David Paisley (born 2 February 1979) is a Scottish actor, domestic violence and LGBTQIA+ rights campaigner, known for roles as midwife Ben Saunders in ''

Holby City ''Holby City'' (stylised on-screen as HOLBY CIY) is a British medical drama television series that aired weekly on BBC One. It was created by Tony McHale and Mal Young as a Spin-off (media), spin-off from the established BBC medical drama '' ...

'', Ryan Taylor in '' Tinsel Town'' and

Rory Murdoch The following is a list of characters in ''River City'', a Scottish soap opera that began broadcasting on BBC Scotland on 24 September 2002. When more than one actor has played a character, the most recent actor is listed last. Present characte ...

in ''

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 ...

''. Some of his characters have been controversial due to their sexual orientation.

Early life

Paisley is the son of author

Janet Paisley Janet Violet Paisley (12 January 1948 – 9 November 2018) was a writer, poet and playwright from Scotland, writing in Scots and English. Her work has been translated into German, Russian, Lithuanian, Slovak, Spanish, Hungarian, Ukrainian, I ...

, and is one of seven children. He was voted 'Britain's sexiest man' by readers of ''

Gay Times ''Gay Times'' (stylized in all caps), also known as ''GAY TIMES Magazine'' and as ''GT'', is a UK-based LGBTQ+ magazine established in 1984. Originally a magazine for gay and bisexual men, the company began including content for the LGBTQ+ comm ...

'' magazine in 2003. He grew up in Glen Village near Falkirk. At 15 years of age, Paisley went to an LGBT group where he eventually met his first partner. At 17, he attended the

University of Glasgow The University of Glasgow (abbreviated as ''Glas.'' in Post-nominal letters, post-nominals; ) is a Public university, public research university in Glasgow, Scotland. Founded by papal bull in , it is the List of oldest universities in continuous ...

to study physics, during which time he appeared in a community workshop (part of 7:84 theatre company in Glasgow) and then studied

Optometry Optometry is the healthcare practice concerned with examining the eyes for visual defects, prescribing corrective lenses, and detecting eye abnormalities. In the United States and Canada, optometrists are those that hold a post-baccalaureate f ...

Glasgow Caledonian University Glasgow Caledonian University, informally GCU, Caledonian or Caley (), is a public university in Glasgow, Scotland. It was formed in 1993 by the merger of The Queen's College, Glasgow (founded in 1875) and Glasgow Polytechnic (originally Glasg ...

. At 18, he

came out Coming out of the closet, often shortened to coming out, is a metaphor used to describe LGBTQ people's self-disclosure of their sexual orientation, romantic orientation, or gender identity. This is often framed and debated as a privacy issue, ...

to his family who were supportive and helped in his efforts campaigning against the

Keep the Clause campaign The Keep the Clause campaign was a privately funded political campaign organised in 2000 with the aim of resisting the repeal of legislation known as Section 28, Clause 28 of the Local Government Act 1988 in Scotland and the United Kingdom, whi ...

Career

Paisley began acting as a teenage boy when he heard about an open audition for television drama '' Tinsel Town'', a 1999-2000 television drama (co-produced by

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 ...

and Raindog/Deep Indigo Productions). He went on to play one of the main characters, Ryan Taylor, the 17-year-old partner of a police officer. Later, Paisley appeared in a few stage productions. Then in 2002, he landed the part of midwife Ben Saunders in

BBC1 BBC One is a British free-to-air public broadcast television channel owned and operated by the BBC. It is the corporation's oldest and Flagship (broadcasting), flagship channel, and is known for broadcasting mainstream programming, which includ ...

's popular medical soap ''

''. Ben's kiss with his on-screen same-sex partner attracted 114 complaints from viewers. In 2008, Paisley starred in the short film ''Sweat'', which was screened at the

London Lesbian and Gay Film Festival BFI Flare: London LGBTIQ+ Film Festival, formerly known as the London Lesbian and Gay Film Festival (LLGFF), is the biggest LGBTIQ+ film festival in Europe. It takes place every spring in London, England. Organised and run by the British Film In ...

, and selected for screening at

NewFest NewFest: The New York Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, & Transgender Film Festival, put on by NewFest (legal name The New Festival, Inc.), is the largest LGBTQ film festival in the United States and one of the most comprehensive forums of national and inte ...

in New York, June 2008. Paisley completed filming on his regular role as Rory Murdoch on BBC Scotland's ''

'', the son of gangster Lenny Murdoch and departed the show in 2009. Paisley starred as 'Madam' Gary in the play ''The Backroom'' by Adrian Pagan at The Cock Tavern Theatre in Kilburn, London in March–May 2009, where he provided a 'particularly credible' performance as his 'nervy and paranoid' character. In May 2009, he also starred as Michael in the successful stage production of ''Muhmah'' at the

HighTide Festival HighTide is a theatre company based in Aldeburgh, Suffolk. It is one of the UK’s leading producers of new plays, and the only professional theatre company focused on the production of new playwrights. The company produces around six new produ ...

. In 2009–10, he took to the stage again in the UK Tour of ''Over The Rainbow: The Eva Cassidy Story'', in which he played the part of Dan Cassidy. In 2010, he made his directorial debut with the play ''The Lasses, O'' (written by his mother

). at the

Edinburgh Festival __NOTOC__ This is a list of Arts festival, arts and cultural festivals regularly taking place in Edinburgh, Scotland. The city has become known for its festivals since the establishment in 1947 of the Edinburgh International Festival and the ...

. He also starred as Rick in the 2010 horror film ''Unhappy Birthday''. In 2013, Paisley "starred" in a short film produced for the Dutch Film Festival called ''Fall-out'', described as a post-apocalyptic romantic comedy. In 2016, he played the role of

Saki Hector Hugh Munro (18 December 1870 – 14 November 1916), popularly known by his pen name Saki and also frequently as H. H. Munro, was a British writer whose witty, mischievous and sometimes macabre stories satirise Edwardian society and ...

Katherine Rundell Katherine Rundell (born 10 July 1987) is an English author and academic. She is the author of ''Impossible Creatures'', named Waterstones Book of the Year for 2023. She is also the author of ''Rooftoppers'', which in 2015 won both the overall ...

's ''Life According to Saki'' at the

Edinburgh Festival Fringe The Edinburgh Festival Fringe (also referred to as the Edinburgh Fringe, the Fringe or the Edinburgh Fringe Festival) is the world's largest performance arts festival, which in 2024 spanned 25 days, sold more than 2.6 million tickets and featur ...

; the play went on to win the

Carol Tambor Best of Edinburgh Award The Carol Tambor Best of Edinburgh Award is a theater prize given annually at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe. History The Award has presented by the Carol Tambor Theatrical Foundation since 2004. In a formal agreement with the Fringe Society, it ...

and subsequently toured

Off-off-Broadway Off-off-Broadway theaters are smaller New York City theaters than Broadway theatre, Broadway and off-Broadway theaters, and usually have fewer than 100 seats. The off-off-Broadway movement began in 1958 as part of a response to perceived commerc ...

. In November 2019, he returned to ''River City'' as Rory Murdoch, back from the dead having faked his own suicide.

Filmography

Awards and nominations

, - ! scope="row" , 2016 ,

, Best of Edinburgh , Life According to Saki , ,

Personal life

Paisley is a vegetarian. He was voted 'Britain's sexiest man' by readers of ''

'' magazine in 2003. In 2021, SNP MP

Joanna Cherry Joanna Catherine Cherry (born 18 March 1966) is a Scottish lawyer and former politician who was the Member of Parliament (United Kingdom), Member of Parliament (MP) for Edinburgh South West (UK Parliament constituency), Edinburgh South West fr ...

alleged he had defamed her on Twitter, though he denied this and Cherry did not take the matter to court. In March 2021, Paisley was nominated for "Awesome" Ally of the Year by ''

Diva Diva (, ) is the Latin word for a goddess. Diva is a name from Roman mythology, and is associated with the nouns divus, diva, which means god, goddess, and the adjective divinius, which means divine or heavenly. It has often been used to refer t ...

'' magazine. In May 2021, Paisley was nominated for '"Celebrity" of the Year' at the

National Diversity Awards The National Diversity Awards is an awards ceremony which honours positive role models, entrepreneurs and community organisations across several different strands within the equality and diversity sector. It is held annually in various venues a ...

. In June 2021, he was announced as a winner of the

Attitude Attitude or Attitude may refer to: Philosophy and psychology * Attitude (psychology), a disposition or state of mind ** Attitude change * Propositional attitude, a mental state held towards a proposition Science and technology * Orientation ...

Pride Awards 2021. In August 2021, he was shortlisted for the "Community Champion Award" at the Proud Scotland awards. Paisley declared in August 2021 that he would move from Scotland as he "no longer feels safe" after being doxed.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Paisley, David 1979 births Alumni of the University of Glasgow Living people Scottish male film actors Scottish male television actors Scottish male soap opera actors Scottish gay actors Alumni of Glasgow Caledonian University 21st-century Scottish LGBTQ people