John Barrowman
A Scotsman with an American accent, John Barrowman did cause some confusion in the beginning. But it can all be easily explained. Born in Glasgow, Scotland on March 11, 1967, John is the youngest of three children. His other siblings: a sister, Carole, and a brother, Andrew were raised by their mother who worked in a record store—perhaps responsible for influencing his early interest in music—and their father, who worked for Caterpillar. His father’s occupation is what brought them to America when John was a youngster. He grew up in Aurora, Illinois where he continued his dream of becoming an entertainer. In, High School, he started performing in school plays; this set him on a lifelong path as a performer and entertainer. He performed in Opryland in Nashville after graduation, but London beckoned. Finally, in 1989, his big underwater metal detectors break came when he bagged the role in West End musical Anything Goes. After his auspicious West End debut, he followed up by landing roles in other productions such as Miss Saigon, in which he appeared opposite his Torchwood co-star Naoko Mori; opposite Stephanie Powers in Matador; in Andrew Lloyd Webber’s Phantom of the Opera; in Evita; in Sunset Boulevard; and in Hair. Upon returning to seo services company America, John Barrowman was cast in CBS’s short-lived Central Park West and he debuted on Broadway in the U.S. production of Sunset Boulevard. He received a nomination for Best Actor in a Musical in 1998 for his Cal Chandler role in the West End production of The Fix. Incidentally, in the same year, he was up for the role of Will Truman for what became the hit microdermabrasion machine reviews show, Will & Grace; the producers, ironically, found him too “straight.” The role went to Eric McCormack, who is, actually a straight actor, successfully playing a gay man. John followed up by being cast in Aaron Spelling’s Titans. He was part of a cast that included Mariel Hemingway, Mäadchen Amick, and Lauren Hutton. The show ran for 13 episodes in 2000 to 2001. John starred opposite Rob Lowe in the UK production of A Few Good Men in 2005. John Barrowman finally shot to television tankless water heater stardom with his role on Doctor Who as Captain Jack Harkness. The character was so popular that it earned its own spinoff, Torchwood. He has done plenty of stage and television work in between, appearing on various theater productions and multi-episode appearances on popular television shows such as Desperate Housewives in 2010. Not content to rest on his laurels as an actor and performer, John Barrowman has added yet another line to his already impressive resume. Collaborating with his sister Carole, he published his memoire, the best-selling Anything Goes, dubbed by The Daily Telegraph as “charmingly lurid.” John and his sister also wrote the story for an original Torchwood comic strip for Torchwood magazine. Entitled “Captain Jack and the Selkie, the story follows Captain Jack as he faces a deadly threat on a remote Scottish island where people are mysteriously disappearing one by one. The brother and sister team collaborated with comic artists Tommy Lee Edwards and Trevor Goring. John Barrowman is a strong supporter of gay rights, he hosted the 2007 London Gay Pride and appeared with his life partner, Scott Gill. He is also an advocate of arts education for the youth, returning to Joliet West High School, his old haunt, to conduct theater workshops for students. Due to their success, these workshops have been expanded to other schools.