Advanced search

Moira was born the daughter of Harold Charles King, a civil engineer, in Dunfermline, Scotland. She was educated at Dunfermline High School, Ndola in Zambia (formerly Northern Rhodesia) and Bearsden Academy, Scotland. She received her professional training at the Mayfair School and The Nicholas Legat Studio. She made her debut in the International Ballet with 1941 and then danced at Sadler's Wells in 1942. From 1942 to 1952 she danced all the major classic roles and a full repertoire of revivals and new ballets. Her first role as prima ballerina was "Sleeping Beauty" at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden in 1946 which was followed by 'Coppelia' and. 'Swan Lake'. She toured the United States with the Sadler's Wells Ballet in 1949 and in 1950/51. She toured as Sally Bowles in "I am a Camera" in 1955 and appeared at the Bristol Old Vic as "Major Barbara" in 1956. Although these performances were the start of her secondary career as an actress, she continued her primary career as a ballerina. She has appeared on TV as a ballerina and as an actress

Dunfermline-born character actor Kenneth Cranham has specialised in playing abrasive characters, reprobates and rough diamonds on stage, on radio, in films and in one-off dramas or guest roles on TV. The son of Ronald Cranham, an English civil servant and former army staff sergeant and his Scottish wife Margaret McKay Cranham (née Ferguson), he spent the first four years of his life in Scotland. The family then moved to London where Kenneth attended Tulse Hill Comprehensive School. At the age of nineteen, while working at a bookshop, he was discovered by the playwright Joe Orton who cast him in his radio play 'The Ruffian on the Stair'. This marked the beginning of his career.

Cranham trained for acting at the National Youth Theatre of Great Britain and then studied at RADA, graduating in 1966. His association with Orton continued that year with a role in 'Loot' at the Royal Court (and, subsequently, at the Criterion Theatre). The actor later remarked that this role set him up "for all the hoodies in Softly, Softly, Z Cars and New Scotland Yard." With his craggy features and gruff voice, it is hardly surprising that Cranham has often been cast in tough or villainous roles. On screen from 1964, he first came to notice as Noah Claypole, one of Fagin's gang of pickpockets, in Oliver! (1968). His first starring turn was in the comedy series Shine on Harvey Moon (1982) as the titular character, a demobbed RAF corporal. Other notable roles across diverse genres have included the callous Gratiano in The Merchant of Venice (1980), Lenin in Reilly: Ace of Spies (1983), a wealthy, despotic landowner in Heart of the High Country (1985) (set in 1880s New Zealand), the comically over-zealous Pastor Finch in Oranges Are Not the Only Fruit (1989), British gangster Gus Mercer in El C.I.D. (1990), cunning magician Aulfric in Merlin (2008), a scurrilous newspaper editor who gets his comeuppance in Hustle (2004) and Caesar's rival Pompey in Rome (2005). A more recent TV guest spot saw Cranham as an ailing patient in India, attempting to rediscover a lost love in season three of The Good Karma Hospital (2017). He has also essayed real life barristers Michael Mansfield Q.C. (The Murder of Stephen Lawrence (1999)) and George Carmen Q.C. (Justice in Wonderland (2000)).

For the big screen, Cranham has been notable as the maniacal Dr. Channard in Hellbound: Hellraiser II (1988), double-dealing mob boss Jimmy Price in Layer Cake (2004), another elder statesman of the London underworld in Gangster No. 1 (2000), farmer James Reaper in the buddy-cop comedy Hot Fuzz (2007) and as the tyrannical King Henry, a main antagonist in Disney's Maleficent (2014).

The actor has been equally prolific on stage where he has headlined as the amoral title character in Orton's play Entertaining Mr. Sloane. He was much acclaimed for his role as Inspector Goole in An Inspector Calls at the National Theatre (an Olivier Award-nominated performance, which transferred to Broadway in 1994-95). He played the avuncular detective Rough in Gaslight at the Old Vic in 2007 and finally won the coveted Olivier Award in 2016 for his performance as an elderly man with dementia in Florian Zeller's play The Father. For services to drama, Cranham received a CBE (Commander of the Order of the British Empire) in 2023.

Barbara Dickson was born on September 27, 1947 in Dunfermline, Scotland, the daughter of a policeman turned Rosyth dockyard worker. Barbara's mother was a housewife, and the family's strong interest in music led to Barbara taking up the piano from the tender age of five. By the age of twelve Barbara had also started to learn to play the guitar and upon leaving school at seventeen, she moved to Edinburgh combining a job in the Registrar General's office with evening spots as a folk singer in local pubs and clubs.

When Barbara was offered a short-term contract singing at a club in Copenhagen, she was refused time away from her day job, and she resigned, deciding to try her luck as a professional singer.

The mid-to late '60s saw Barbara "paying her dues" as a respected singer on the Scottish folk club circuit, enjoying some success, particularly with Archie Fisher and Rab Noakes. She cut three albums for Decca Records in the early 1970s, which were well-received but Barbara began to become disillusioned with the fading Scottish folk scene of the time, and on the advice of Hamish Imlach and Christy Moore she began to concentrate on the booming folk scene of the North of England.

Fate intervened one evening late in 1972 when Bernard Theobald attended one of Barbara's shows in Wolverhampton and offered to become her manager. So began a successful partnership which has endured thirty years. Around this time Barbara also became acquainted with Willy Russell, who managed a folk club in Runcorn and was himself touring the folk circuit with his group The Kirkby Town Three. The friendship led to Barbara being offered a major role in Willy's musical 'John Paul George Ringo...& Bert', which was to be staged by Liverpool's Everyman Theatre. Barbara was on stage throughout the entire show, singing The Beatles' songs at the piano, and the show became an instant success, quickly transferring to London's West End. Here the show was seen by Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice, who invited Barbara to sing on the studio cast recording of their new musical 'Evita' - the subsequent single, 'Another Suitcase In Another Hall', released early in 1977, became a huge hit.

Barbara signed a deal with RSO Records, and in 1976 enjoyed her first commercial success, ahead of 'Another Suitcase...', with the single 'Answer Me'. 1977 saw Barbara in Nashville recording the 'Morning Comes Quickly' album, but by 1978 she had signed to CBS/Epic Records and TV exposure in shows such as The Two Ronnies (1971) began her breakthrough to a much wider audience.

1980's 'January, February' proved Barbara's biggest hit to date, and the accompanying LP, 'The Barbara Dickson Album' went gold in the UK. 1982's phenomenally successful "All For A Song" collection cemented Barbara's status as a major recording artist. In 1983 Barbara accepted the lead role of Mrs. Johnstone in a new Willy Russell musical, 'Blood Brothers', which again opened in Liverpool. The show, which provided Barbara with her first major acting role, earned her rave reviews, a West End transfer and the first of many 'Best Actress' awards from the Society Of West End Theatres.

Barbara was also firmly establishing herself as a must-see concert artist, with lengthy sold-out concert tours which took her to every major town and city within the UK, culminating in shows at London's prestigious Royal Albert Hall.

Barbara's 1985 duet with Elaine Paige, 'I Know Him So Well', from the musical 'Chess', reached number one in the UK singles' chart, clocking up sales of over 900,000 copies, and the 'Gold' album for K-Tel the same year achieved platinum status.

By 1987, tiring of record company politics, Barbara and Bernard decided to release future singles and albums through their own label, beginning with the live 'After Dark' album.

The early 1990s saw Barbara rethinking her career, and she began to move more towards her folk roots with 1992's "Don't Think Twice It's All Right" and 1994's "Parcel Of Rogues". Away from the pop treadmill, she diversified into acting more and more with parts on radio and television, including a guest role in STV's popular 'Taggart' series.

In 1995 Barbara accepted the role of Anita Braithwaite in Kay Mellor's gritty _"Band of Gold" (1995) (mini)_, about the lives of a group of Bradford prostitutes - the role won her great acclaim and the show went on to run for three series. Other TV and stage work, including the award-winning "7 Ages Of Woman", were combined with recording and concert work and in 1999 Barbara scored another huge success on the London stage with the lead role of Viv Nicholson in the new musical 'Spend, Spend, Spend'. The show won her Best Actress in a Musical at the Laurence Olivier and Critics' Circle Awards that year, and Barbara was honoured by the Queen with an OBE in the New Years' Honours the same year.

2002 saw Barbara releasing her double CD, 'For The Record', combining live tracks with greatest hits, and a highly-successful accompanying UK tour. And with plans for a new album, further concerts, and her first movie role recently under her belt, Barbara shows no signs of slowing down!

Ian Anderson, born in Fife, Scotland, is one of the most famous flautists of the last 40 years. A singer and composer, Anderson is also a multi instrumentalist, including acoustic and electric guitars, saxophone, percussion, keyboards, bagpipe, violin, balalaika, clarinet and a large variety of whistles. He is the lead vocalist and founding member of the innovative and influential progressive rock band Jethro Tull. Ian Anderson's style mixes folk, Celtic, jazz, rock, blues and pop, and his lyrics are complex, acerbic and critical of society and religion.

As a flute-player, Anderson is self-taught, his style inspired by another accomplished flautist, Rahsaan Roland Kirk. In 1963 his fellow school friends Barriemore Barlow (drums), John Evan (keyboards), Jeffrey Hammond Hammond (bass guitar) and Michael Stephens (guitar), with Anderson taking singing and harmonica playing duties, formed their first band The Blades, a soul and blues outfit. In 1965 they regrouped into The John Evan Band with major lineup changes. They disbanded two years later when Anderson moved to Luton. In his new surroundings, Ian met the drummer Clive Bunker and the guitarist Mick Abrahams, formerly of McGregor's Engine. With Glenn Cornick, a bassist of The John Evan Band, Anderson created the seed of the group that would become the legendary Jethro Tull. Later, the band would have an ongoing change of members. The most important being the incorporation of Martin Lancelot Barre (guitar), the only musician to remain in the band for more than four decades, who replaced Mick Abrahams in 1969. They also gained Mark Craney (drummer), David Palmer (orchestral arranger) and Eddie Jobson (keyboards and violin, ex-UK and Roxy Music).

Alongside his musical pursuits, he and his wife are the owners of a group of companies including salmon farms in the UK, and as far reaching as Chile, South America. The singer has survived a serious deep vein thrombosis, suffered after air travel. His voice has also suffered in his later years with vocal chord problems.

James Cairncross was born on 21 December 1915 in Dunfermline, Fife, Scotland, UK. He was an actor and writer, known for Tom Jones (1963), Doctor Who (1963) and BBC Sunday-Night Theatre (1950). He died on 17 December 2009 in Edinburgh, Scotland, UK.

Helen King was born in Dunfermline, Scotland, to British parents and raised in Ontario, Canada. She received a B.A. (Hons) in Drama and English Literature at Queen's University in Kingston. She then relocated to Montreal, Quebec, working extensively for local and regional Canadian theatres, as well as becoming a featured performer on several animated series. Since moving to Toronto in 2005, she has continued to appear on film and TV, while expanding her CV across all fields of the industry to include interstitial voice-over, radio and television commercial voice, and video game work. She performs Shakespeare on a regular basis with Driftwood Theatre, a touring company devoted to making theatre accessible to communities around Ontario.

Alec Craig was born on 30 March 1884 in Dunfermline, Fife, Scotland, UK. He was an actor, known for Northern Pursuit (1943), They Made Her a Spy (1939) and Mutiny on the Bounty (1935). He died on 25 June 1945 in Glendale, California, USA.

Iain Banks was born on 16 February 1954 in Dunfermline, Fife, Scotland, UK. He was a writer and actor, known for The Business, Complicity (2000) and Consider Phlebas. He was married to Adele Hartley and Annie Blackburn. He died on 9 June 2013 in Kirkcaldy, Fife, Scotland, UK.

Jordan Turk was born on 2 August 1988 in Dunfermline, Fife, Scotland, UK. He is an actor, known for Mary Queen of Scots (2018), Britannia (2017) and Cursed (2020). He has been married to Juliet Voon since 5 June 2014.

Doug Allan was born in 1951 in Dunfermline, Fife, Scotland, UK. He is a cinematographer and assistant director, known for The Blue Planet (2001), Human Planet (2011) and One Life (2011). He is married to Sue Flood.

Ian "Mammoth" Campbell was born in 1924 in Dunfermline, Fife, Scotlland. A big, brawny, and imposing 6'3" hulk of a man, Ian was a popular and well-regarded heavyweight wrestler in his native Scotland who would often enter the ring accompanied by bagpipe music. On May 5, 1966 Campbell won the British Heavyweight Champion title after defeating fellow ring rat Billy Joyce in a match held in Perth, Scotland. However, Joyce subsequently won said title back from Campbell a month later in a follow-up match. Ian also frequently toured in America as well as participated in matches held in such countries as Japan, Australia, Africa, and various parts of Europe where he had a fair share of success in both singles and tag team competition. Moreover, Campbell also appeared in a few films and TV shows; he's especially memorable as Oak in the British horror cult favorite The Wicker Man (1973). In addition, Ian did charity work on the side that he kept a low profile on doing. Campbell died at age 68 on January 10, 1993.

Craig Levein was born on 22 October 1964 in Dunfermline, Fife, Scotland, UK. He is married to Carol. They have one child.

Born 1981 in Dunfermline in the east of Scotland, Derek Gibbons moved down to London in 1999 to study music. Classically trained on both the violin and piano, Derek holds both Masters (MA) and BMus Honours degrees in music to show for his 4 years at university, graduating with a commendation for his impressive MA composition portfolio at the prestigious Royal Albert Hall in London.

Derek is the mainstage Super Theatre host at the Ideal Home Show Glasgow 2018 alongside Phil Spencer, Rosemary Shrager, Amanda Lamb, David Domoney, John Amabile, Kunle Barker and more. He has had a great deal of acting and presenting experience with well over 20000 hours of presentation experience. You may have seen Derek on "TJC" the "Daily Express Channel", "The Great Big Quiz", Channel 5's "Supercasino" and ITV 1's "The Zone".

Derek also played weatherman "Joe Randall" in the 2005 BBC 2 comedy series 'Broken News' alongside Benedict Cumberbatch and Indira Varma.

Performing and composing from the age of 6, Derek is a classically trained musician on both piano and violin. Composing credits include NASA, Greenpeace, Quizcall and The Jewellery Channel's exciting music here in the UK, the US and Germany.

In addition, he has written the music and also presents on "The Jewellery Channel" - the television jewellery channel owned by STS Jewels international.

Derek is currently editing his new showreel for 2018

George Traill was born on 12 February 1853 in Dunfermline, Fife, Scotland, UK. He was an actor, known for Wuthering Heights (1920), Towards the Light (1918) and Angel Esquire (1919). He died in 1929 in St. Pancras, London, England, UK.

Billy Burns is from Scotland, UK. He played semi-pro American football for the Fife 49er's ('93 - '96) and the Nebraska Wildcats in 2008, Los Angeles Falcons in 2011. He served in Her Majesty's Royal Navy as a Marine Engineering Mechanic. He worked for Fox TV as a cable puller for the Scottish Claymores American Football team. He is a proficient soccer player and an award-winning billiards and darts player. He is a licensed forklift operator, experienced motorcyclist and has worked as a machinist, a motorcycle renovator and builder, computer technician for SunMicro Systems and as a multiple bar manager. He is in a relationship with Writer/Producer/Director, Heather Hale.

David Hutchison was born on 18 August 1897 in Dunfermline, Fife, Scotland, UK. He was an actor, known for The Mikado (1926). He died on 6 February 1961 in Esher, Surrey, England, UK.

George Cunningham was born on 10 June 1931 in Dunfermline, Fife, Scotland, UK. He was married to Mavis Walton. He died on 27 July 2018.

Rab Wardell was born on 15 June 1985 in Dunfermline, Fife, Scotland, UK. He was a producer, known for Old Enough to Know Better (2021), Fast Talk (2016) and West Highland Way (2020). He died on 23 August 2022 in Glasgow, Scotland, UK.

Tom Bower was born on 24 December 1941 in Dunfermline, Fife, Scotland, UK. He died on 26 August 2014 in Texas, USA.

Kevin McCrae was born on 28 January 1980 in Dunfermline, Fife, Scotland, UK. Kevin is a producer, known for The War on Democracy (2007), Life Beyond Earth (2021) and The Dark Side of Porn (2005).

Sheena McDonald was born on 25 July 1954 in Dunfermline, Fife, Scotland, UK. She is an actress and producer, known for McLibel! (1997), Great Performances (1971) and TECX (1990).

Ian Whyte was born on 13 August 1901 in Dunfermline, Fife, Scotland, UK. He was a composer, known for Bonnie Prince Charlie (1948), Highland Doctor (1943) and Power for the Highlands (1943). He died on 27 March 1961 in Glasgow, Scotland, UK.