Brian Cox
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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
Rise of the Planet of the Apes (2011)
as John Landon
Pixels (2015)
as Admiral Porter
Troy (2004)
as Agamemnon
Zodiac (2007)
as Melvin Belli
Braveheart (1995)
as Argyle Wallace
The Bourne Identity (2002)
as Ward Abbott
Her (2013)
as Alan Watts (voice)
The Bourne Ultimatum (2007)
as Ward Abbott (voice) (archive footage) (uncredited)
Fantastic Mr. Fox (2009)
as Action 12 Reporter (voice)
The Ring (2002)
as Richard Morgan
Kiss the Girls (1997)
as Chief Hatfield, Durham PD
The Bourne Supremacy (2004)
as Ward Abbott
Trick 'r Treat (2007)
as Mr. Kreeg
The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim (2024)
as Helm Hammerhand (voice)
The Autopsy of Jane Doe (2016)
as Tommy Tilden
RED (2010)
as Ivan Simanov
The Electric State (2025)
as Popfly (voice)
The Water Horse (2007)
as Old Angus
Adaptation. (2002)
as Robert McKee
RED 2 (2013)
as Ivan
The Long Kiss Goodnight (1996)
as Dr. Nathan Waldman
Super Troopers (2001)
as Captain O'Hagen
Red Eye (2005)
as Joe Reisert
25th Hour (2002)
as James Brogan
Desperate Measures (1998)
as Captain Jeremiah Cassidy
Super Troopers 3 (2026)
as Captain O’Hagan
Forsaken (2015)
as James McCurdy
Match Point (2005)
as Alec Hewett
Glenrothan (2026)
as Sandy
Ironclad (2011)
as Albany
Anna (2013)
as Sebastian
Rushmore (1998)
as Dr. Nelson Guggenheim
Bonnie (2022)
as Self
That Christmas (2024)
as Santa (voice)
Poodle Springs (1998)
as Clayton Blackstone
Chain Reaction (1996)
as Lyman Earl Collier
The Corruptor (1999)
as Sean Wallace
The Campaign (2012)
as Raymond
Strange but True (2019)
as Bill
Remember Me (2019)
as Shane
Super Troopers 2 (2018)
as Captain O'Hagan
The Rookie (2002)
as Jim Morris Sr.
The Parenting (2025)
as Frank
Morgan (2016)
as Jim Bryce
Separation (2021)
as Rivers
Just Dandy (—)
as Self
Home Cooking (1986)
as Vic
For Love of the Game (1999)
as Gary Wheeler
The Glimmer Man (1996)
as Mr. Smith
Battle for Terra (2007)
as General Hemmer (voice)
Quasi (2023)
as Narrator (voice)
Inside 'Manhunter' (2001)
as Himself
Running with Scissors (2006)
as Dr. Finch
Rob Roy (1995)
as Killearn
Scooby-Doo! and the Samurai Sword (2009)
as Green Dragon (voice)
Churchill (2017)
as Winston Churchill
Edwin Boyd: Citizen Gangster (2011)
as Glover
The Negotiator (1994)
as Charlie King
The Marbles (2025)
as Self - Interviewee
Bob the Builder: Mega Machines (2017)
as Conrad / Crunch (voice)
Skelly (2024)
as Grandpa
Mending the Line (2023)
as Ike Fletcher
The Bay of Silence (2020)
as Milton
Last Moment of Clarity (2020)
as Gilles
Ukraine: Answering the Call (2022)
as Self
The Good Heart (2009)
as Jacques
The Independent (2022)
as Nick Booker
The Etruscan Smile (2018)
as Rory MacNeil
Iron Will (1994)
as Angus McTeague
Sin (2003)
as Captain Oakes
Coriolanus (2011)
as Menenius
The Ringer (2005)
as Gary Barker
Blumenthal (2013)
as Harold Blumenthal
The Color of Magic - Die Reise des Zauberers Teil 2 (2008)
as Narrator
Red (2008)
as Avery Ludlow
Sharpe: The Legend (1997)
as Hogan
The Outsiders (2006)
as Gabriel
The Boxer (1997)
as Joe Hamill
L.I.E. (2001)
as Big John Harrigan
Nicholas and Alexandra (1971)
as Trotsky
Sharpe's Rifles (1993)
as Major Michael Hogan
Killing Thyme (2015)
as Norman
Little Wing (2024)
as Jaan Vari
Blood (2012)
as Lenny Fairburn
Shoot on Sight (2007)
as Daniel Tennant
Super Troopers 4 (—)
as Captain O'Hagan
The Color of Magic - Die Reise des Zauberers Teil 1 (2008)
as Narrator
The Escapist (2008)
as Frank Perry
Prisoner's Daughter (2023)
as Max
An Adventure in Space and Time (2013)
as Sydney Newman
Unforgivable Blackness: The Rise and Fall of Jack Johnson (2004)
as Other Voices (voice)
The Anomaly (2014)
as Dr. Langham
Merchants of Venus (1998)
as Uncle Vladimir
The Reckoning (2004)
as Tobias
The Affair of the Necklace (2001)
as Minister Breteuil
The Carer (2016)
as Sir Michael
As Good As Dead (2010)
as Reverand Kalahan
The Veteran (2011)
as Gerry
Lindsay Anderson: Lucky Man? (2004)
as Self
Hidden Agenda (1990)
as Peter Kerrigan
The Year of the Sex Olympics (1968)
as Lasar Opie
The Cutter (1992)
Actor
Rat in the Skull (1987)
as Detective Inspector Nelson
The Flying Scotsman (2006)
as Douglas Baxter
Old Pals (—)
as Jimmy
The Minus Man (1999)
as Doug
The Sunrise File (2026)
as Oded Ailam (voice)
A Shot at Glory (2000)
as Martin Smith
Exit Humanity (2011)
as Malcolm Young (voice)
The Invention of Dr. Morel (2000)
as Dr. Morel
The Privilege (1982)
as Young Laird
Clay, Smeddum and Greenden (1976)
as George Simpson
Believe (2013)
as Matt Busby
Bill Douglas: My Best Friend (2023)
as Narrator (voice)
Hitler in Colour (2005)
as Narrator
Raoul Wallenberg: Missing Inaction (2025)
as Gustaf Wallenberg (voice)
The Maltese Double Cross (1994)
as Narrator (voice)
Japan's War in Colour (2005)
as Self - Narrator (voice)
Longitude (2000)
as Lord Morton
Tell-Tale (2009)
as Van Doren
The Gospel of John (2014)
as Narrator (voice) – King James Version
The Key Man (2011)
as Irving
Complicity (2000)
as Inspector McDunn
Prince of Jutland (1994)
as Aethelwine
Beryl Markham: A Shadow on the Sun (1988)
as Jack Purves
Kubrick by Candlelight (2018)
as The Narrator
The Secret of the Nutcracker (2007)
as Drosselmeyer
Directed by Andrei Tarkovsky (1988)
as Voiceover Narrator
I Missed My Mother's Funeral (2012)
as Old Man
Strictly Sinatra (2001)
as Chisolm
Alan Clarke: Out of His Own Light (2016)
as Self
Florence Nightingale (1985)
as Dr. McGregor
Sharpe's Eagle (1993)
as Major Michael Hogan
Mad About Mambo (2000)
as Sidney McLoughlin
Smallpox 2002: Silent Weapon (2002)
as Narrator
The Lost Language of Cranes (1992)
as Owen Benjamin
Oleg: The Oleg Vidov Story (2021)
as Narrator (voice)
Lawrence After Arabia (2020)
as Father (Voice)
Peter O'Toole: Along the Sky Road to Aqaba (2022)
as Self
Pope John Paul II (1984)
as Father Góra
Brian Cox's Jute Journey (2009)
as Self
The Planets (—)
Actor
Murder on the Moon (1989)
as Voronov
The Second Uncanny Issue of X-Men! Making X2 (2003)
as Self
The History of the British Police Force (1999)
as Narrator (voice)
Bug (2002)
as Cyr
Shoot for the Sun (1987)
as Dunny
Saltwater (2000)
as George Beneventi
The Making of 'Rushmore' (2000)
as Self
The Blasphemers' Banquet (1989)
as Rev. Wallace (voice)
The Trials of Henry Kissinger (2002)
as Self
The Last Right (2019)
as Father Reilly
Pacific Warriors (2015)
as Narrator
Brian Cox on Acting in Tragedy (1989)
as Self
Secret Weapon (1990)
as Andrew Neil
Red Fox (1991)
as Geoffrey Harrison
King Lear (1983)
as Burgundy
Dalhousie's Luck (1980)
as Dalhousie
The Curse of Edgar (2013)
as Edgar Hoover
An Interview with Brian Cox (2023)
as Himself
Pretenders (2019)
as Henry
Rasputin: The Devil in the Flesh (2002)
as Narrator
All at Sea (2012)
as Wally
The Strange Case of Sherlock Holmes & Arthur Conan Doyle (2005)
as Joseph Bell
Ooh the Banter! (2022)
as Self
Agent Crush (2008)
as Spanners (voice)
A Woman in Winter (2007)
as Dr. Hunt
Widdershins (2018)
as voice
Witness Against Hitler (1996)
as Judge Freisler
The Evolution of an American Filmmaker (2003)
as Self
Loch Lomond: Legend of the Loch (2002)
as Narrator
Scotland In A Day (2014)
Actor
The Making of 'Hidden Agenda' (1990)
as self
The Changeling (1974)
as Alsemero
Food for Ravens (1997)
as Aneurin Bevan
Darcey Bussell: My Life on the BBC (2016)
as Self
Battle of the Clans (1998)
as Narrator
On Expenses (2010)
as Michael Martin
AMR: Dying to Change the World (2025)
as AMR
A Knight in Tarnished Armour (1965)
as Nelson
A Cotswold Death (1982)
as Dr. Gillespie
The Biographer (2002)
as Michael O'Mara
In Celebration (1975)
as Steven Shaw
Murder by Numbers (2004)
as Self
Blue/Orange (2005)
as Dr. Robert Smith
Gramsci: Everything that Concerns People (1987)
as Narrator
Andrew Carnegie: Rags to Riches, Power to Peace (2015)
as Andrew Carnegie (voice)
Carry On Ken (2006)
as Self
Grushko (1994)
as Colonel Yevgeni Grushko
John Rebus: The Lockdown Blues (2020)
as John Rebus
The Glove (—)
Actor
X2 (2003)
as William Stryker
Wittgenstein's Poker (—)
as Bertrand Russell (voice)
A Modern Magician (—)
as The Voice
Six Characters in Search of An Author (1992)
as The Director
An Evening with Brian Cox (2017)
as Himself
Deceptions (1992)
as Carlton Heard
Aleister Crowley: The Wickedest Man in the World (2002)
as Narrator
The Cantor of St Thomas's (1985)
as Johann Sebastian Bach
Vegalta: Soccer, Tsunami and the Hope of a Nation (2017)
as Narrator
Manhunter (1986)
as Dr. Hannibal Lecktor