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
Super Troopers 3 (2026)
as Captain O’Hagan
Troy (2004)
as Agamemnon
Braveheart (1995)
as Argyle Wallace
Rise of the Planet of the Apes (2011)
as John Landon
The Bourne Identity (2002)
as Ward Abbott
Fantastic Mr. Fox (2009)
as Action 12 Reporter (voice)
Pixels (2015)
as Admiral Porter
The Electric State (2025)
as Popfly (voice)
The Bourne Ultimatum (2007)
as Ward Abbott (voice) (archive footage) (uncredited)
The Bourne Supremacy (2004)
as Ward Abbott
Zodiac (2007)
as Melvin Belli
Her (2013)
as Alan Watts (voice)
The Ring (2002)
as Richard Morgan
The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim (2024)
as Helm Hammerhand (voice)
Kiss the Girls (1997)
as Chief Hatfield, Durham PD
Chain Reaction (1996)
as Lyman Earl Collier
The Autopsy of Jane Doe (2016)
as Tommy Tilden
RED (2010)
as Ivan Simanov
Red Eye (2005)
as Joe Reisert
Trick 'r Treat (2007)
as Mr. Kreeg
RED 2 (2013)
as Ivan
Match Point (2005)
as Alec Hewett
Super Troopers (2001)
as Captain O'Hagen
That Christmas (2024)
as Santa (voice)
Super Troopers 2 (2018)
as Captain O'Hagan
Adaptation. (2002)
as Robert McKee
The Long Kiss Goodnight (1996)
as Dr. Nathan Waldman
The Parenting (2025)
as Frank
The Water Horse (2007)
as Old Angus
The Campaign (2012)
as Raymond
25th Hour (2002)
as James Brogan
For Love of the Game (1999)
as Gary Wheeler
The Corruptor (1999)
as Sean Wallace
The Rookie (2002)
as Jim Morris Sr.
Battle for Terra (2007)
as General Hemmer (voice)
Morgan (2016)
as Jim Bryce
Rushmore (1998)
as Dr. Nelson Guggenheim
Ironclad (2011)
as Albany
The Independent (2022)
as Nick Booker
Forsaken (2015)
as James McCurdy
Anna (2013)
as Sebastian
The Bay of Silence (2020)
as Milton
Strange but True (2019)
as Bill
Bob the Builder: Mega Machines (2017)
as Conrad / Crunch (voice)
Last Moment of Clarity (2020)
as Gilles
Scooby-Doo! and the Samurai Sword (2009)
as Green Dragon (voice)
Desperate Measures (1998)
as Captain Jeremiah Cassidy
The Glimmer Man (1996)
as Mr. Smith
Rob Roy (1995)
as Killearn
Running with Scissors (2006)
as Dr. Finch
As Good As Dead (2010)
as Reverand Kalahan
The Escapist (2008)
as Frank Perry
The Anomaly (2014)
as Dr. Langham
The Boxer (1997)
as Joe Hamill
Edwin Boyd: Citizen Gangster (2011)
as Glover
The Ringer (2005)
as Gary Barker
Iron Will (1994)
as Angus McTeague
Separation (2021)
as Rivers
Remember Me (2019)
as Shane
The Affair of the Necklace (2001)
as Minister Breteuil
Poodle Springs (1998)
as Clayton Blackstone
Glenrothan (2026)
as Sandy
The Flying Scotsman (2006)
as Douglas Baxter
Mending the Line (2023)
as Ike Fletcher
The Minus Man (1999)
as Doug
Churchill (2017)
as Winston Churchill
Unforgivable Blackness: The Rise and Fall of Jack Johnson (2004)
as Other Voices (voice)
An Adventure in Space and Time (2013)
as Sydney Newman
The Etruscan Smile (2018)
as Rory MacNeil
Prisoner's Daughter (2023)
as Max
Nicholas and Alexandra (1971)
as Trotsky
Red (2008)
as Avery Ludlow
Ukraine: Answering the Call (2022)
as Self
The Veteran (2011)
as Gerry
Coriolanus (2011)
as Menenius
Bonnie (2022)
as Self
Quasi (2023)
as Narrator (voice)
Hidden Agenda (1990)
as Peter Kerrigan
Sin (2003)
as Captain Oakes
Merchants of Venus (1998)
as Uncle Vladimir
Tell-Tale (2009)
as Van Doren
Pope John Paul II (1984)
as Father Góra
The Carer (2016)
as Sir Michael
The Good Heart (2009)
as Jacques
The Color of Magic 2in1 (2010)
as Vypravěč
The Reckoning (2004)
as Tobias
L.I.E. (2001)
as Big John Harrigan
Sharpe's Rifles (1993)
as Major Michael Hogan
A Shot at Glory (2000)
as Martin Smith
Blood (2012)
as Lenny Fairburn
The Last Right (2019)
as Father Reilly
Alan Clarke: Out of His Own Light (2016)
as Self
Little Wing (2024)
as Jaan Vari
Longitude (2000)
as Lord Morton
Florence Nightingale (1985)
as Dr. McGregor
The Second Uncanny Issue of X-Men! Making X2 (2003)
as Self
Prince of Jutland (1994)
as Aethelwine
Beryl Markham: A Shadow on the Sun (1988)
as Jack Purves
The Evolution of an American Filmmaker (2003)
as Self
The Strange Case of Sherlock Holmes & Arthur Conan Doyle (2005)
as Joseph Bell
The Lost Language of Cranes (1992)
as Owen Benjamin
Shoot on Sight (2007)
as Daniel Tennant
Sharpe: The Legend (1997)
as Hogan
The Negotiator (1994)
as Charlie King
Home Cooking (1986)
as Vic
Exit Humanity (2011)
as Malcolm Young (voice)
The Color of Magic - Die Reise des Zauberers Teil 2 (2008)
as Narrator
The Biographer (2002)
as Michael O'Mara
Sharpe's Eagle (1993)
as Major Michael Hogan
Murder on the Moon (1989)
as Voronov
Clay, Smeddum and Greenden (1976)
as George Simpson
Peter O'Toole: Along the Sky Road to Aqaba (2022)
as Self
Inside 'Manhunter' (2001)
as Himself
The Key Man (2011)
as Irving
Oleg: The Oleg Vidov Story (2021)
as Narrator (voice)
Rat in the Skull (1987)
as Detective Inspector Nelson
Raoul Wallenberg: Missing Inaction (2025)
as Gustaf Wallenberg (voice)
The Making of 'Rushmore' (2000)
as Self
Lindsay Anderson: Lucky Man? (2004)
as Self
Shoot for the Sun (1987)
as Dunny
Bill Douglas: My Best Friend (2023)
as Narrator (voice)
Blumenthal (2013)
as Harold Blumenthal
The Color of Magic - Die Reise des Zauberers Teil 1 (2008)
as Narrator
The Trials of Henry Kissinger (2002)
as Self
Killing Thyme (2015)
as Norman
Complicity (2000)
as Inspector McDunn
The Cutter (1992)
Actor
The Year of the Sex Olympics (1968)
as Lasar Opie
Mad About Mambo (2000)
as Sidney McLoughlin
Agent Crush (2008)
as Spanners (voice)
The Marbles (2025)
as Self - Interviewee
The Secret of the Nutcracker (2007)
as Drosselmeyer
The Gospel of John (2014)
as Narrator (voice) – King James Version
Skelly (2024)
as Grandpa
A Woman in Winter (2007)
as Dr. Hunt
Smallpox 2002: Silent Weapon (2002)
as Narrator
Believe (2013)
as Matt Busby
The Invention of Dr. Morel (2000)
as Dr. Morel
The Privilege (1982)
as Young Laird
The Curse of Edgar (2013)
as Edgar Hoover
The Sunrise File (2026)
as Oded Ailam (voice)
Strictly Sinatra (2001)
as Chisolm
Gramsci: Everything that Concerns People (1987)
as Narrator
The Planets (—)
Actor
Old Pals (—)
as Jimmy
Japan's War in Colour (2005)
as Self - Narrator (voice)
Scotland In A Day (2014)
Actor
Darcey Bussell: My Life on the BBC (2016)
as Self
The Making of 'Hidden Agenda' (1990)
as self
The Changeling (1974)
as Alsemero
Bug (2002)
as Cyr
Murder by Numbers (2004)
as Self
Ooh the Banter! (2022)
as Self
The History of the British Police Force (1999)
as Narrator (voice)
All at Sea (2012)
as Wally
Brian Cox's Jute Journey (2009)
as Self
The Outsiders (2006)
as Gabriel
Food for Ravens (1997)
as Aneurin Bevan
Secret Weapon (1990)
as Andrew Neil
Pretenders (2019)
as Henry
Loch Lomond: Legend of the Loch (2002)
as Narrator
Carry On Ken (2006)
as Self
Pacific Warriors (2015)
as Narrator
Directed by Andrei Tarkovsky (1988)
as Voiceover Narrator
King Lear (1983)
as Burgundy
The Blasphemers' Banquet (1989)
as Rev. Wallace (voice)
Battle of the Clans (1998)
as Narrator
Dalhousie's Luck (1980)
as Dalhousie
Saltwater (2000)
as George Beneventi
Lawrence After Arabia (2020)
as Father (Voice)
In Celebration (1975)
as Steven Shaw
A Knight in Tarnished Armour (1965)
as Nelson
Aleister Crowley: The Wickedest Man in the World (2002)
as Narrator
I Missed My Mother's Funeral (2012)
as Old Man
A Cotswold Death (1982)
as Dr. Gillespie
Hitler in Colour (2005)
as Narrator
Red Fox (1991)
as Geoffrey Harrison
Wittgenstein's Poker (—)
as Bertrand Russell (voice)
On Expenses (2010)
as Michael Martin
Rasputin: The Devil in the Flesh (2002)
as Narrator
Brian Cox on Acting in Tragedy (1989)
as Self
Witness Against Hitler (1996)
as Judge Freisler
Kubrick by Candlelight (2018)
as The Narrator
The Maltese Double Cross (1994)
as Narrator (voice)
Andrew Carnegie: Rags to Riches, Power to Peace (2015)
as Andrew Carnegie (voice)
An Interview with Brian Cox (2023)
as Himself
Grushko (1994)
as Colonel Yevgeni Grushko
AMR: Dying to Change the World (2025)
as AMR
The Cantor of St Thomas's (1985)
as Johann Sebastian Bach
Blue/Orange (2005)
as Dr. Robert Smith
Super Troopers 4 (—)
as Captain O'Hagan
John Rebus: The Lockdown Blues (2020)
as John Rebus
An Evening with Brian Cox (2017)
as Himself
The Glove (—)
Actor
A Modern Magician (—)
as The Voice
Vegalta: Soccer, Tsunami and the Hope of a Nation (2017)
as Narrator
Deceptions (1992)
as Carlton Heard
X2 (2003)
as William Stryker
Widdershins (2018)
as voice
Manhunter (1986)
as Dr. Hannibal Lecktor
Six Characters in Search of An Author (1992)
as The Director