Scottish actor who has worked extensively with the Royal Shakespeare Company and the Royal National Theatre, where he gained recognition for his portrayal of King Lear. He played supporting roles in Rob Roy (1995) and Mel Gibson’s Academy Award-winning Braveheart (1995). He was the first actor to portray Hannibal Lecter on film in the cult classic Manhunter (1986). A winner of two Olivier Awards (Rat in the Skull, Titus Andronicus), a Primetime Emmy Award (Nuremberg) and a Golden Globe Award (Succession), Cox has also been nominated for a British Academy Television Award and three Screen Actors Guild Awards.
Cox made one of his earliest movie appearances in the pop-culture satire Privilege in 1967. He first drew international attention in the role of Leon Trotsky in the 1971 film Nicholas and Alexandria. Four years later, he co-starred in the film version of Storey’s In Celebration, recreating the part he played in the original stage version. He portrayed the cannibalistic Hannibal Lector in Manhunter (1986), five years before Antony Hopkins made the role famous in Silence of the Lambs. He appeared in the British film, Hidden Agenda in 1990 and the American film, Iron Will in 1993.
Cox is divorced from his first wife, Caroline Burt. The couple has two children, Margaret and Alan, who is also an actor. Cox wed his second wife, actress Nicole Ansari, in 2002. The couple has two sons, Orson Jonathan Cox and Torin Kamran Cox, and live in New York City. Cox also maintains a home in Primrose Hill, London.
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