John Gordon Sinclair (born Gordon John Sinclair; 4 February 1962) is a Scottish actor, voice actor, singer, and novelist. He is best known for portraying Gregory in the 1981 film ''
Gregory's Girl''. There was a Gordon Sinclair already registered with
Equity
Equity may refer to:
Finance, accounting and ownership
*Equity (finance), ownership of assets that have liabilities attached to them
** Stock, equity based on original contributions of cash or other value to a business
** Home equity, the diff ...
, so he took John Gordon Sinclair as his professional name. In 2019, Sinclair played Drew Cubbin in the BBC drama ''
Traces''.
Life and career
Sinclair was born on 4 February 1962 in
Glasgow
Glasgow ( ; sco, Glesca or ; gd, Glaschu ) is the most populous city in Scotland and the fourth-most populous city in the United Kingdom, as well as being the 27th largest city by population in Europe. In 2020, it had an estimated popu ...
and started work as an apprentice electrician. At 15 he joined Glasgow's Youth Theatre after he visited one night and met
Robert Buchanan, a fellow fan of
Canadian
Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...
progressive rock
Progressive rock (shortened as prog rock or simply prog; sometimes conflated with art rock) is a broad genre of rock music that developed in the United Kingdom and United States through the mid- to late 1960s, peaking in the early 1970s. I ...
group
Rush. As a result, he starred in a number of films by director
Bill Forsyth, perhaps the most notable of which is 1981's ''
Gregory's Girl'', shot when he was 19 years old. He reprised the role nearly two decades later in ''
Gregory's Two Girls'' (1999), and also appeared in Forsyth's ''
Local Hero'' (1983). His other film roles included appearances in ''
Britannia Hospital'' (1982), ''
The Girl in the Picture'' (1985), and ''
Erik the Viking'' (1989).
He has continued to act on stage and screen. Other roles include parts in ''Goodbye Mr Steadman'', ''
Mad About Alice
''Mad About Alice'' is a British sitcom that ran during 2004 for six episodes. It centres on the lives of a divorced couple and their young son. Despite no longer living together, Doug (Jamie Theakston) and Alice (Amanda Holden) remain in close c ...
(2004)'' and ''
Roman Road
Roman roads ( la, viae Romanae ; singular: ; meaning "Roman way") were physical infrastructure vital to the maintenance and development of the Roman state, and were built from about 300 BC through the expansion and consolidation of the Roman Re ...
'' (2004). He was also in the first series of LWT's ''
Hot Metal'' (1986) and both the radio and television sitcom ''
An Actor's Life For Me'' (1989–93). He played Dan Weir in ''
Espedair Street'' (1998), the
BBC Radio 4
BBC Radio 4 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC that replaced the BBC Home Service in 1967. It broadcasts a wide variety of spoken-word programmes, including news, drama, comedy, science and history from the BBC's ...
adaptation of the
Iain Banks novel, as well as playing the lead part of
Dr Finlay
Dr Finlay is a fictional character, the hero of a series of stories by Scottish author A. J. Cronin.
Short stories
The character Dr Finlay first appeared in Cronin's novella ''Country Doctor'' and in several subsequent short stories published in ...
in the Radio 4 series entitled ''
Adventures of a Black Bag'' (2001–02).
He also made a brief appearance in one episode of ''
Bergerac'' ("Ninety percent proof") in 1983.
He appeared in the 1982
Scottish squad's World Cup song "
We Have a Dream
"We Have A Dream" was a special single released as the official song of the Scotland national football team for their 1982 World Cup Campaign. When first released, it reached number 5 in the UK Singles Chart.
2008 version
The single was re-relea ...
", a number 5 hit in the UK, which was written and performed by
B.A. Robertson
Brian Alexander Robertson (born 12 September 1956) is a Scottish musician, composer and songwriter. He had a string of hits in the late 1970s and early 1980s characterised by catchy pop tunes and jaunty humorous lyrics, including " Knocked It ...
, with Sinclair speaking his recollection of a dream about Scottish football success. He later revived this Scottish footballing connection by narrating the 2006–07
BBC Scotland
BBC Scotland (Scottish Gaelic: ''BBC Alba'') is a division of the BBC and the main public broadcaster in Scotland.
It is one of the four BBC national regions, together with the BBC English Regions, BBC Cymru Wales and BBC Northern Irela ...
documentary series ''
That Was The Team That Was
''That Was The Team That Was'' is a Scottish television programme that documented successful time periods for Scottish football sides. The show was broadcast on BBC One Scotland every Friday night (when there was a series ongoing) and has recent ...
''.
Sinclair played Frank McClusky, a leading character, in the 1990
John Byrne TV serial ''
Your Cheatin' Heart
"Your Cheatin' Heart" is a song written and recorded by country music singer-songwriter Hank Williams in 1952. It is regarded as one of country's most important standards. Williams was inspired to write the song while driving with his fiancée ...
''. He played one of the main characters in the
Tesco
Tesco plc () is a British Multinational corporation, multinational groceries and general merchandise retailer headquartered in Welwyn Garden City, England. In 2011 it was the third-largest retailer in the world measured by gross revenues an ...
TV adverts in the late 1990s and early 2000s alongside
Prunella Scales and
Jane Horrocks
Barbara Jane Horrocks (born 18 January 1964) is a British actress. She portrayed the roles of Bubble and Katy Grin in the BBC sitcom ''Absolutely Fabulous''. She was nominated for the 1993 Olivier Award for Best Actress for the title role in th ...
. He most recently appeared in the
London's West End in ''
The Producers'' playing the part of Leo Bloom alongside Fred Applegate. In 1998 he performed as one of the Penguins in the TV adaptation of ''
PB Bear and Friends
''PB Bear and Friends'' is a series of children's books by Lee Davis that has also been made into a British children's television series. Much like the ''Paddington Bear'' series, the characters are stuffed puppets that are animated with the stop ...
''. He voiced Tom Fetch in ''
Fetch the Vet''. He voiced all the male characters (except for Finbar) in
HIT Entertainment's ''
Rubbadubbers''.
He also played P.K. in the UK version of ''
Fraggle Rock''. He was awarded the
Laurence Olivier Theatre Award in 1995 for Best Actor in a Musical for his 1994 performance in ''
She Loves Me
''She Loves Me'' is a musical with a book by Joe Masteroff, music by Jerry Bock, and lyrics by Sheldon Harnick.
The musical is the third adaptation of the 1937 play '' Parfumerie'' by Hungarian playwright Miklós László, following the 1940 ...
''. Sinclair also performed the part of "Master of Ceremonies" in
Mike Oldfield's premiere performance of ''
Tubular Bells II'' at
Edinburgh Castle
Edinburgh Castle is a historic castle in Edinburgh, Edinburgh, Scotland. It stands on Castle Rock (Edinburgh), Castle Rock, which has been occupied by humans since at least the Iron Age, although the nature of the early settlement is unclear. ...
in 1992. In 2013, he appeared in ''
World War Z''.
In 2018 he played Richard, attorney for the
title character
The title character in a narrative work is one who is named or referred to in the title of the work. In a performed work such as a play or film, the performer who plays the title character is said to have the title role of the piece. The title of ...
(
Trine Dyrholm) in the film ''
Nico, 1988''. He narrates ''
Biggleton'' (series 2) on
CBeebies, replacing
.
In 2019 he appeared as Drew Cubbin, Emma's father and ex-partner of Marie Monroe in the TV series ''
Traces''.
Other
His novel ''Seventy Times Seven'', a violent thriller set in 1992, was published in 2012.
Personal life
In 2004 he married Shauna McKeon.
They have two daughters.
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sinclair, John Gordon
1962 births
Living people
20th-century Scottish male actors
21st-century Scottish male actors
Fraggle Rock
Laurence Olivier Award winners
Male actors from Glasgow
Scottish male film actors
Scottish male television actors
Scottish male voice actors
Scottish male writers
Scottish thriller writers