Brian Cox

Last updated on the 7 May 2025 by Maeve

Mini Biography

Born: 1 June 1946, Dundee, Scotland. 

Brian Cox comes from a working-class Roman Catholic family with Irish and Scottish roots. His mother, Mary Ann Guillerline, was a jute mill worker who experienced several nervous breakdowns during his childhood, while his father, Charles McArdle Campbell Cox, was a police officer and later a shopkeeper who passed away from pancreatic cancer when Brian was eight. He was raised by his three older sisters, including Betty, who he remains close to.

Growing up in Dundee, Cox attended St Mary’s Forebank Primary School and St Michael’s Junior Secondary School, leaving at 15. He worked at Dundee Repertory Theatre before enrolling at the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art at 17, graduating in 1965.

In a Guardian interview, Cox expressed his support for recreational cannabis use, stating, “It’s absolutely great and I recommend it to everyone, get stoned!”

Suggested viewing

War & Peace (2016)

Bftv 9.0 / IMDb 8.1

“War & Peace” is a television adaptation of Leo Tolstoy’s monumental novel. Set against the backdrop of Napoleon’s invasion of Russia, it explores the intertwining lives of five aristocratic families during the turbulent years of war and peace. Love, betrayal and personal transformation shape the fate of its characters in this epic tale.

Top cast: Lily James, James Norton, Paul Dano, Gillian Anderson, Olivia Ross, Jessie Buckley, Aneurin Barnard, Greta Scacchi, Aisling Loftus, Brian Cox.

Medici (2016)

Bftv 8.5 / IMDb 7.8

In 15th-century Florence, a powerful banking family faces political intrigue and deadly rivalries after the mysterious death of their patriarch. As his ambitious son rises to power, he oversees treacherous alliances, artistic patronage and hidden secrets that threaten to unravel the family’s influence and the city’s fate during the dawn of the Renaissance.

Top cast: Richard Madden, Synnøve Karlsen, David Brandon, Brian Cox, Bradley James, Annabel Scholey, Alessandra Mastronardi, Daniel Sharman, Sebastian de Souza, Sarah Parish, Raoul Bova.

Full filmography (@Wikipedia)