Tearful Succession star Brian Cox reveals he sang goodbye to his father-in-law

Brian Cox has tearfully told how he sang goodbye to his father-in-law in a FaceTime call before his tragic death last weekend.

The Succession actor, 75, teared up on BBC Breakfast as he told about the death for the first time as he prepares to go to his funeral on Friday,

Brian added his wife Nicole Ansari, 52, walked in on him after he sang with his dying father-in-law and he was so ‘poleaxed’ by emotion it took him time to get back to reality and give her a hug.

Devastating: Brian Cox has tearfully told how he sang goodbye to his father-in-law in a FaceTime call before his tragic death last weekend

Welling up as he talked, the star said: ‘We had a tragedy recently. Just recently, my father-in-law passed away, just last weekend.

‘And he was a wonderful, wonderful man. And I actually said goodbye to him, and we sang together on Zoom – actually, FaceTime.’

Brian made the farewell while on press junkets to plug the third series of HBO’s Succession, in which he plays media tycoon tyrant Logan Roy – famed for barking ‘F**k off’ at his family and rivals.

But he said he was willing to call off the junkets in London and travel to be with his father-in-law in his dying moments.

Grieving: The Succession actor, 75, teared up on BBC Breakfast as he told about the death for the first time as he prepares to go to his funeral on Friday

His wife, who was with him in the capital as he sang farewell to his father-in-law, told him not to and it is believed she left Brian to be with her dad.

The actor added: ‘It was on FaceTime and we sang.

He was such wonderful man, he was Iranian my father-in-law, and we sang So Long, It’s Been Good To Know You.

‘And it was just.. l joined in, and it just amazing, and this was my last memory of him.

Brave: Brian added his wife Nicole Ansari, 52, walked in on him after he sang with his dying father-in-law and he was so ‘poleaxed’ by emotion it took him time to get back to reality and give her a hug (pictured together in 2020)

‘It was a beautiful memory of him, and it was beautiful.’

It’s believed the actor was referring to the 1965 song So Long Good To Know Yuh, by folk singer Woody Guthrie.

Brain opened up about the death after telling BBC presenters Naga Munchetty and Charlie Stayt about his habit of drifting into ‘dreamland’ at emotional moments.

He said the habit was a defence mechanism when events became to overwhelming for him to bear.

And he admitted he lapsed into the state after his musical goodbye as he was so ‘poleaxed’ with emotion.

He added: ‘My wife, when she came, she just flew into London. I actually have to go to the funeral tomorrow.

‘My wife came in… she came in… and I was quiet, and she said, ‘Are you going to give me a hug?’

‘And I said, ‘Of course’. But I was kind of poleaxed for a minute, it’s just one of those things that happen, I was poleaxed, and I thought, ‘Oh, of course’, and it was funny.’

Telling how he stayed to do his Succession promotion: ‘My wife said, ‘No, you stay away’, because I had all these junkets and all that.

Much missed: Brian made the farewell while on press junkets to plug the third series of HBO’s Succession, in which he plays media tycoon tyrant Logan Roy – famed for barking ‘F**k off’ at his family and rivals

‘But I was prepared to cancel them and come, and she said, ‘No, stay, you’ve had your goodbye, so it was great.’

When asked if he knew he was saying goodbye when he sang to his dad-in-law, Brian replied: ‘Yeah, I did. It’s the least you can do in life is be positive, especially at the end of it.’

Brian said before telling the take through tears: ‘I get preoccupied, as you do in this business – I go off in dreamland.

‘Sometimes I have this problem of being absent, that I’m not present enough.’

He added it goes back to his tough childhood, which saw him growing up the youngest of five children.

Brian was just eight when his father died of cancer.

His mother then suffered a series of nervous breakdowns and spent time in institutions.

He added: ‘I think it’s a defence mechanism from childhood, that made me just say, ‘I can’t deal wit this, so I shall just absent myself’.

‘And I’m getting better at it.’

Dad-of-four Brian, who has two children by his first wife and two with his second Nicole, has said he was so devastated by his father’s cancer death he went into ‘survival mode’.

Show: Brian’s hit show Succession has recently been renewed for a fourth season