John Barrowman

John Barrowman

John Scot Barrowman MBE is a British-American actor, singer, presenter, author, and comic book writer. Born in Glasgow, he moved to the U.S. with his family in 1975. He landed the role of Billy Crocker in Cole Porter’s Anything Goes in London’s West End. His most recent West End credit was in the 2009 production of La Cage aux Folles.

About John Barrowman in brief

Summary John BarrowmanJohn Scot Barrowman MBE is a British-American actor, singer, presenter, author, and comic book writer. Born in Glasgow, he moved to the U.S. with his family in 1975. Encouraged by his high school teachers, he studied performing arts at the United States International University in San Diego. He landed the role of Billy Crocker in Cole Porter’s Anything Goes in London’s West End. His most recent West End credit was in the 2009 production of La Cage aux Folles. He appeared as a contestant on the first series of celebrity ice skating show Dancing on Ice while his theatrical background allowed him to become a judge on Andrew Lloyd Webber’s musical talent shows How Do You Solve a Problem like Maria?, Any Dream Will Do and I’d Do Anything. In 2006, he was voted Stonewall’s Entertainer of the Year. He hosted the BBC One quiz show Pressure Pad in 2013 and 2014. He starred in The CW’s Arrow and Legends of Tomorrow as Malcolm Merlyn. He has published two memoirs and autobiographies, Anything Goes and I Am What I Am, with his sister Carole as co-author. The siblings also teamed up to write a series of young-adult fantasy novels, Hollow Earth. The second book in the series, Bone Quill, was released 2013, with the third, Book Of Beasts published in 2014. A second trilogy, The Orion Chronicles, followed with Conjuror published in 2016, Nephilim in 2017, and Inquisitor in 2018.

He is also featured on more than a dozen musical theatre recordings, including cover tunes found on his 2007 album, Another Side, and 2008’s Music Music Music. Both albums accrued places on the UK Albums Chart, as did his self-titled John Barrow man, which reached number 11, his highest chart placing to date. Before venturing into British television, he featured in the American television dramas Titans and Central Park West but he is better known for his acting and presenting work for the BBC that includes his work for CBBC in its earlier years, and his BAFTA Cymru-nominated role of Captain Jack Harkness in the science fiction series Doctor Who and Torchwood. He was nominated for the 1998 Laurence Olivier Award for Best Actor in a Musical and, in the early 2000s, returned to the role in the revival of Anything Goes. He also appeared in various films including the musical biopic De-Lovely and musical comedy The Producers. He has also had a number of guest roles in television programmes both in the US and the UK. His sister, Carole, later became a university professor, and her older sister, later become a universityProfessor,  later became aUniversity professor. He lives in Chicago with his wife and two children. His mother was a singer who also worked in a record shop, while his father was employed by the Caterpillar heavy machinery company in nearby Uddingston.