Brian Cox
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.
Known For
The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon
2014
The Late Show with Stephen Colbert
2015
The Late Show with Stephen Colbert
2015
The Simpsons
1989
Late Night with Seth Meyers
2014
The Daily Show
1996
The Colbert Report
2005
The Graham Norton Show
2007
Jimmy Kimmel Live!
2003
Real Time with Bill Maher
2003
LIVE with Kelly and Mark
1988
Frasier
1993
Filmography
The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon
as Self · 2014
The Late Show with Stephen Colbert
as Self - Guest · 2015
The Late Show with Stephen Colbert
as Self · 2015
The Simpsons
as Kostas Becker (voice) · 1989
Late Night with Seth Meyers
as Self · 2014
The Daily Show
as Self · 1996
The Colbert Report
· 2005
The Graham Norton Show
as Self · 2007
Jimmy Kimmel Live!
as Self - Guest · 2003
Real Time with Bill Maher
as Self · 2003
LIVE with Kelly and Mark
as Self - Guest · 1988
Frasier
as Harry Moon · 1993
The One Show
as Self - Guest · 2006
Last Week Tonight with John Oliver
as God · 2014
Great Performances
as Self - Narration (voice) · 1971
The Wednesday Play
as Nelson · 1964
Have I Got News for You
as Self · 1990
Play for Today
as Dr. Gillespie · 1970
Have I Got a Bit More News for You
as Himself - Panellist
Top Gear
as Self · 2002
Succession
as Logan Roy · 2018
Minder
as Frank · 1979
Variety Studio: Actors on Actors
as Self · 2014
Shetland
as Magnus Bain · 2013
The Last Leg
as Self · 2013
The Tony Danza Show
as Self · 2004
Question Time
as Self - Panellist · 1979
Dexter: Resurrection
as The New York Ripper · 2025
Richard & Judy
as Self · 2001
BBC Play of the Month
as Alsemero · 1965
Superman: The Animated Series
as Dr. Earl Garver (voice) · 1996
ITV Playhouse
as Apeman · 1967
Sharpe
as Major Hogan · 1993
Playhouse
as Dalhousie · 1974
Agatha Christie's Marple
as Lewis Serrocold · 2004
Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg
as Self – Actor · 2022
Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg
as Self - Actor · 2022
Deadwood
as Jack Langrishe · 2004
Red Dwarf
as The King · 1988
Aqua Teen Hunger Force
as Anubis (voice) · 2000
Theatre 625
as Lasar Opie · 1964
Thirty-Minute Theatre
as Josef Stalin · 1965
Thirty-Minute Theatre
as Rod · 1965
The Jonathan Ross Show
as Self · 2011
The Jonathan Ross Show
as Self - Guest · 2011
Inspector Morse
as Michael Steppings · 1987
Celebrity Antiques Road Trip
as Self - Participant · 2011
Good Omens
as Death (voice) · 2019
Troy
as Agamemnon · 2004
Carpool Karaoke: The Series
as Self · 2017
Braveheart
as Argyle Wallace · 1995
Medici: Masters of Florence
as Bernardo Guadagni · 2016
Super Troopers 3
as Captain O’Hagan · 2026
Rise of the Planet of the Apes
as John Landon · 2011
The Bourne Identity
as Ward Abbott · 2002
Performance
as The Director · 1991
Penny Dreadful
as Jared Talbot · 2014
The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim
as Helm Hammerhand (voice) · 2024
Pixels
as Admiral Porter · 2015
Fantastic Mr. Fox
as Action 12 Reporter (voice) · 2009
Van der Valk
as Stefan Szabo · 1972
The Electric State
as Popfly (voice) · 2025
M.I. High
as Voice of the Mastermind · 2007
Zodiac
as Melvin Belli · 2007
The Bourne Supremacy
as Ward Abbott · 2004
The Bourne Ultimatum
as Ward Abbott (voice) (archive footage) (uncredited) · 2007
Churchill's People
as William Wallace · 1974
The Russell Howard Hour
as Self · 2017
Her
as Alan Watts (voice) · 2013
The Ring
as Richard Morgan · 2002
Trick 'r Treat
as Mr. Kreeg · 2025
The Modern World: Ten Great Writers
as Henrik Ibsen (voice) · 1988
RED
as Ivan Simanov · 2010
French & Saunders
as King Lear · 1987
Remembers…
· 2022
Kiss the Girls
as Chief Hatfield, Durham PD · 1997
The Autopsy of Jane Doe
as Tommy Tilden · 2016
Kings
as King Vesper Abaddon · 2009
Blade Runner: Black Lotus
as Niander Wallace Sr. (voice) · 2021
Target
as Billy Voss · 1977
War and Peace
as Mikhail Kutuzov · 2016
Chain Reaction
as Lyman Earl Collier · 1996
Hammer House of Horror
as Chuck · 1980
Red Eye
as Joe Reisert · 2005
The Great War: The People's Story
as Rev. Andrew Clark · 2014
Match Point
as Alec Hewett · 2005
RED 2
as Ivan · 2013
The Colour of Magic
as Narrator · 2008
The Long Kiss Goodnight
as Dr. Nathan Waldman · 1996
Super Troopers
as Captain O'Hagen · 2001
The Slap
as Manolis · 2015
Shakespeare: The Animated Tales
as Macbeth (voice) · 1992
Manhunt
as Anton · 1970
That Christmas
as Santa (voice) · 2024
Adaptation.
as Robert McKee · 2002
The Game
as Daddy · 2014
The Sinking of the Laconia
as Captain Sharp · 2011
The Parenting
as Frank · 2025
The Water Horse
as Old Angus · 2007
007: Road to a Million
as The Controller · 2023
Nuremberg
as Herman Wilhelm Goering · 2000
Super Troopers 2
as Captain O'Hagan · 2018
The Campaign
as Raymond · 2012
25th Hour
as James Brogan · 2002
Unnatural Causes
as Vic · 1986
The Take
as Ozzy · 2009
A Touch of Cloth
as Bill Ball · 2012
Battle for Terra
as General Hemmer (voice) · 2007
For Love of the Game
as Gary Wheeler · 1999
Longitude
as Lord Morton · 2000
The Rookie
as Jim Morris Sr. · 2002
Ironclad
as Albany · 2011
Rushmore
as Dr. Nelson Guggenheim · 1998
The Corruptor
as Sean Wallace · 1999
The Day of the Triffids
as Dennis Masen · 2009
The Glimmer Man
as Mr. Smith · 1996
The Bay of Silence
as Milton · 2020
The Straits
as Harry Montebello · 2012
Morgan
as Jim Bryce · 2016
Perfect Scoundrels
as Father Amedy · 1990
Out
as McGrath · 1978
One Life
· 2003
Anna
as Sebastian · 2013
The Independent
as Nick Booker · 2022
Piers Morgan Uncensored
as Self · 2022
The Gamblers
as Mickey · 1967
House on the Hill
as Leon Douglas · 1981
Strange but True
as Bill · 2019
Forsaken
as James McCurdy · 2015
Desperate Measures
as Captain Jeremiah Cassidy · 1998
Last Moment of Clarity
as Gilles · 2020
Unsinkable
as Robert Dodds · 2024
Amol Rajan Interviews
as Self - Interviewed Guest · 2021
Rob Roy
as Killearn · 1995
Scooby-Doo! and the Samurai Sword
as Green Dragon (voice) · 2009
Shakespeare: Rise of a Genius
as Self · 2023
Bob Servant
as Bob Servant · 2013
Bob the Builder: Mega Machines
as Conrad / Crunch (voice) · 2017
Shades of Greene
as Harry · 1975
Running with Scissors
as Dr. Finch · 2006
Therese Raquin
as Laurent LeClaire · 1980
The Boxer
as Joe Hamill · 1997
Tooned
as The Mechanic · 2012
Edwin Boyd: Citizen Gangster
as Glover · 2011
Iron Will
as Angus McTeague · 1994
The Escapist
as Frank Perry · 2008
As Good As Dead
as Reverand Kalahan · 2010
Separation
as Rivers · 2021
The Flying Scotsman
as Douglas Baxter · 2006
Nicholas and Alexandra
as Trotsky · 1971
Remember Me
as Shane · 2019
The Anomaly
as Dr. Langham · 2014
Glenrothan
as Sandy · 2026
Coriolanus
as Menenius · 2011
Acting
· 1987
The Ringer
as Gary Barker · 2005
VE Day 80
as Self · 2025
Churchill
as Winston Churchill · 2017
Mending the Line
as Ike Fletcher · 2023
Quasi
as Narrator (voice) · 2023
The Minus Man
as Doug · 1999
Poodle Springs
as Clayton Blackstone · 1998
Red
as Avery Ludlow · 2008
The Etruscan Smile
as Rory MacNeil · 2018
Little Wing
as Jaan Vari · 2024
Stage 2
as Hastings · 1971
Prisoner's Daughter
as Max · 2023
The Affair of the Necklace
as Minister Breteuil · 2001
Sin
as Captain Oakes · 2003
Tell-Tale
as Van Doren · 2009
The Veteran
as Gerry · 2011
Bonnie
as Self · 2022
L.I.E.
as Big John Harrigan · 2001
The Cloning of Joanna May
as Carl May · 1992
An Adventure in Space and Time
as Sydney Newman · 2013
Blood
as Lenny Fairburn · 2012
A Shot at Glory
as Martin Smith · 2000
The Reckoning
as Tobias · 2004
Ukraine: Answering the Call
as Self · 2022
Merchants of Venus
as Uncle Vladimir · 1998
The Good Heart
as Jacques · 2009
The Carer
as Sir Michael · 2016
Prince of Jutland
as Aethelwine · 1994
The Big Battalions
as Edward Hoyland · 1992
Unforgivable Blackness: The Rise and Fall of Jack Johnson
as Other Voices (voice) · 2004
Inside 'Manhunter'
as Himself · 2001
Sharpe: The Legend
as Hogan · 1997
Pope John Paul II
as Father Góra · 1984
The Color of Magic 2in1
as Vypravěč · 2010
Blumenthal
as Harold Blumenthal · 2013
The Master of Ballantrae
as Henry Durie · 1975
Hidden Agenda
as Peter Kerrigan · 1990
Sharpe's Rifles
as Major Michael Hogan · 1993
Alan Clarke: Out of His Own Light
as Self · 2016
Home Cooking
as Vic · 1986
The Evolution of an American Filmmaker
as Self · 2003
Longitude
as Lord Morton · 2000
The Second Uncanny Issue of X-Men! Making X2
as Self · 2003
Brian Cox's Jute Journey
as Self · 2009
The Secret of the Nutcracker
as Drosselmeyer · 2007
Beryl Markham: A Shadow on the Sun
as Jack Purves · 1988
Mad About Mambo
as Sidney McLoughlin · 2000
Murder on the Moon
as Voronov · 1989
The Sunrise File
as Oded Ailam (voice) · 2026
The Cutter
· 1992
The Year of the Sex Olympics
as Lasar Opie · 1968
The Lost Language of Cranes
as Owen Benjamin · 1992
A Woman in Winter
as Dr. Hunt · 2007
Peter O'Toole: Along the Sky Road to Aqaba
as Self · 2022
The Last Right
as Father Reilly · 2019
Raoul Wallenberg: Missing Inaction
as Gustaf Wallenberg (voice) · 2025
Killing Thyme
as Norman · 2015
Shoot for the Sun
as Dunny · 1987
Rat in the Skull
as Detective Inspector Nelson · 1987
The Key Man
as Irving · 2011
The Privilege
as Young Laird · 1982
The Making of 'Rushmore'
as Self · 2000
Oleg: The Oleg Vidov Story
as Narrator (voice) · 2021
The Color of Magic - Die Reise des Zauberers Teil 2
as Narrator · 2008
The Negotiator
as Charlie King · 1994
Florence Nightingale
as Dr. McGregor · 1985
Shoot on Sight
as Daniel Tennant · 2007
The Devil's Crown
as Henry II · 1978
The Color of Magic - Die Reise des Zauberers Teil 1
as Narrator · 2008
Skelly
as Grandpa · 2024
Believe
as Matt Busby · 2013
Lindsay Anderson: Lucky Man?
as Self · 2004
Exit Humanity
as Malcolm Young (voice) · 2011
The Biographer
as Michael O'Mara · 2002
Bill Douglas: My Best Friend
as Narrator (voice) · 2023
Strictly Sinatra
as Chisolm · 2001
The Trials of Henry Kissinger
as Self · 2002
Complicity
as Inspector McDunn · 2000
Sharpe's Eagle
as Major Michael Hogan · 1993
The Invention of Dr. Morel
as Dr. Morel · 2000
The Strange Case of Sherlock Holmes & Arthur Conan Doyle
as Joseph Bell · 2005
Scotland In A Day
· 2014
Old Pals
as Jimmy
Smallpox 2002: Silent Weapon
as Narrator · 2002
The Gospel of John
as Narrator (voice) – King James Version · 2014
The Making of 'Hidden Agenda'
as self · 1990
Agent Crush
as Spanners (voice) · 2008
Ooh the Banter!
as Self · 2022
Made of Money with Brian Cox
· 2023
The Marbles
as Self - Interviewee · 2025
Directed by Andrei Tarkovsky
as Voiceover Narrator · 1988
All at Sea
as Wally · 2012
Brian Cox: How The Other Half Live
as Presenter · 2022
Clay, Smeddum and Greenden
as George Simpson · 1976
The Changeling
as Alsemero · 1974
Japan's War in Colour
as Self - Narrator (voice) · 2005
The Planets
Pretenders
as Henry · 2019
The Curse of Edgar
as Edgar Hoover · 2013
Pacific Warriors
as Narrator · 2015
Masters of Darkness
as Narrator · 2002
Carry On Ken
as Self · 2006
The Outsiders
as Gabriel · 2006
Loch Lomond: Legend of the Loch
as Narrator · 2002
I, Caesar – The Rise and Fall of the Roman Empire
as Narrator · 1997
Brian Cox's Russia
as Host · 2017
Hitler in Colour
as Narrator · 2005
Secret Weapon
as Andrew Neil · 1990
Darcey Bussell: My Life on the BBC
as Self · 2016
The History of the British Police Force
as Narrator (voice) · 1999
Gramsci: Everything that Concerns People
as Narrator · 1987
Grushko
as Colonel Yevgeni Grushko · 1994
The Blasphemers' Banquet
as Rev. Wallace (voice) · 1989
Lawrence After Arabia
as Father (Voice) · 2020
King Lear
as Burgundy · 1983
Witness Against Hitler
as Judge Freisler · 1996
Food for Ravens
as Aneurin Bevan · 1997
An Interview with Brian Cox
as Himself · 2023
A Cotswold Death
as Dr. Gillespie · 1982
Bug
as Cyr · 2002
A Knight in Tarnished Armour
as Nelson · 1965
I Missed My Mother's Funeral
as Old Man · 2012
Dalhousie's Luck
as Dalhousie · 1980
Aleister Crowley: The Wickedest Man in the World
as Narrator · 2002
Super Troopers 4
as Captain O'Hagan
Battle of the Clans
as Narrator · 1998
Murder by Numbers
as Self · 2004
Red Fox
as Geoffrey Harrison · 1991
Saltwater
as George Beneventi · 2000
On Expenses
as Michael Martin · 2010
Addicted to Pleasure
as Self - Host · 2012
Wittgenstein's Poker
as Bertrand Russell (voice)
The Maltese Double Cross
as Narrator (voice) · 1994
The Glove
In Celebration
as Steven Shaw · 1975
AMR: Dying to Change the World
as AMR · 2025
An Evening with Brian Cox
as Himself · 2017
Kubrick by Candlelight
as The Narrator · 2018
Brian Cox on Acting in Tragedy
as Self · 1989
Blue/Orange
as Dr. Robert Smith · 2005
Rasputin: The Devil in the Flesh
as Narrator · 2002
A Modern Magician
as The Voice
The Cantor of St Thomas's
as Johann Sebastian Bach · 1985
Widdershins
as voice · 2018
X2
as William Stryker · 2003
John Rebus: The Lockdown Blues
as John Rebus · 2020
Deceptions
as Carlton Heard · 1992
Andrew Carnegie: Rags to Riches, Power to Peace
as Andrew Carnegie (voice) · 2015
Vegalta: Soccer, Tsunami and the Hope of a Nation
as Narrator · 2017
Six Characters in Search of An Author
as The Director · 1992
Manhunter
as Dr. Hannibal Lecktor · 1986
Just Dandy
as Self