Stephen Purdon (born May 1983) is a Scottish actor, known for his role as Bob O'Hara in the

BBC Scotland BBC Scotland is a division of the BBC and the main public broadcaster in Scotland. Its headquarters are in Glasgow, employing approximately 1,250 staff as of 2017, to produce 15,000 hours of television and radio programming per year. BBC Scotla ...

soap opera ''

River City ''River City'' is a Scottish television soap opera created by Stephen Greenhorn which has been broadcast on BBC One Scotland since September 2002. Since 2019, the show has aired episodes a day earlier on the new BBC Scotland channel. Set in ...

''. Having portrayed the role from its first episode, Purdon is the longest-serving Scottish soap opera actor.

Life and career

Purdon was born in May 1983 in

Greenock Greenock (; ; , ) is a town in Inverclyde, Scotland, located in the west central Lowlands of Scotland. The town is the administrative centre of Inverclyde Council. It is a former burgh within the historic county of Renfrewshire, and forms ...

Inverclyde Inverclyde (, , , "mouth of the Clyde") is one of 32 council areas used for local government in Scotland. Together with the East Renfrewshire and Renfrewshire council areas, Inverclyde forms part of the historic county of Renfrewshire, which ...

. A teenage Purdon made his screen debut in 1999, as an

extra Extra, Xtra, or The Extra may refer to: Arts, entertainment and media Film * The Extra (1962 film), ''The Extra'' (1962 film), a Mexican film * The Extra (2005 film), ''The Extra'' (2005 film), an Australian film Literature * Extra (newspaper), ...

in '' Ratcatcher''. He then appeared in the 2002 film '' Sweet Sixteen''. He was up against

Martin Compston Martin Compston is a Scottish actor and former professional footballer. He played Anti-Corruption Unit Detective Inspector Steve Arnott in the BBC drama ''Line of Duty'', Liam in Ken Loach's '' Sweet Sixteen'', Paul Ferris in '' The Wee Man'', ...

for the lead role, but as Compston was chosen, Purdon was given a minor role in the film. Whilst studying at

Langside College Langside College was a List of further and higher education colleges in Scotland, further and higher education college located in the Mount Florida / Battlefield, Glasgow, Battlefield region of Glasgow. History It was established in 1947 and in t ...

, he was contacted by a casting director who informed him of a new Scottish soap opera being made for the

BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...

, ''

''. He auditioned for the part of Shellsuit Bob, which he initially believed was a joke and was disappointed to hear nothing for a while. Then, whilst working in a clothing shop in his local area, he received a call to inform him he had gotten the part of Bob O'Hara. Purdon told his manager he was quitting, but asked him to reserve the job in case ''River City'' did not work out. He began filming for the show, aged 19. Since joining ''River City'', Purdon has made annual appearances in pantomimes in

Glasgow Glasgow is the Cities of Scotland, most populous city in Scotland, located on the banks of the River Clyde in Strathclyde, west central Scotland. It is the List of cities in the United Kingdom, third-most-populous city in the United Kingdom ...

, notably at the Pavilion Theatre. In 2019, he portrayed Scottish boxer

Benny Lynch Benjamin Lynch (2 April 1913 – 6 August 1946), known as Our Benny, was a Scottish professional boxer who fought in the flyweight division. He is considered by some to be one of the finest boxers below the lightweight division in his era and h ...

in ''Rally Roon the Rangers'' at the Pavilion. Purdon has been married to wife Nicola McLaughlin since 2011, with whom he shares two children.

Filmography

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Purdon, Stephen 1983 births 20th-century Scottish male actors 21st-century Scottish male actors Actors from Greenock Living people Scottish male child actors Scottish male film actors Scottish male musical theatre actors Scottish male soap opera actors Scottish male stage actors