Alan Cox
Birth nameAlan Douglas Cox
Birth date6 August 1970 (age 56)
Birth placeWestminster, London, England
OccupationActor
Years active1976–present
Parents

Alan Douglas Cox (born 6 August 1970) is a British actor. He is known for portraying a teenage Dr. Watson in Young Sherlock Holmes in 1985.

Life and career

Cox was born in Westminster, London, and is the son of Scottish Emmy Award-winning actor Brian Cox and his second wife, actress Caroline Burt.[1] Cox was educated at St Paul's School in London.[2] He has a sister, Margaret, and two half-brothers, Orson and Torin.

Cox portrayed the young John Mortimer the 1982 TV adaptation of his play A Voyage Round My Father, starring opposite Laurence Olivier.[3] He is probably most widely known for his role in Young Sherlock Holmes (1985), where he played a teenage version of Dr. Watson.[4] Other films include An Awfully Big Adventure (1995), Mrs. Dalloway (1997),[5] and The Auteur Theory (1999).[6] In 2011, Cox also co-starred as a nudist named Cory Beck in the independent comedy Act Naturally.

Filmography

Film

YearTitleRoleNotes
1976A DivorceJasonTV film
1981If You Go Down in the Woods TodayCub Scout
1982A Voyage Round My FatherSon as a BoyTV film
East LynneWilliam CarlyleTV film
1984Man of LettersKentonTV film
1985Young Sherlock HolmesJohn Watson
1995An Awfully Big AdventureGeoffrey
1997Mrs DallowayYoung Peter
1999The Auteur TheoryGeorge Sand
2000Cor, Blimey!OrsinoTV film
WeightHenry Salmon
2002Die Wasserfälle von SlunjDonald ClaytonTV film
The Dinosaur HuntersRichard OwenTV film
2003JusticePalm Sunday
2004Ladies in LavenderObsequious Man
Not Only But AlwaysAlan BennettTV film
2006Elizabeth David: A Life in RecipesCuthbertTV film
Housewife, 49DennisTV film
2008AugustBarton
2009MargaretGordon ReeceTV film
2010The Nutcracker in 3DGielgudVoice role
2011Act NaturallyCory Beck
The Speed of ThoughtAlexei
2012The DictatorBP Executive
2018Staging the Knack and How to Get ItInterviewerShort film
Say My NameFather Donald Davies
2019Act Super NaturallyCory Beck
2026 The Man with the PlanThe Devil

Television

YearTitleRoleNotes
1978The Devil's CrownYoung HenryEpisode: "The Earth Is Not Enough"
1979PenmarricYoung Jan-YvesEpisode: "Series 1, Episode 7"
1980ShoestringJohnEpisode: "The Dangerous Game"
1983Jane EyreJohn ReedEpisode: "Gateshead"
1990CasualtyJoshuaEpisode: "Results"
1991The BillSteve DoyleEpisode: "Stress Rules"
1992Screen OneSeth BadeEpisode: "Adam Bede"
SpatzGrahamEpisode: "Poetry & Music"
London's BurningRichard SidwellEpisode: "Series 5, Episode 3"
The Young Indiana Jones ChroniclesDimitriEpisode: "Petrograd, July 1917"
1994The BillConnorEpisode: "Creating a Market"
1995Crown ProsecutorDavid ElleryEpisode: "Series 1, Episode 8"
1996EllingtonTadeusz ZbinkiewiczEpisode: "No Holds Barred"
The Thin Blue LineBob ToughEpisode: "Fly on the Wall"
1997The OdysseyElpenorMini-series
2004Midsomer MurdersStephen BannermanEpisode: "The Maid in Splendour"
2007The Wild WestMark KelloggEpisode: "Custer's Last Strand"
2008M.I. HighDavid DeHaverlandEpisode: "It's a Kind of Magic"
John AdamsWilliam MaclayEpisode: "Unite or Die"
2009The BillPhil ReaneyEpisode: "Fall Out"
2013LucanIan Maxwell-ScottMini-series
2014The Good WifeDouglasEpisode: "Goliath and David"
2015The Sonnet ProjectEpisode: "Sonnet #30"
2021New AmsterdamLyleEpisode: "More Joy"

Theatre

YearTitleRoleTheatre
2025Churchill in Moscow[7]Archie Clark Kerr[8]Orange Tree Theatre

Bibliography

  • Holmstrom, John. The Moving Picture Boy: An International Encyclopaedia from 1895 to 1995. Norwich, Michael Russell, 1996, p. 381.

References

  1. ^ Gordon, Bryony (30 October 2021). "Brian Cox Unleashed". National Post. p. F22. Retrieved 25 January 2022. – via Newspapers.com.
  2. ^ Jury, Louise (21 April 2015). "Boris the inspiration for satire's wannabe PM". Evening Standard. p. 31. Retrieved 25 January 2022. – via Newspapers.com.
  3. ^ James, Clive (7 March 1982). "Television: Better than ever". The Observer. p. 48. Retrieved 25 January 2022. – via Newspapers.com.
  4. ^ Maslin, Janet (23 July 1995). "A look at Hugh Grant before his big success". The Daily Advertiser. p. C6. Retrieved 25 May 2024. – via Newspapers.com.
  5. ^ Mills, Nancy (4 December 1985). "Taking the Cloak off Young Sherlock". Los Angeles Times. New York Times News Service. p. C-6. Retrieved 25 January 2022. – via Newspapers.com.
  6. ^ Macor, Alison (13 October 2000). "Now Playing at the Austin Film Festival: The Auteur Theory". Austin American-Statesman. p. E5. Retrieved 25 January 2022. – via Newspapers.com.
  7. ^ World premiere. Howard Brenton's dramatisation of the Moscow Conference (1942).
  8. ^ "Full cast announced for the world premiere of Churchill in Moscow", Orange Tree Theatre website News section. Accessed 12 March 2025