Scottish Stars & Talents
by mauce1975 | created - 30 Aug 2020 | updated - 20 Sep 2020 | Public
1. Alastair Sim
Actor | Scrooge
The son of Alexander Sim JP and Isabella McIntyre, Alastair Sim was educated in Edinburgh. Always interested in language (especially the spoken word) he became the Fulton Lecturer in Elocution at New College, Edinburgh University from 1925 until 1930. He was invited back and became the Rector of ...
2. Deborah Kerr
Actress | The King and I
Deborah Jane Trimmer was born on 30 September 1921 in Glasgow, Scotland, the daughter of Captain Arthur Kerr Trimmer. She was educated at Northumberland House, Clifton, Bristol. She first performed at the Open Air Theatre in Regent's Park, London. She subsequently performed with the Oxford ...
3. Sean Connery
Actor | The Rock
The tall, handsome and muscular Scottish actor Sean Connery is best known as the original actor to portray James Bond in the hugely successful movie franchise, starring in seven films between 1962 and 1983. Some believed that such a career-defining role might leave him unable to escape it, but he ...
4. Mary Ure
Actress | Where Eagles Dare
An enchantingly beautiful, luminous blonde, Mary Ure was born in Glasgow on February 18th, 1933. Her first film was Zoltan Korda's Storm Over the Nile (1955), a misfiring remake of The Four Feathers (1939). Next was Windom's Way (1957) - a tale of rubber plantation strikes and marital strife, but ...
5. David McCallum
Actor | The Great Escape
Since David McCallum's father, David McCallum Sr., was first violinist for the London Philharmonic Orchestra and his mother, Dorothy Dorman, was a cellist, it's not surprising that David was originally headed for a career in music, playing oboe. He studied briefly at the Royal Academy of Music. He ...
6. Ian Richardson
Actor | From Hell
A classical actor (and founding member in 1960 of the Royal Shakespeare Company), Richardson earned international fame as the villainous Francis Urquart in the BBC television trilogy, "House of Cards." Uttered in a cut-glass accent, the Machiavellian Prime Minister's sly "You might well think that ...
7. Richard Wilson
Actor | One Foot in the Grave
Richard Wilson OBE (born Iain Carmichael Wilson) is a Scottish actor, theatre director and broadcaster. He played Victor Meldrew in the BBC sitcom One Foot in the Grave (1990). A later role was as Gaius, the court physician of Camelot, in the BBC drama Merlin (2008).
Wilson was born in Greenock, ...
8. Tom Conti
Actor | Oppenheimer
Preferring contemporary over classical theatre (with nary a Shakespeare stage credit in sight), one of West End theatre's most enduring and popular faces of the past four decades has been that of Tom Conti.
He was born Thomas Antonio Conti on November 22, 1941, in Paisley, Scotland, to a pair of ...
9. Billy Connolly
Actor | Brave
Billy Connolly was born and raised in Glasgow, Scotland. He left school to work in the shipyards, becoming a welder, and joined the Territorial Army (in the parachute regiment) at around the same time. He developed an interest in folk music, eventually being an accomplished banjo player and a ...
10. Sylvester McCoy
Actor | The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug
Sylvester McCoy was born Percy James Patrick Kent-Smith on 20 August 1943, the only child of Molly Sheridan and Percy James Kent-Smith, a couple living in Dunoon, Scotland. His mother was Irish. Percy James Kent-Smith was killed in the Second World War a couple of months before his son was born, ...
11. Brian Cox
Actor | Succession
Brian Cox is an Emmy Award-winning Scottish actor. He was born on June 1, 1946 in Dundee, Scotland, to Mary Ann Guillerline Cox, maiden surname McCann, a spinner, and Charles McArdle Campbell Cox, a shopkeeper and butcher. His father was of Irish ancestry and his mother was of Irish and Scottish ...
12. Robbie Coltrane
Actor | Cracker
Robbie Coltrane, one of Britain's most popular comedians who was head of debating society at school and won prizes for his art, is now a film star who played in two James Bond films and in the "Harry Potter" franchise.
Coltrane was born Anthony Robert McMillan on March 30, 1950, in Rutherglen, a ...
13. Peter Capaldi
Actor | Doctor Who
Peter Capaldi was born in Glasgow, Scotland, to Nancy (Soutar) and Gerald John Capaldi. His parents owned an ice cream business. He is of Italian (from his paternal grandfather), Scottish, and Irish descent. Capaldi attended drama classes and was accepted into the Glasgow School of Art. After ...
14. Tilda Swinton
Actress | We Need to Talk About Kevin
The iconoclastic gifts of the highly striking and ferociously talented actress Tilda Swinton have been appreciated by art house crowds and international audiences alike. After her stunning Oscar-winning turn as a high-powered corporate attorney in the George Clooney starring and critically-lauded ...
15. Graham McTavish
Actor | The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey
Graham McTavish is a Scottish television and film actor, best known for his roles as Dougal Mackenzie in the popular TV series "Outlander" (2014-16), as Dwalin in the "The Hobbit" trilogy for Peter Jackson (2012-14) as well as the Saint of Killers in AMC's series "Preacher", based on Garth Ennis ...
16. Robert Carlyle
Actor | The Full Monty
Robert Carlyle was born in Maryhill, Glasgow, Scotland, to Elizabeth, a bus company employee, and Joseph Carlyle, a painter and decorator. He was raised by his father after his mother left him when he was four. At the age of 21, after reading Arthur Miller's "The Crucible," he enrolled in acting ...
17. John Hannah
Actor | Four Weddings and a Funeral
John Hannah is the youngest child of his family, having two older sisters. Before he decided on a career as an actor, John was an apprentice electrician for four years. He gave up his work as an electrician after being accepted to the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama in Glasgow. After ...
18. Craig Ferguson
Writer | I'll Be There
By August of 1994, Craig Ferguson was established as one of Great Britain's leading comedians - he had just had huge success at the Edinburgh Festival. In January 1995 he moved to Los Angeles where he now works as an actor-writer-director-producer-creator.
19. Angus Macfadyen
Actor | Equilibrium
Best known as Robert the Bruce in Braveheart (1995), Angus McFadyen has enjoyed a fine career in the film business. He has been in a variety of different films and television shows over his life, playing such well known roles as Edward 'Blackbeard' Teach, Robert the Bruce, and Orson Welles.
Born in ...
20. Alan Cumming
Actor | The Anniversary Party
Alan Cumming was born on January 27, 1965, in Aberfeldy, Scotland, to Mary (Darling), an insurance company secretary, and Alex Cumming. His family lived nearby in Dunkeld, where his father was a forester for Atholl Estate. The family (including his brother, Tom) moved to Fassfern near Fort William,...
21. Tommy Flanagan
Actor | Sons of Anarchy
Tommy Flanagan was born and raised in Glasgow, Scotland where he made his stage debut at the Raindog Theatre Company and appeared in such productions as One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest and MacBeth.
Flanagan soon landed the role of Scottish rebel 'Morrison' in the Mel Gibson epic Braveheart (1995) ...
22. Dougray Scott
Actor | Ever After
Born in Scotland, trained at the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama where he was named most promising drama student. Scott's early work was in Scottish national theatre and television, first appearing in the series Soldier Soldier as well as on the stage in the Tim Fleming directed production ...
23. Sara Stewart
Actress | Batman Begins
Sara was born and raised in Edinburgh Scotland. After spending some time in England, she trained at The Central School of Speech and Drama in London, and made London her home. Her work has been diverse, ranging from classical tragic heroines like "Natalya Petrovna" in Turgenyev's "Month in the ...
24. John Barrowman
Actor | Torchwood
Born in Glasgow, Scotland, and raised in Joliet, Illinois. He returned to the UK, for a 6 month Shakespeare semester with the United States International University of San Diego, but left to star in the musical production of "Anything Goes," with Elaine Paige. He went on to star in "Miss Saigon," "...
25. Billy Boyd
Actor | The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King
Billy Boyd was born in 1968 in Glasgow, Scotland, to Mary and William Boyd. The talented young boy, inspired by Star Wars to try acting, got his first taste of it in his school's production of Oliver Twist when he was 10. Boyd's parents were extremely supportive, driving over two hours to get him ...
26. Cal MacAninch
Actor | Downton Abbey
Cal MacAninch was born on November 24, 1963 in Govan, Glasgow, Scotland, UK. He is an actor and writer, known for Downton Abbey (2010), Calibre (2018) and Mr Selfridge (2013). He is married to Shauna Macdonald. They have three children.
27. Rory McCann
Actor | Game of Thrones
Six foot six inches tall, with brown eyes and dark hair, Rory McCann from Glasgow began his working life at the top - as a painter on the Forth Bridge in Scotland. He came to notice in a television commercial for Scotts' Porridge Oats, in which he appeared as a scantily-clad hunk in a vest and kilt...
28. Ashley Jensen
Actress | Arthur Christmas
Ashley Jensen (born on 11 August 1969) is a Scottish actress and narrator. She was nominated for an Emmy for her role on the television series Extras (2005), on which she appeared from 2005-2007. She was also a cast member on the ABC show Ugly Betty (2006) and the brief-lived CBS sitcom ...
29. Gerard Butler
Actor | 300
Gerard James Butler was born in Paisley, Scotland, to Margaret and Edward Butler, a bookmaker. His family is of Irish origin. Gerard spent some of his very early childhood in Montreal, Quebec, but was mostly raised, along with his older brother and sister, in his hometown of Paisley. His parents ...
30. Tony Curran
Actor | Calibre
Tony Curran was born on December 13, 1969 in Glasgow, Scotland, UK. He is an actor, known for Calibre (2018), Deadwood: The Movie (2019) and Outlaw King (2018). He has been married to Mai Curran since August 13, 2011.
31. Ewan McGregor
Actor | Moulin Rouge!
Ewan Gordon McGregor was born on March 31, 1971 in Perth, Perthshire, Scotland, to Carol Diane (Lawson) and James Charles McGregor, both teachers. His uncle is actor Denis Lawson. He was raised in Crieff. At age 16, he left Morrison Academy to join the Perth Repertory Theatre. His parents ...
32. David Tennant
Actor | Doctor Who
Widely considered as one of the greatest stage and screen actors of his generation both in his native Scotland and internationally, David Tennant was born David John McDonald in West Lothian, Scotland, to Essdale Helen (McLeod) and Sandy McDonald, who was a Presbyterian minister. He is of Scottish ...
33. Kevin McKidd
Actor | Trainspotting
Kevin McKidd was born and raised in Elgin, Scotland, the son of Kathleen, a secretary, and Neil McKidd, a plumber. He was a member of the Moray Youth Theatre, before going on to study Engineering at the University of Edinburgh. While at the university, Kevin became involved with Bedlam Theatre, the...
34. Kirsty Mitchell
Actress | Casualty
Born in Glasgow, Kirsty Mitchell is a prominent Scottish actress with a rich body of work across film, television and theatre. She trained at the prestigious Central School of Ballet in London before being crowned the coveted title of "Miss Scotland" at the age of seventeen. Kirsty Mitchell's ...
35. Hans Matheson
Actor | Sherlock Holmes
Hans Matheson was born in a caravan on August 7, 1975 at Stornoway, Isle of Lewis, located in the Outer Hebrides of Scotland. Shortly after, his family moved to Canterbury, Kent in England but Hans often spent his summer holidays on Stornoway with his grandparents. As a child, his parents Iain (Ado...
36. Kelly Macdonald
Actress | No Country for Old Men
Scottish actress Kelly Macdonald was born and raised in Glasgow. Her parents divorced when she was young, and she was raised by her mother, a sales executive in the garment industry. She has one brother, David. As a hobby, she acted in an amateur theatrical club, which she enjoyed a great deal. ...
37. Laura Fraser
Actress | A Knight's Tale
Laura Fraser was born on 24th July 1975 and brought up in Glasgow. Her father, Alister, used to run a small building company but is now an aspiring scriptwriter; her mother, Rose, used to be a nurse but is now a college lecturer. She has an older brother who works with computers, a younger sister ...
38. Michelle Duncan
Actress | Atonement
Michelle Duncan (born 14 April 1978) is a Scottish-Canadian actress. Duncan trained in acting at Queen Margaret University, Edinburgh before studying English and Classics at The University of St Andrews.
Her television roles include: Baptiste, Hanna, Grantchester, Sugar Rush, Doctor Who, Low Winter ...
39. James McAvoy
Actor | Filth
McAvoy was born on 21 April 1979 in Glasgow, Scotland, to James, a bus driver, and Elizabeth (née Johnstone), a nurse. He was raised on a housing estate in Drumchapel, Glasgow by his maternal grandparents (James, a butcher, and Mary), after his parents divorced when James was 11. He went to St ...
40. Paul Telfer
Actor | Days of Our Lives
Paul Telfer was born on October 30, 1979 in Paisley, Scotland, UK. He is an actor and writer, known for Days of Our Lives (1965), NCIS (2003) and The Vampire Diaries (2009). He has been married to Carmen Cusack since December 1, 2012.
41. Sam Heughan
Actor | Outlander
Sam Roland Heughan was born April 30, 1980 in Balmaclellan, Dumfries and Galloway, Scotland. When he was 5 years old, he and his brother and mother moved to the area of the city-New Galloway. Sam grew nearby Kenmure castle, where he and his brother played as children. An accomplished stage and ...
42. Morven Christie
Actress | The Bay
Morven Christie was born and raised in Glasgow, Scotland. She trained as an actor at Drama Centre London under Reuven Adiv, a colleague of Lee Strasberg.
Morven Christie took the lead role of DS Lisa Armstrong in ITV's hit 2019 series The Bay, with Morven's performance as the focus of the critical ...
43. Marianna Palka
Actress | Collection
Multi award-winning multi hyphen Palka was born and brought up in Glasgow and moved to New York City at age 17 to study at the Atlantic Theater Company. She studied Suzuki movement for actors, knows how to do any accent, has theater voice projection and is known for being the kindest most ...
44. Ryan Fletcher
Actor | Pennyworth
Ryan Fletcher was born in 1983 in Blantyre, South Lanarkshire, Scotland, UK. He is an actor, known for Pennyworth (2019), Beats (2019) and Outlander (2014).
45. Richard Rankin
Actor | Outlander
Richard Rankin was born in Rutherglen, Glasgow, Scotland, UK on 4 January 1983, his birth name actually being Richard Harris. It was changed to Rankin, his mother's maiden name, to avoid any confusion with the famous Irish actor. Initially wanting to be an IT professional, he was inspired by a trip...
46. Emun Elliott
Actor | Star Wars: Episode VII - The Force Awakens
Emun Elliott was born on November 28, 1983 in Edinburgh, Scotland, UK. He is an actor, known for Star Wars: Episode VII - The Force Awakens (2015), Prometheus (2012) and Filth (2013).
47. Martin Compston
Actor | A Guide to Recognizing Your Saints
Martin Compston grew up in Greenock, Inverclyde, Renfrewshire. He spent his teen years going to see soccer (football) team Celtic with his brother Barry and dreamed one day he would play for them. He attended St. Columba's High School in Gourock, Inverclyde, where he passed through his Standard ...
48. Sara Vickers
Actress | Sunshine on Leith
Sara Vickers grew up in Edinburgh. A stage and screen actor best known for her role as Joan Thursday, in ITV's Inspector Morse prequel, Endeavour (2013-2016), as well as Sunshine on Leith (2013) and Shetland (2016). She moved to London to train at RADA (Royal Academy of Dramatic Art), graduating in...
49. Amy Manson
Actress | The Nevers
Amy Manson was born on September 9, 1985 in Aberdeenshire, Scotland, UK. She is an actress, known for The Nevers (2021), Spencer (2021) and Beats (2019).
50. Finn Den Hertog
Actor | Shetland
Finn Den Hertog was born in 1986 in Edinburgh, Scotland, UK. He is an actor, known for Shetland (2013), Outlander (2014) and M.I.High (2007).
51. Richard Madden
Actor | Game of Thrones
Richard Madden, born 18 June 1986, is a Scottish stage, film, and television actor best known for portraying Robb Stark in the HBO series "Game of Thrones" and Prince Kit in Disney's "Cinderella." Starring as David Budd in the BBC miniseries "Bodyguard" has also brought him more international ...
52. Rose Leslie
Actress | Honeymoon
Rose Leslie is a Scottish actress. Her leading on screen debut was at age 21 in the television film New Town (2009). She is famous for playing Ygritte in the HBO fantasy series Game of Thrones (2011). Leslie also appeared in the films Now Is Good (2012) and The Last Witch Hunter (2015).
Leslie was ...
53. Katy Townsend
Actress | Fallout 4
'Cheeky Scot' Katy Townsend hails from Glasgow where she unearthed her passion in the theatre world. Now based in Los Angeles, she is celebrated for her popular characters in video games, such as 'Cait' in Fallout 4, 'Charly' in Call of Duty: Modern Warfare, Suvi in 'Mass Effect: Andromeda' and '...
54. Karen Gillan
Actress | Selfie
Karen Sheila Gillan was born and raised in Inverness, Scotland, as the only child of Marie Paterson and husband John Gillan, who is a singer and recording artist. She developed a love for acting very early on, attending several youth theatre groups and taking part in a wide range of productions at ...
55. Iain De Caestecker
Actor | Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.
Iain De Caestecker is a Scottish actor. He went to Hillhead Primary School and successfully completed an HND in Acting and Performance at Langside College.
He played the lead in two high-profile BBC series - BAFTA-winning The Fades and Young James Herriot (both 2011). The latter earned him a ...
56. Jordan Patrick Smith
Actor | Unbroken
Jordan Patrick Smith was born in 1989 in Scotland, UK. He is an actor, known for Unbroken (2014), Lovecraft Country (2020) and The Ruins (2008).
57. Sophie Kennedy Clark
Actress | Nymphomaniac: Vol. I
Sophie Kennedy Clark was born in Aberdeen, Aberdeenshire, Scotland, UK. She is known for Nymphomaniac: Vol. I (2013), Philomena (2013) and Sorority (2022).
58. Jack Lowden
Actor | Small Axe
Rising star Jack Lowden grew up in the Scottish Borders. He graduated from the prestigious Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama in 2011. He has had enormous success on stage in leading roles, including his performance as Oswald in Henrik Ibsen's "Ghosts", for which he won both the Ian Charleson...
59. Joanna Vanderham
Actress | Warrior
Joanna grew up in Scotland. She trained at The Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama. It was here she was 'spotted' by casting director Emma Style, which led to her first professional role as 'Cathy' in The Runaway (2010) together with Keith Allen, Ken Stott, Alan Cumming and Jack O'Connell . The ...
60. Daniel Portman
Actor | Game of Thrones
Daniel was born in Glasgow and is the son of the actor Ron Donachie. Brought up in Strathbungo, Glasgow, he attended Shawlands Academy, where he was head boy, before gaining an HNC in acting at Reid Kerr Colege, Paisley. Aged sixteen he had his first role in supernatural thriller 'Outcast', ...
61. Ncuti Gatwa
Actor | Barbie
Ncuti Gatwa was born on October 15, 1992 in Nyarugenge, Kigali, Rwanda. He is an actor, known for Barbie (2023), Sex Education (2019) and The Last Letter from Your Lover (2021).
62. Synnove Karlsen
Actress | Last Night in Soho
Synnøve Karlsen is a Norwegian Scottish actress best known for playing Clarice Orsini in the historical drama series Medici, Holly McStay in the BBC thriller series Clique and Jocasta in the 2021 Edgar Wright psychological horror film Last Night in Soho. Karlsen was born in Glasgow, Scotland, and ...
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