1997
as Hogan
MovieKiss the Girls
1997
as Chief Hatfield, Durham PD
TVI, Caesar – The Rise and Fall of the Roman Empire
1997
as Narrator
MovieThe Long Kiss Goodnight
1996
as Dr. Nathan Waldman
MovieThe Glimmer Man
1996
as Mr. Smith
TVSuperman: The Animated Series
1996
as Dr. Earl Garver (voice)
MovieChain Reaction
1996
as Lyman Earl Collier
TVThe Daily Show
1996
as Self
MovieWitness Against Hitler
1996
as Judge Freisler
MovieBraveheart
1995
as Argyle Wallace
MovieRob Roy
1995
as Killearn
MovieThe Maltese Double Cross
1994
as Narrator (voice)
MovieThe Negotiator
1994
as Charlie King
MovieGrushko
1994
as Colonel Yevgeni Grushko
MoviePrince of Jutland
1994
as Aethelwine
MovieIron Will
1994
as Angus McTeague
TVFrasier
1993
as Harry Moon
MovieSharpe's Eagle
1993
as Major Michael Hogan
MovieSharpe's Rifles
1993
as Major Michael Hogan
TVSharpe
1993
as Major Hogan
MovieSix Characters in Search of An Author
1992
as The Director
TVThe Big Battalions
1992
as Edward Hoyland
TVShakespeare: The Animated Tales
1992
as Macbeth (voice)
MovieThe Cutter
1992
MovieThe Lost Language of Cranes
1992
as Owen Benjamin
MovieThe Cloning of Joanna May
1992
as Carl May
TVThe Cloning of Joanna May
1992
as Carl May
MovieDeceptions
1992
as Carlton Heard
MovieRed Fox
1991
as Geoffrey Harrison
TVPerformance
1991
as The Director
MovieHidden Agenda
1990
as Peter Kerrigan
TVHave I Got News for You
1990
as Self
MovieThe Making of 'Hidden Agenda'
1990
as self
TVPerfect Scoundrels
1990
as Father Amedy
MovieSecret Weapon
1990
as Andrew Neil
TVThe Simpsons
1989
as Kostas Becker (voice)
MovieBrian Cox on Acting in Tragedy
1989
as Self
MovieThe Blasphemers' Banquet
1989
as Rev. Wallace (voice)
MovieMurder on the Moon
1989
as Voronov
MovieDirected by Andrei Tarkovsky
1988
as Voiceover Narrator
TVLIVE with Kelly and Mark
1988
as Self - Guest
MovieBeryl Markham: A Shadow on the Sun
1988
as Jack Purves
TVRed Dwarf
1988
as The King
TVThe Modern World: Ten Great Writers
1988
as Henrik Ibsen (voice)
Acting
1987
MovieShoot for the Sun
1987
as Dunny
TVFrench & Saunders
1987
as King Lear
TVInspector Morse
1987
as Michael Steppings
Rat in the Skull
1987
as Detective Inspector Nelson
MovieGramsci: Everything that Concerns People
1987
as Narrator
MovieHome Cooking
1986
as Vic
TVUnnatural Causes
1986
as Vic
MovieManhunter
1986
as Dr. Hannibal Lecktor
MovieFlorence Nightingale
1985
as Dr. McGregor
MovieThe Cantor of St Thomas's
1985
as Johann Sebastian Bach
MoviePope John Paul II
1984
as Father Góra
MovieKing Lear
1983
as Burgundy
MovieA Cotswold Death
1982
as Dr. Gillespie
MovieThe Privilege
1982
as Young Laird
TVHouse on the Hill
1981
as Leon Douglas
TVHammer House of Horror
1980
as Chuck
MovieDalhousie's Luck
1980
as Dalhousie
TVTherese Raquin
1980
as Laurent LeClaire
TVMinder
1979
as Frank
TVQuestion Time
1979
as Self - Panellist
TVOut
1978
as McGrath
TVThe Devil's Crown
1978
as Henry II
TVTarget
1977
as Billy Voss
MovieClay, Smeddum and Greenden
1976
as George Simpson
TVShades of Greene
1975
as Harry
MovieIn Celebration
1975
as Steven Shaw
The Master of Ballantrae
1975
as Henry Durie
TVChurchill's People
1974
as William Wallace
TVPlayhouse
1974
as Dalhousie
MovieThe Changeling
1974
as Alsemero
TVVan der Valk
1972
as Stefan Szabo
MovieNicholas and Alexandra
1971
as Trotsky
Stage 2
1971
as Hastings
TVGreat Performances
1971
as Self - Narration (voice)
TVPlay for Today
1970
as Dr. Gillespie
TVManhunt
1970
as Anton
MovieThe Year of the Sex Olympics
1968
as Lasar Opie
The Gamblers
1967
as Mickey
TVITV Playhouse
1967
as Apeman
TVBBC Play of the Month
1965
as Alsemero
TVThirty-Minute Theatre
1965
as Josef Stalin
A Knight in Tarnished Armour
1965
as Nelson
TVThe Wednesday Play
1964
as Nelson
TVTheatre 625
1964
as Lasar Opie
MovieA Modern Magician
as The Voice
MovieThe Glove
MovieThe Planets
Wittgenstein's Poker
as Bertrand Russell (voice)
Old Pals
as Jimmy
TVHave I Got a Bit More News for You
as Himself - Panellist
