John Barrowman

John Scot Barrowman (born 11 March 1967) is a Scottish-American actor, author, presenter, singer and comic book writer. He is known for his roles as Captain Jack Harkness in Doctor Who (2005–2010; 2020–2021) and its spin-off Torchwood (2006–2011), and as Malcolm Merlyn in the Arrowverse (2012–2019).

Born in Glasgow, Barrowman moved to the US state of Illinois with his family at the age of eight. Encouraged by his high school teachers there, he studied performing arts at the United States International University in San Diego before landing the role of Billy Crocker in Cole Porter's Anything Goes in London's West End. Since his début, he has played a number of roles in various musicals both in the West End and on Broadway, including Miss Saigon, The Phantom of the Opera, Sunset Boulevard, and Matador. After appearing in Sam Mendes' production of The Fix, he was nominated for the 1998 Laurence Olivier Award for Best Actor in a Musical and, in the early 2000s, returned to the role of Billy Crocker in the revival of Anything Goes. His most recent West End credit was in the 2009 production of La Cage aux Folles.

Alongside his theatrical career, Barrowman has appeared in films such as the musical biopic De-Lovely (2004) and musical comedy The Producers (2005). Before venturing into British television, he featured in the American television dramas Titans and Central Park West, but is better known for his acting and presenting work for the BBC; this includes his work for CBBC in its earlier years, his self-produced entertainment programme Tonight's the Night, and his BAFTA Cymru-nominated role of Captain Jack Harkness in the 2005 revival of the sci-fi series Doctor Who and its spin-off Torchwood. Barrowman has also had a number of guest roles in television programmes both in the US and the UK. 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. With this experience, he joined the judging panel of Dancing on Ice for the 2020 to 2021 series. In 2006, he was voted Stonewall's Entertainer of the Year. He hosted the BBC One quiz show Pressure Pad in 2013 and 2014. Barrowman starred in The CW's Arrow and Legends of Tomorrow as Malcolm Merlyn.

Barrowman is also featured on many 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 Barrowman (2010), which reached No. 11, his highest chart placing to date. He has published two memoirs and autobiographies, Anything Goes (2008) and I Am What I Am (2009), with his older 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.

Early life

John Scot Barrowman was born in Mount Vernon, Glasgow, on 11 March 1967, the youngest of three children. His older sister, Carole, later became a university professor. He lived in Glasgow for the first eight years of his life. 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. In 1975, his father's company relocated the family to the United States, where his father managed the Caterpillar tractor factory in Aurora, Illinois. The family settled in Joliet, Illinois, where Barrowman attended Joliet West High School in the heart of a "quintessentially middle-class conservative town". His high school music and English teachers changed the future course of his life, with his music tutor instilling in him a love for performing, and his English teacher encouraging him to rise to his true artistic potential. His English teacher moved him into a programme for gifted children and coached him for the school's speech team. With the support of his teacher, he competed with other schools in statewide speech competitions, where he sharpened his skills reading scenes from plays.

After his classmates mocked his native Scottish accent, Barrowman learned to speak with a General American accent, one he says has alternatively been described as a kind of mid-Atlantic accent. As a freshman, he won parts in several musical productions; from 1983 to 1986, he performed in such musical productions as Oliver!, Camelot, Hello, Dolly!, Li'l Abner, and Anything Goes. Among his classmates in high school, who also participated in theater with him, were Anthony Rapp and Andy Dick. Rapp is reportedly a close friend of Barrowman. Barrowman has acknowledged that, without the support he received in high school, he would most likely "not now be appearing in royal command performances in the West End in front of the Royal family or having Stephen Sondheim ask [him] to play opposite Carol Burnett". Barrowman spent his senior year shovelling coal for an Illinois power company. His father had arranged the job (and similar jobs for his brother and sister) to give him the experience of manual labour. His father told him, "If you want to do manual labour for the rest of your life, you'll know that when you do it; it's a choice. But if you don't like it, you'll understand the importance of educating yourself and–if you decide what you want to do–being good at your craft or your skill." Barrowman worked for the power company for the entire summer, but did not like the job. Eventually, he convinced the company to move him to work in the storeroom.

Barrowman graduated from high school in 1985, and he later became a naturalised U.S. citizen while retaining his British citizenship. After he graduated from high school, he attended the University of Iowa for a semester to study drama and music. He then attended DePaul University, studying voice for a semester, before performing at the Opryland theme park in Nashville, Tennessee for two summer seasons. He then transferred to the United States International University in January 1988, where he studied performing arts. As part of a student exchange programme, he returned to the UK in the summer of 1989 to study Shakespeare for six months, where he remained.

Acting career

Theatre

Barrowman's professional acting career began in London's West End in October 1989, playing the role of Billy Crocker in Cole Porter's Anything Goes at the Prince Edward Theatre, alongside Elaine Paige as Reno Sweeney and Bernard Cribbins as Moonface Martin. He continued to appear in West End productions for the next decade, taking the title role of Domingo Hernandez in Matador at the Queen's Theatre in 1991; as Raoul in The Phantom of the Opera at Her Majesty's Theatre in 1992; as Claude in Hair at The Old Vic Theatre in 1993; as Chris in Miss Saigon at the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane in 1993; as Joe Gillis in Sunset Boulevard at the Adelphi Theatre from 1994 to 1995; and as Beast in Beauty and the Beast at the Dominion Theatre in 1999.

Barrowman was part of the musical Godspell in 1994, and was a soloist in two songs, "We Beseech Thee" and "On The Willows". He was lead vocalist on a rendition of Strike Up the Band in Who Could Ask for Anything More? A Celebration of Ira Gershwin at the Royal Albert Hall in 1996, and he was nominated for an Olivier Award for Best Actor in a Musical in 1998 for originating the role of Cal Chandler in The Fix, a performance he repeated in Cameron Mackintosh's 1998 gala concert Hey, Mr Producer!. Barrowman played Joe Gillis in Sunset Boulevard in the West End and, briefly, on Broadway. His only other Broadway credit is in the role of Barry in the Stephen Sondheim revue Putting It Together (1999–2000) at the Ethel Barrymore Theatre opposite Carol Burnett and George Hearn. In a review of Putting It Together, theatre critic Tom Samiljan noted Barrowman's "fine baritone voice and suave looks". In 2002, Barrowman appeared as Bobby in Sondheim's Company in the Kennedy Center's Stephen Sondheim Celebration.

On 23 March 2002, Barrowman took part in the 'Concert for Peace' along with 200 other performers in a gala show at Theatre Royal, Drury Lane, to express their opposition to the US-led war against Iraq. Barrowman sang 'Being Alive' from 'Company'. Other performers that night were David Tennant, Sir Ian McKellen and Dame Judi Dench.

Barrowman returned to the role of Billy Crocker in Trevor Nunn's 2003 West End revival of Anything Goes, and appeared in West End non-musical dramas, such as his role as Wyndham Brandon in Rope at the Minerva Theatre, Chichester in 1993, and he starred as Lieutenant Jack Ross opposite Rob Lowe in the 2005 production of A Few Good Men.