Mark McGann
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Mark Anthony McGann (born 12 July 1961) is an English actor.


Early life

He attended the De La Salle Grammar School, Liverpool. Mark's father Joe was a Royal Naval Commando, who landed on
Gold Beach Gold, commonly known as Gold Beach, was the code name for one of the five areas of the Allies of World War II, Allied invasion of German military administration in occupied France during World War II, German-occupied France in the Normandy la ...
during
D-Day The Normandy landings were the landing operations and associated airborne operations on 6 June 1944 of the Allied invasion of Normandy in Operation Overlord during the Second World War. Codenamed Operation Neptune and often referred to as ...
and later worked as a
metallurgist Metallurgy is a domain of materials science and engineering that studies the physical and chemical behavior of metallic elements, their inter-metallic compounds, and their mixtures, which are known as alloys. Metallurgy encompasses both the ...
, who died in 1984, and his mother Clare was a teacher. His three brothers
Paul Paul may refer to: People * Paul (given name), a given name, including a list of people * Paul (surname), a list of people * Paul the Apostle, an apostle who wrote many of the books of the New Testament * Ray Hildebrand, half of the singing duo ...
,
Stephen Stephen or Steven is an English given name, first name. It is particularly significant to Christianity, Christians, as it belonged to Saint Stephen ( ), an early disciple and deacon who, according to the Book of Acts, was stoned to death; he is w ...
, and Joe (named after his father), are all actors. He also has a younger sister, named Clare after their mother.


Career


Acting

McGann's first breakthrough role was as the eponymous hero in the company's production of ''Lennon'' in 1981, which received good reviews and ran for 10 months at the London Astoria Theatre, winning McGann the first of his two Olivier Award nominations for best actor in a
West End theatre West End theatre is mainstream professional theatre staged in the large theatres in and near the West End of London.Christopher Innes"West End"in ''The Cambridge Guide to Theatre'' (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1998), pp. 1194–1195, ...
production. He was later to reprise the role for the film '' John and Yoko: A Love Story'' for NBC television in the United States in 1985. His first television appearances were in 1982 in ''Recording Studio'' opposite
Peter Howitt Peter Howitt (; born 5 May 1957) is a British actor and film director. Biography Early life Howitt was born on 5 May 1957, the son of Frank Howitt, a renowned Fleet Street journalist who, in 1963, broke the infamous Profumo affair, Profumo ...
and Robert Stephens for
Granada TV ITV Granada, formerly known as Granada Television, is the ITV franchisee for the North West of England and Isle of Man. From 1956 to 1968 it broadcast to both the north west and Yorkshire on weekdays only, as ABC Weekend Television was its ...
, and ''Moving On The Edge'', a
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 ...
''
Play for Today ''Play for Today'' is a British television anthology drama series, produced by the BBC and transmitted on BBC1 from 1970 to 1984. During the run, more than three hundred programmes, featuring original television plays, and adaptations of stage ...
'' TV drama starring Eleanor Bron. He then appeared as Mad Dog in the
Channel 4 Channel 4 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television channel owned and operated by Channel Four Television Corporation. It is state-owned enterprise, publicly owned but, unlike the BBC, it receives no public funding and is funded en ...
TV series '' Scully'' by Alan Bleasdale in 1983 with Cathy Tyson and
Elvis Costello Declan Patrick MacManus (born 25 August 1954), known professionally as Elvis Costello, is an English singer, songwriter, record producer, author and television host. According to ''Rolling Stone'', Costello "reinvigorated the literate, lyrical ...
. It was the first of three separate collaborations with Bleasdale, which included the films '' No Surrender'' in 1985 and ''Pleasure'' for Channel 4 in 1990. McGann's career in TV has seen him play Marcus Bannerman in the
World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...
era drama series by Russell T. Davies '' The Grand'' in 1999 for Granada TV;
Joseph Bazalgette Sir Joseph William Bazalgette (; 28 March 1819 – 15 March 1891) was an English civil engineering, civil engineer. As Chief Engineer of London's Metropolitan Board of Works, his major achievement was the creation of the London Main Drainage, t ...
, the Victorian industrial engineer in the award-winning factual drama-documentary ''Seven Great Industrial Wonders of the World'' in 2002 for the BBC; Tom Crean, the Irish companion of
Ernest Shackleton Sir Ernest Henry Shackleton (15 February 1874 – 5 January 1922) was an Anglo-Irish Antarctic explorer who led three British expeditions to the Antarctic. He was one of the principal figures of the period known as the Heroic Age of Antarcti ...
in '' Shackleton'' opposite
Kenneth Branagh Sir Kenneth Charles Branagh ( ; born 10 December 1960) is a British actor and filmmaker. Born in Belfast and raised primarily in Reading, Berkshire, Branagh trained at RADA in London and served as its president from 2015 to 2024. List of award ...
; and Niven Craig in
Peter Medak Péter Medák (born 23 December 1937) is a Hungarians in the United Kingdom, Hungarian-British film and television director. Early life Born in Budapest, Kingdom of Hungary, Hungary, he was the son of Elisabeth (née Diamounstein) and Gyula Med ...
's '' Let Him Have It'' with
Christopher Eccleston Christopher Eccleston (; born 16 February 1964) is an English actor whose work has encompassed Hollywood blockbusters and arthouse films, television dramas, Shakespearean stage performances and science fiction, most notably the Ninth Doctor, ni ...
and Tom Courtenay. He appeared as Conor Phelan in the multi-
BAFTA The British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA, ) is an independent trade association and charity that supports, develops, and promotes the arts of film, television and video games in the United Kingdom. In addition to its annual awa ...
nominated '' The Hanging Gale'', a BBC drama set against the backdrop of the Great Famine, which also starred Mark's three actor brothers. Mark McGann has appeared in theatre productions as Mickey in '' Blood Brothers'' by Willy Russell in 1984, '' An Inspector Calls'' by J. B. Priestley for a National Theatre tour, in which he played Inspector Goole, and at the National Theatre in ''On the Ledge''.


Writing and directing

Original works for stage and screen include: * ''Perplexed Music'' - Short film written and directed by McGann and winner of the LA Shorts Platinum Award for Best Short Film, Newcastle International Film Festival Award for Best Short Film, Beverley Hills Film Festival Best Short, Red Corner (Sweden) Film Festival Best Short (33 film festival awards in total) * ''Two of Us'' - the Lennon & McCartney Songbook for the
Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra Royal Liverpool Philharmonic is a music organisation based in Liverpool, England, that manages a professional symphony orchestra, a concert venue, and extensive programmes of learning through music. Its orchestra, the Royal Liverpool Philharmo ...
, co-written with Bob Eaton and directed by McGann for the RTE Orchestra Dublin, Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra Liverpool, The Northern Sinfonia Newcastle, the Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra and the Sibelius Orchestra Lahti, Finland * ''Imagine Lennon'' for the Stadsteatern Gothenburg, Sweden, co-written with Bob Eaton *''Backstories'', written and directed by McGann for the Merton Music Foundation and performed at the
Royal Albert Hall The Royal Albert Hall is a concert hall on the northern edge of South Kensington, London, England. It has a seating capacity of 5,272. Since the hall's opening by Queen Victoria in 1871, the world's leading artists from many performance genres ...
in 2015 * ''The Sunderland Saga'', an educational commission written and directed by McGann for
Sunderland Sunderland () is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England. It is a port at the mouth of the River Wear on the North Sea, approximately south-east of Newcastle upon Tyne. It is the most p ...
City Council in 2011 * ''The Legend of Spottee's Cave'' - a film project commissioned by Sunderland City Council and produced and directed by McGann in 2011 which received a UK Arts and Culture Award nomination for best educational film * ''The Could Lad of Hylton Castle'' was directed by McGann and written by Colin Swash.


2007–present

Since 2007, McGann has been the director of Drama Direct Ltd, a creative production company producing original productions and projects for the entertainment and education industries. In 2017, McGann launched a successful
Kickstarter Kickstarter, PBC is an American Benefit corporation, public benefit corporation based in Brooklyn, New York City, that maintains a global crowdfunding platform focused on creativity. The company's stated mission is to "help bring creative project ...
campaign to fund his short film ''Perplexed Music'', based on the Elizabeth Barrett Browning Petrarchan sonnet of the same name. McGann's film is written and directed and stars his brother Paul and nephew Jake "Sonny" McGann in leading roles. The film was released in 2018.


Personal life

He lives with his wife, Caroline Guinness, in Frome,
Somerset Somerset ( , ), Archaism, archaically Somersetshire ( , , ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South West England. It is bordered by the Bristol Channel, Gloucestershire, and Bristol to the north, Wiltshire to the east ...
.


See also

* 1985 Laurence Olivier Awards * 1987 Laurence Olivier Awards


References


External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:McGann, Mark 1961 births Living people Actors from Frome Male actors from Liverpool English people of Irish descent English male stage actors English male television actors Mark English republicans Male actors from Somerset