John Barrowman

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John Barrowman

Birth name John Barrowman
Born March 11, 1967 (age 40)
Glasgow, Scotland
Spouse(s) Scott Gill
Official site JohnBarrowman.net
Notable roles Captain Jack Harkness in Doctor Who and Torchwood

John Barrowman (born 11 March 1967 in Mount Vernon, Glasgow) is a Scottish-American actor, musical performer, dancer, singer, and TV presenter who has lived and worked both in the United Kingdom and the United States. He currently lives in the UK. He became a United States citizen in 1985, and holds dual US/UK citizenship.[1]

Barrowman is best known on British television for his acting and presenting work. His most prominent television role has been the con man Jack Harkness in Doctor Who and its spin-off series Torchwood. He has featured in such light entertainment shows as Live & Kicking and How Do You Solve A Problem Like Maria?, as well as appearing on the celebrity ice skating show Dancing on Ice.

Openly gay, he was voted the 2006 Stonewall "Entertainer of the Year"[2] and was third in Broadcast magazine's "Hottest Commodity" poll in November 2006.[3]

Contents

[edit] Biography

Barrowman was born in Mount Vernon, Glasgow, where he spent the first eight years of his life. His mother worked in a record shop and his father worked for the Caterpillar heavy machinery company. In 1975 the family was relocated to America with his father's work[4].

He spent the next few years of his life in Joliet, Illinois, where his father was a manager at the Caterpillar tractor factory. Barrowman was graduated from Joliet West High School in 1985. While still in high school, he won parts in several musical productions while still a freshman. Between 1983 and 1985 he performed in productions of Hello, Dolly!, Oliver!, Camelot, Li'l Abner and Anything Goes. He attended university in San Diego, and returned to the United Kingdom in 1990.

[edit] Acting career

He has appeared in several West End musicals, including Anything Goes (both 1989 and 2003 productions), Miss Saigon, Beauty and the Beast, Matador, Hair, Grease!, Sunset Boulevard and The Phantom of the Opera (as Raoul).

He was nominated for a Laurence Olivier Award in 1998 for his role in The Fix. He has also appeared in the West End in non-musical dramas, such as Rope and the 2005 production of A Few Good Men, in which Barrowman starred opposite Rob Lowe. Most recently he starred in Cinderella at the New Wimbledon Theatre for the 2005-2006 Christmas season.

He has played the role of Joe Gillis in Sunset Boulevard in the West End and, briefly, on Broadway. His only other Broadway credit is the Stephen Sondheim revue Putting It Together (1999–2000). In 2002, he appeared in the central role of Bobby in Sondheim's Company in the Kennedy Center's Stephen Sondheim Celebration. He is probably best known in the United States for starring roles in several short-lived prime-time soap operas such as Titans with Yasmine Bleeth in 2000 and Central Park West, as well as the low-budget cult film Shark Attack 3: Megalodon.

Barrowman, who is gay, was under consideration for the role of Will in the popular US series "Will and Grace" but the producers felt he was "too straight" and the role went to straight actor Eric McCormack instead. "The sad thing is it's run by gay men and women," said Barrowman in a January 2006 article.[5] He later expressed contempt at the idea that all gay men act the same way.[6]

He appeared in five episodes of the BBC One science fiction television series Doctor Who (2005) as Captain Jack Harkness, beginning in The Empty Child. Barrowman is now continuing the role of Jack Harkness, starring in Torchwood (an anagram of "Doctor Who"), a 13-part Doctor Who adult orientated spin-off series shown on BBC Three set in modern-day Cardiff and investigating alien activities and crime. In both shows the character is portrayed as omnisexual. Torchwood has been renewed for a second series. Barrowman is also scheduled to return to Doctor Who in 2007, appearing in three of the final four episodes of the show's third season, as well as on 30 March on a "Doctor Who" special of the show "Weakest Link."[7]

Barrowman's musical abilities have been featured in film: he had a duet with Kevin Kline in the Cole Porter biopic De-Lovely, and he sang "Springtime for Hitler" in the film of Mel Brooks' The Producers, based on the Broadway adaptation of the original movie. He also recently performed in and co-presented another new BBC One series for Saturday nights, entitled The Sound of Musicals, in which performers from West End musicals sing songs from the shows.[8]

For the 2006/7 pantomime season, he is appearing as Jack in Jack and the Beanstalk at the New Theatre in Cardiff.[9]

[edit] Presenting and guest starring

Barrowman co-hosted the first run of the BBC children's variety show Live & Kicking in 1993–1994, co-hosting the show with Andi Peters and Emma Forbes, before moving on to The Movie Game, a children's television game show. In the late 1990's he was one of the regular presenters on Five's afternoon show Five's Company.

During January and February 2006 Barrowman took part in the ITV 1 series Dancing on Ice, where Jayne Torvill and Christopher Dean trained celebrities to compete in an ice skating show which took onboard many characteristics of a real ice skating competition. Barrowman's skating partner was World Junior Gold Medalist and three-time Russian champion Olga Sharutenko. Although a favourite to win, on 4 February, Barrowman and Sharutenko faced Stefan Booth and Kristina Cousins in the skate off and were eliminated by the judge's vote of 3 to 2.

Between 10 April and 14 April 2006, Barrowman presented ITV's morning talk show This Morning whilst Phillip Schofield took an Easter Break. [10] Between 1 May and 5 May 2006, Barrowman read bedtime stories on the CBeebies channel. In Summer 2006, he was on the Judges panel of BBC One's How Do You Solve A Problem Like Maria? music talent show alongside Andrew Lloyd Webber, David Ian, and Zoe Tyler. [11]

On December 31, 2006, Barrowman made two television appearances. The first was on BBC Television's Heaven and Earth,[12] hosted by Gloria Hunniford. On it he talked about spirituality and civil partnerships. His second appearance was as a guest on a team with Craig Revel Horwood and Louis Walsh, on Graham Norton's one-off programme, The Big Finish[12] which was also broadcast on BBC Television. It was a light-hearted look at news stories in 2006.

On February 11, 2007 he co-presented the E!: Entertainment Television BAFTA Film Awards red carpet coverage with Ruby Wax.[13] He also guest-presented two editions of the Elaine Paige Show, a pre-recorded BBC Radio 2 weekly Musical Theatre and Film Music showcase. The first edition which was broadcast on February 11, 2007, and the second was broadcast on February 18, 2007.[14]

In 2007 Barrowman was a judge in the BBC1 television series "Any Dream Will Do." He resultantly featured on BBC2 comedy panel quiz show Never Mind the Buzzcocks (Series 19, Episode 5), "Al Murray's Happy Hour," and "The Charlotte Church Show."

[edit] Personal life

Barrowman has been with his partner, British architect Scott Gill, since 1991 when they met during a production at the Chichester Festival Theatre.[15] The couple have homes in London and the Bay Area, Cardiff.

Despite this long-standing relationship, Barrowman told Scotland's The Herald newspaper that he had no plans to marry, saying: "Why would I want a 'marriage' from a belief system that hates me?". However, he and Gill became civil partners on December 27, 2006. As Barrowman explained when the couple were interviewed by Attitude magazine, the couple do not want to call this a marriage: "We're just going to sign the civil register. We're not going to have any ceremony because I'm not a supporter of the word marriage for a gay partnership."[16][6][17] The two did have a small ceremony in Cardiff with around 40 friends and family.[18] Among the guests were the regular cast of Torchwood, along with Russell T Davies, the Doctor Who and Torchwood executive producer.[15]

The civil partnership was covered by OK! magazine, which published pictures of the ceremony on 16 January 2007. In a recent interview with OK! magazine published on 7 February, John appears to go against what he has said before over his beliefs on gay marriage. He refers directly to his civil partnership as his wedding and refers to Scott as his husband.

[edit] Filmography

Year Title Type Role More information
2006 Torchwood TV Series Captain Jack Harkness Torchwood at the Internet Movie Database
2005 The Producers Film Lead Tenor The Producers at the Internet Movie Database
2005 Doctor Who TV Series Captain Jack Harkness Episodes
The Empty Child (Series 1, episode 9)
The Doctor Dances (Series 1, episode 10)
Boom Town (Series 1, episode 11)
Bad Wolf (Series 1, episode 12)
The Parting of the Ways (Series 1, episode 13)
Utopia (Series 3, episode 11)
The Sound of Drums (Series 3, episode 12)
Last of the Time Lords (Series 3, episode 13)
2004 De-Lovely Film Jack/Musical Performer De-Lovely at the Internet Movie Database
2004 Method Film Reporter Method at the Internet Movie Database
2002 Shark Attack 3: Megalodon Film Ben Carpenter Shark Attack 3: Megalodon at the Internet Movie Database
2000 Titans TV Series Peter Williams Titans at the Internet Movie Database
2000 Putting It Together TV Special The Young Man Putting It Together at the Internet Movie Database
1996 Central Park West TV Series Peter Fairchild Central Park West at the Internet Movie Database
1987 The Untouchables Film (uncredited) The Untouchables at the Internet Movie Database

[edit] Musicography

  • John Barrowman. Swings Cole Porter [CD]. ASIN B00029R5QQ: First Night.
  • John Barrowman. Reflections from Broadway [CD]. ASIN B00003TFLM: Jay.

[edit] References

  1. ^ Holden, Stephen. "CABARET REVIEW; Confessions of a Yankee Doodle Dandy", New York TImes, 2002-02-25. Retrieved on January 26, 2007.
  2. ^ Stonewall (2006-11-03). John Barrowman, Sugar Rush, Sheri Dobrowski, Mail on Sunday win accolades at Stonewall Awards. Press release. Retrieved on 2006-11-03.
  3. ^ Murray, Paula. "RUSSELL IS VOTED HOTTEST BRAND ON TELLY", The Daily Record, November 24, 2006. Retrieved on November 25, 2006.
  4. ^ http://www.johnbarrowman.com/ John Barrowman Official website biography section
  5. ^ Gay Doctor Who star was too straight for Will and Grace. Pink News (13 January 2006).
  6. ^ a b Williams, Andrew. "60 SECONDS: John Barrowman", Metro, Associated Newspapers, November 2, 2006. Retrieved on November 5, 2006.
  7. ^ Stanley, Alan. "Capt. Jack Returns To 'Doctor Who'", SyFy Portal, November 26, 2007. Retrieved on February 12, 2007.
  8. ^ media.guardian.co.uk (needs registration).
  9. ^ Jack and the Beanstalk. What's On. New Theatre Cardiff.
  10. ^ EXCLUSIVE: DR'S JACK TAKES ON ITV SOFA The Daily Mirror, Cameron Robertson, Monday March 13, 2006
  11. ^ BBC - Press Office - How Do You Solve a Problem Like Maria? panel chosen Tuesday June 6, 2006
  12. ^ a b 'Kurly' (December 15, 2006). Catching you up through 2007. Torchwood.TV. Retrieved on January 13, 2007.
  13. ^ Bafta Red Carpet. John Barrowman Official Site - News (January 10, 2007). Retrieved on January 13, 2007.
  14. ^ JB on the Radio. John Barrowman Official Site - News (January 12, 2007). Retrieved on January 13, 2007.
  15. ^ a b Oconner, Gavin. "Torchwood star in celebrity ceremony", icWales, South Wales Echo, 28 December 2006. Retrieved on December 28, 2006.
  16. ^ "Any Queries", Attitude Magazine, December 2006.
  17. ^ "Torchwood star's Cardiff big day", BBC News, BBC, November 23, 2006. Retrieved on November 25, 2006.
  18. ^ "Torchwood star's civil ceremony", BBC News, BBC, 2006-12-27. Retrieved on December 27, 2006.

[edit] External links

Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org../../../j/o/h/John_Barrowman_6b47.html"