John Gordon Sinclair
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John Gordon Sinclair (born Gordon John Sinclair; 4 February 1962) is a Scottish actor. He is best known for playing Gregory in the 1981 film '' Gregory's Girl''. There was a Gordon Sinclair already registered with Equity, 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 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 ...
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
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progressive rock Progressive rock (shortened as prog rock or simply prog) is a broad genre of rock music that primarily developed in the United Kingdom through the mid- to late 1960s, peaking in the early-to-mid-1970s. Initially termed " progressive pop", the ...
group Rush. As a result, he starred in a number of films by director
Bill Forsyth William David Forsyth (born 29 July 1946) is a Scottish film director and writer known for his films '' Gregory's Girl'' (1981), '' Local Hero'' (1983) and '' Comfort and Joy'' (1984) as well as his adaptation of the Marilynne Robinson novel ...
, 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 ( ; singular: ; meaning "Roman way") were physical infrastructure vital to the maintenance and development of the Roman state, built from about 300 BC through the expansion and consolidation of the Roman Republic and the Roman Em ...
'' (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. The station replaced the BBC Home Service on 30 September 1967 and broadcasts a wide variety of spoken-word programmes from the BBC's headquarters at Broadcasti ...
adaptation of the
Iain Banks Iain Banks (16 February 1954 – 9 June 2013) was a Scottish author, writing mainstream fiction as Iain Banks and science fiction as Iain M. Banks, adding the initial of his adopted middle name Menzies (). After the success of '' The Wasp Fact ...
novel, as well as playing the lead part of Dr Finlay 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 A world cup is a global sporting competition in which the participant entities – usually international teams or individuals representing their countries – compete for the title of world champion. The event most associated with the name is ...
song " We Have a Dream", a number 5 hit in the UK, which was written and performed by B. A. Robertson, 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 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 ...
documentary series '' That Was The Team That Was''. Sinclair played Frank McClusky, a leading character, in the 1990 John Byrne TV serial '' Your Cheatin' Heart''. He played one of the main characters in the
Tesco Tesco plc () is a British multinational groceries and general merchandise retailer headquartered in the United Kingdom at its head offices in Welwyn Garden City, England. The company was founded by Jack Cohen (businessman), Sir Jack Cohen in ...
TV adverts in the late 1990s and early 2000s alongside
Prunella Scales Prunella Margaret Rumney West Scales (''née'' Illingworth; born 22 June 1932) is an English retired actress. She portrayed Sybil Fawlty, the bossy wife of Basil Fawlty (John Cleese), in the BBC comedy ''Fawlty Towers'' and Queen Elizabeth ...
and Jane Horrocks. 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''. He voiced Tom Fetch in '' Fetch the Vet''. He voiced all the male characters (except for Finbar) in
HIT Entertainment HIT Entertainment Limited (stylised as HiT) was a British-American entertainment company founded in 1982 as Henson International Television, the international distribution arm of The Jim Henson Company, by Jim Henson, Peter Orton, and Sophie Turn ...
's ''
Rubbadubbers ''Rubbadubbers'' is a British stop-motion children's television series produced by HIT Entertainment, with animation production by Hot Animation. The series was broadcast in the UK on BBC2 and CBeebies from 2 September 2002 to 14 February 2005. ...
''. He also played P. K. in the UK version of ''
Fraggle Rock ''Fraggle Rock'' (also known as ''Jim Henson's Fraggle Rock'' or ''Fraggle Rock with Jim Henson's Muppets'') is a children's Musical film, musical Fantasy film, fantasy television comedy, comedy puppet television series about interconnected so ...
''. He was awarded the Laurence Olivier Theatre Award in 1995 for Best Actor in a Musical for his 1994 performance in '' She Loves Me''. Sinclair also performed the part of "Master of Ceremonies" in
Mike Oldfield Michael Gordon Oldfield (born 15 May 1953) is an English retired musician, songwriter and producer best known for his debut studio album ''Tubular Bells'' (1973), which became an unexpected critical and commercial success. Though primarily a gu ...
's premiere performance of '' Tubular Bells II'' at
Edinburgh Castle Edinburgh Castle is a historic castle in Edinburgh, Scotland. It stands on Castle Rock (Edinburgh), Castle Rock, which has been occupied by humans since at least the Iron Age. There has been a royal castle on the rock since the reign of Malcol ...
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 piëce. The title o ...
( Trine Dyrholm) in the film '' Nico, 1988''. He narrates '' Biggleton'' (series 2) on
CBeebies CBeebies is a British free-to-air Public service broadcasting in the United Kingdom, public broadcast children's television channel owned and operated by the BBC. It is also the brand used for all BBC content targeted for children aged six year ...
, replacing
Eamonn Holmes Eamonn Holmes (; born 3 December 1959) is a Northern Irish broadcaster and journalist. He co-presented the breakfast television show ''GMTV'' (1993–2005) for ITV, before presenting ''Sunrise'' (2005–2016) for Sky News. Holmes co-presente ...
. In 2019, he appeared as Drew Cubbin, Emma's father and ex-partner of Marie Monroe in the TV series '' Traces''.


Novelist

His novel ''Seventy Times Seven'', a violent thriller set in 1992, was published in 2012. This was followed by Blood Whispers in 2014 and Walk in Silence in 2017.


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 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