Brian Cox

Early life and education

Cox was born on 1 June 1946 in Dundee, Scotland, the youngest of five children. He is from a working-class Roman Catholic family of Irish and Scottish descent. His mother, Mary Ann Guillerline (née McCann), was a spinner who worked in the jute mills and suffered several nervous breakdowns during Cox's childhood. His father, Charles McArdle Campbell Cox, was a police officer and later a shopkeeper, and died of pancreatic cancer when Cox was eight years old. Cox was brought up by his three elder sisters, including Betty, with whom Cox has remained close.

In Dundee, Cox attended St Mary's Forebank Primary School and St Michael's Junior Secondary School, which he left at the age of 15. After working at Dundee Repertory Theatre for a few years, he began his training at the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art at age 17, graduating in 1965.

Acting career

Theatre

Brian Cox began his acting career at age 14 at Dundee Repertory Theatre in 1961 and then as one of the founding members of the Royal Lyceum Theatre Edinburgh, performing in its first show, The Servant O' Twa Maisters, in October 1965. From 1966, he worked at the Birmingham Repertory Theatre for two years, where he played the title role in Peer Gynt (1967) and made his West End debut in June 1967 as Orlando in As You Like It at the Vaudeville Theatre.

It was during this time that Cox narrowly avoided boarding the ill-fated British European Airways flight from Edinburgh to London that crashed on landing at Heathrow Airport on 27 October 1965. Cox had been invited to meet with Sir Lawrence Olivier but the meeting was cancelled, and while Cox considered taking the flight anyway, he decided to return home only learning of the tragedy the next day.

Cox is an accomplished Shakespearean actor, spending seasons with both the Royal Shakespeare Company and the Royal National Theatre in the 1980s and 1990s. In 1983, he portrayed the Duke of Burgundy in King Lear opposite Laurence Olivier in the title role. In 1984, he played the Royal Ulster Constabulary officer Inspector Nelson in the Royal Court's production of Rat in the Skull. He was subsequently awarded that year's Laurence Olivier Award for Best Actor in a New Play.

He made his Broadway debut in February 1985 as Edmund Darrell in Eugene O'Neill's Strange Interlude at the Nederlander Theatre for which he received his first British Theatre Association Drama Award for Best Actor. In May that year, he made his off-Broadway debut, reprising his role as Inspector Nelson, in Rat in the Skull at the Public Theater. He received two additional Laurence Olivier nominations for Misalliance (1984) and for Fashion (1988).

He won his second Laurence Olivier Award, this time as Best Actor in a Revival, for his performance as the title character in Titus Andronicus (1988). Cox later said that he considers his performance in Titus Andronicus the greatest he has ever given on stage. His performance as Petruchio in The Taming of The Shrew (1987) also garnered positive reviews and won him another British Theatre Association Drama Award for Best Actor.

Cox returned from some years teaching and directing at the Moscow Arts Theatre School to tour with the Royal National Theatre worldwide, delivering a highly acclaimed performance as the title role in King Lear (1990–1991). His account of the emotional and physical difficulties that came with playing King Lear's all-consuming role was detailed in The Lear Diaries (1995) which he authored. King Lear is one of Shakespeare's most difficult roles, and Cox's portrayal broke new ground in the understanding of this most enigmatic figure.

Film and television

Cox made his first television appearance as Nelson in an episode of The Wednesday Play in 1965. He made one-off appearances in Redcap, ITV Playhouse and The Gamblers, before taking a lead role in The Year of the Sex Olympics in 1968. His first film appearance was as Leon Trotsky in Nicholas and Alexandra in 1971. In 1978 he played King Henry II of England in the acclaimed BBC2 drama serial The Devil's Crown, then starred in many other television dramas. He played the lead role in Dalhousie's Luck, a drama by Fulton Mackay set at the time of the siege of Aberdeen by the Marquess of Montrose in 1644 and broadcast as part of the BBC's Play for Today series on 3 August 1980. In the same year, he appeared in the ITV serial Hammer House of Horror as an ex-convict alongside veteran actor Peter Cushing. In 1981, he starred opposite Kate Nelligan and Alan Rickman in the BBC adaptation of Zola's novel Thérèse Raquin as Laurent LeClaire.

In 1986, he portrayed Hannibal Lecter in Manhunter, the character's first appearance on film.

In 1990, Cox portrayed Andrew Neil in Secret Weapon, based on Mordechai Vanunu's life story. In the same year, he guest-starred as Father Amedy in the comedy series Perfect Scoundrels and starred as police investigator Kerrigan in the political thriller Hidden Agenda. In 1991, he played the role of Owen Benjamin, the closeted father of a gay man, in the BBC production of David Leavitt's novel, The Lost Language of Cranes, which is set in the 1980s. For his performance he was nominated as Best Actor at the 1993 BAFTA TV Awards. He also played Geoffrey Harrison in the ITV thriller Red Fox based on Gerald Seymour's international best-seller. In 1992, he appeared in another ITV adaptation as Carl May in The Cloning of Joanna May based on Fay Weldon's sci-fi novel. He also appeared as Stefan Szabo in the first episode of the fifth season of Van der Valk. He played the title role in the short film The Cutter and "The Director" in BBC's anthology series of classic and contemporary plays Performance. He also starred as Carlton Heard in Deceptions and as Edward Hoyland in The Big Battalions, a series about three religious families of differing faith.

In 1993, he appeared as spymaster Major Hogan in two episodes of Sharpe, and as Brother Shaw in Sean's Show. He played P.O. Garvey in BBC's anthology series Scene featuring plays and documentaries originally broadcast for educational purposes. In the same year, he was seen in an episode of Inspector Morse, where he portrayed Michael Steppings, a retired bookmaker whose daughter is in a permanent coma. In 1994, he appeared alongside Kevin Spacey as Angus Mcleague in Iron Will. He portrayed Aethelwine alongside Christian Bale and Helen Mirren in Royal Deceit, an adaptation of the Danish legend of Prince Amleth. He also played the role of Colonel Grushko, 'a policeman who sees greed and rapacity in Russia's new mood', in Grushko, a British-made crime drama set in Russia. He then starred in The Negotiator as Charlie King, a "street copper" who had a heart attack.

Audio and voice work

Film and television

Cox narrated in the short film Zulu 9 (2001), the short film The Legend of Loch Lomond (2001), the docudrama Smallpox (2002), and the short film The Martyr's Crown (2007). He provided live-action narration for the television miniseries Terry Pratchett's The Colour of Magic (2008). He voiced Malcolm Young in Exit Humanity (2011) which follows a man's battle with the walking dead in post-Civil War America. In 2017, he narrated the multi award-winning short film Kubrick by Candlelight which takes place behind the scenes of Stanley Kubrick's film Barry Lyndon. In 2018, he provided the opening narration for the horror film Dark Highlands. In 2019, he was The Voice in A Modern Magician, a supernatural black comedy short film based on William Olaf Stapledon's story exploring mental health, morality, perception, and desire.

He was the voice of the Ood Elder in part one of the Doctor Who Christmas special, "The End of Time" (2009), the narrator in the pseudo-scientific documentary The Revelation of the Pyramids, supporting antisemitic and negationnist conspiracy theories (2010), Bob Servant in Neil Forsyth's The Bob Servant Emails: Series 1 (2012), The Mastermind in the action series M.I. High (2013), Alan Watts in the award-winning sci-fi romantic drama Her (2013), Chorus in Arkangel Shakespeare's dramatised recording of Shakespeare's Henry V (2014), and Death in Good Omens (2019).

From 2020 to 2021, he voice-acted in the sci-fi series From Now as Hunter, the formerly identical brother of Richard Madden's character. He voiced Augustus in Neil Gaiman's The Sandman: Act II (2021), the second instalment of Audible's New York Times best-selling original. He is set to star in Lawrence: After Arabia, a retelling of the events that led to the enigmatic death of the famed T. E. Lawrence.

Radio

Cox's radio work include roles in multiple BBC/BBC Radio 4 productions such as the title character in the series McLevy (1999–ongoing), based on the real-life detective James McLevy, Alec Leamas in The Spy Who Came in from the Cold (2009), John Bernard Books in the dramatisation of The Shootist (2018), and a talking head in the impressions show Dead Ringers: Series 18 (2018). He also narrated in the epic full-cast drama The Stuarts (2019) and in Alexander: The Story of a Legendary Leader (2020).

Books

Cox narrated the abridged audiobook version of John Aubrey's Brief Lives (1995), Joseph Conrad's novellas Youth and Heart of Darkness (1996), and Sir Walter Scott's Ivanhoe (2001). He read the unabridged audiobook version of Bram Stoker's Dracula (1997), Ruth Rendell's To Fear a Painted Devil (2014), William McIlvanney's The Dark Remains book series, and his own autobiography Putting the Rabbit in the Hat (2021). He also voiced in Murder Most Foul (Vol. 1), a collection of classic crime short fiction, and in its sequel Murder Most Foul (Vol. 2) both in 2003.

He has collaborated with HarperCollins on an audiobook of Tolkien's epic poem The Legend of Sigurd and Gudrún (2010), and on the abridged audiobook version of Gerald Seymour's 2011 works including The Fighting Man, The Heart of Danger, The Journeyman Tailor, The Glory Boys, Red Fox, Killing Ground, Condition Black, and Field of Blood. In 2012, he read Penguin Classics' audiobook version of H.G. Wells' The Time Machine, and in 2014, The Human Table by Marvin Cohen in WordTheatre's Pushcart Prize: Best of the Small Presses (Vol. 2). He narrated The Gospel of John (2014), the first ever word for word film adaptation of all four gospels, and in religious audiobooks for The New Testament such as RSV-CE's Truth & Life Dramatized Audio Bible (2020) and The Word of God Audio Bible (2021).

Animation

Cox also worked in animation, providing the voice of Macbeth in Shakespeare: The Animated Tales (1992), Earl Garver in Superman: The Animated Series (1997), Pariah Dark in Danny Phantom (2005), General Hemmer in Battle for Terra (2007), Spanners in Agent Crush (2008), the Green Dragon in the direct-to-video film Scooby-Doo! and the Samurai Sword (2009), Action 12 Reporter in Wes Anderson's Fantastic Mr. Fox (2009), and Conrad and Crunch in the UK and US version of Bob the Builder: Mega Machines (2017). Cox narrated the first episode of the first series of Animated Tales of the World (2000). In 2018, he voiced Mr Widdershins, a gentleman whose life is pampered by automated machines, in Widdershins. He voices the English version of Niander Wallace Sr. in the Japanese-American animated series Blade Runner: Black Lotus (2021) based on the Blade Runner franchise. He also portrayed Helm Hammerhand in the animated film The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim (2024).

Video games

Cox has also been involved in the video game industry. He voice-acted the ruthless emperor Scolar Visari in Killzone (2004), and its two sequels, Killzone 2 (2009) and Killzone 3 (2011). He was also the voice of Lionel Starkweather, the main antagonist in Manhunt (2003), a video game for Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 2 and Xbox. In Electronic Arts' reboot of Syndicate (2012), Cox played Jack Denham, the "ruthless power behind the boardroom throne" of the malicious corporation EuroCorp. The game was released on PlayStation 3, PC and Xbox 360. He's been featured in promotional material for the game Tekken 8 in which he recounts major events of the franchise's story leading up to its latest release focusing on the father and son showdown between Kazuya Mishima and Jin Kazama.

Television advertisements

He provided the voiceover for Virgin TV's cross-platform advertising campaign promoting its new streamlined service, Virgin TV Anywhere, in January 2017. Cox has also voiced TV ads for McDonald's since 2020. In April 2021, he provided voiceovers for TV ads for the launch of the online property portal Boomin. In 2024, Cox worked with Uber One for Students to make their debut ad campaign "Brian Cox Goes to College", which earned Uber Eats a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Commercial in 2025. In 2025, Cox teamed up with drinks brand, Malibu, in a TV ad campaign pledging the importance of a work-life balance.

Soundtrack

Cox also performed soundtracks in a few of his projects. In the series Sharpe in the episode "Sharpe's Rifles" (1993), he sang Here's Adieu to all Judges and Juries. In L.I.E. (2001), he performed Danny Boy and Harrigan Song. He also sang The Butcher Boy in The Escapist.

Acting credits and accolades

Cox made his directorial debut in the "Gray Matter" episode of the hit HBO prison drama series Oz (2000). His first foray into executive production was in The Escapist (2008). He also served as executive producer in the series From Now (2020–2021) and is set to executive produce Mending the Line.

He has received numerous accolades including two British Academy Scotland Awards, an Emmy Award, a Golden Globe Award, a Screen Actors Guild Award and two Olivier Awards. He has received two Olivier Awards for his performances in Rat in the Skull (1984), and Titus Andronicus (1988). For his role as Logan Roy in the HBO drama series Succession he has received a Screen Actors Guild Award, a Golden Globe Award and nominations for three Primetime Emmy Awards and a British Academy Scotland Award.

Personal life

Marriages and family

Cox is divorced from both his first wife, Lilian Monroe-Carr, and his second wife, Caroline Burt. Cox and Burt have two children, Margaret and Alan; the latter is also an actor, best known for his roles in Young Sherlock Holmes, and as the young John Mortimer in the television film of his play A Voyage Round My Father (1982) opposite Laurence Olivier. Cox married his third wife, actress Nicole Ansari, in 2002. They have two sons, Orson Jonathan Cox and Torin Kamran Cox, and as of June 2010 lived in New York City.

Political and other views

Cox is a self-proclaimed democratic socialist and Scottish republican. In 2007, he campaigned for the Scottish Labour Party in the run-up to that year's Scottish Parliament election. Cox endorsed the Scottish National Party (SNP) in the 2011 Parliament election because of their higher education policy. In 2020, Cox told former Labour Party strategist Alastair Campbell that he had been an active and committed Labour supporter all his life until the controversial decision under Tony Blair's premiership to involve the UK in the Iraq War.

On 25 May 2012, he spoke in support of Scottish independence at the Yes Scotland campaign, saying he had gradually become disillusioned by New Labour under Tony Blair and Gordon Brown, although Cox could not vote in the 2014 Scottish independence referendum due to his residence in the United States. On 29 January 2015, Cox announced he had quit Labour under Ed Miliband and Jim Murphy, believing it had failed north and south of the border to live up to its basic principles in recent years, and joined the SNP, whom he felt was taking forward values of social justice and representing Scotland's best interests.

In January 2020, Cox called for a second referendum on Scottish independence, saying Labour had "failed" in Scotland and that the Scottish people were "organically" moving towards a decision to leave the UK following Brexit. In October 2020, he acknowledged that he was unlikely to ever return to living in Scotland, citing the weather. In November 2022, Cox insisted that he did not consider himself a Scottish nationalist and described himself as an Anglophile, but believed too many political decisions were being made on Scotland's behalf. Cox also said he favoured a move towards federalism and constitutional change in the United Kingdom over Scottish independence, commenting, "I don't want to break up the Union but I want another idea for the Union", which he described as "independent states but we come together as a united federation".

In October 2022, Cox criticised Conservative Prime Minister Liz Truss in the wake of the September 2022 United Kingdom mini-budget. Cox asserted the Conservatives had "no vision" and that he did not believe Truss "is the right person for the job". During the 2021 Israel–Palestine crisis, Cox signed his name in support of "A Letter Against Apartheid" written by six Palestinian artists. After the Gaza war broke out in October 2023, Cox signed another letter (Artists4Ceasefire) calling for a ceasefire. He later recorded himself reading the poem "If I Must Die" by Refaat Alareer, a Palestinian writer and professor killed by an Israeli airstrike. In 2025, Cox signed a letter prior to the 2025 Cannes Film Festival criticising the film industry's "passivity" during the ongoing Gaza genocide. In September 2025, he signed an open pledge with Film Workers for Palestine pledging not to work with Israeli film institutions "that are implicated in genocide and apartheid against the Palestinian people."

Football

Cox is the cousin of late Dundee defender Bobby Cox. In 2025, he narrated a promotional film calling for a new stadium for the club; regardless, Cox does not support either Dundee or their city rivals, Dundee United.

Honours and other recognition

On 31 December 2002, Cox was appointed a Commander of the Order of the British Empire in the New Year Honours List.

He was honoured at the 2004 BAFTA Scotland Awards with an Outstanding Achievement Award, and at the 2004 Great Scot Awards with a Lifetime Achievement Award.

Empire magazine awarded him the Empire Icon Award in 2006, and the UK Film Council named him one of the top 10 powerful British film stars in Hollywood in 2007.

In 1993, Cox was made an Honorary Doctor of Laws honoris causa by the University of Dundee. In 2006, he was conferred an Honorary Doctorate of Drama by the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland. In July 2007, he was made an Honorary Doctor of Letters by Queen Margaret University in Edinburgh, and was made an Honorary Doctor of Drama by Napier University in Edinburgh in July 2008. In November 2011, he was named an Honorary Doctor of Letters by Kingston University in southwest London for his tireless contributions to drama education.

In February 2010, Cox was elected as the 12th Rector of the University of Dundee by its students, was formally installed in October, and was re-elected in January 2013.

In December 2018 he was appointed head of the international jury at the Golden Unicorn Awards.

In June 2026, Cox received the Raindance Icon Award at the Raindance Film Festival.

Charity work

Cox is a patron of the Scottish Youth Theatre, Scotland's national theatre "for and by" young people. Scottish Youth Theatre's building in Glasgow, The Old Sheriff Court, named their theatre the Brian Cox Studio Theatre in his honour. He is also a patron of "THE SPACE", a training facility for actors and dancers in his native Dundee, and an ambassador for the Screen Academy Scotland, a collaboration between Napier University and the Edinburgh College of Art. Cox is also patron of The Old Rep Theatre in Birmingham, one of the first repertory theatres to be built in the UK. In October 2017, he was made an honorary patron for Capital Theatre's campaign to modernise the historic King's Theatre Edinburgh and preserve it for future generations. In January 2020, he was removed from patronage of the Mid-Lin Daycare Centre, a centre for the elderly in Dundee, after serving for four years due to his confession of his use and endorsement of recreational cannabis. In April 2020, he became patron of the British American Drama Academy with whom he has had a decades-long association, including directing several collaborations and holding regular Masterclasses for participants on BADA's programs.

In April 2010, Cox, along with Ian McKellen and Eleanor Bron, appeared in a series of TV advertisements to support Age UK, the charity formed from the merger of Age Concern and Help the Aged. In 2012, Cox became the Grand Marshal of the New York City Tartan Day Parade and reprised the role in 2020, the first time a previous Grand Marshal was asked to return since the parade moved to Manhattan's Sixth Avenue. In June 2005, he was awarded the first Scotland's Tartan Day International Ambassador Award at a ceremony in the Scottish Parliament for his work in promoting Scotland abroad.