John Barrowman: biography, creative career and personal life of the actor

2024 Author: Leah Sherlock | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 05:25

John Scott Barrowman is a popular British-American actor best known for his role as time traveler Captain Jack Harkness in the acclaimed series Doctor Who, as well as the hero of the controversial spin-off Torchwood. Barrowman is also a brilliant theater actor, singer, dancer, presenter and writer.

Childhood and youth

Actor John Barrowman was born on March 11, 1967 in Glasgow, Scotland to a young singer and manager of an Anglo-American tractor factory. John was the youngest child in the family, but the most active and comprehensively developed. The boy loved to spend time playing with his older brother and sister, the actor still has a close and trusting relationship with his family.

In 1976, John's father was transferred to a branch of his firm in Aurora, Illinois. And so began a completely different life, overseas. Johnbegan studying at a new school and, thanks to his teachers, for the first time became seriously interested in art. Throughout his studies, he periodically took part in various school productions and played in musicals. In high school, Barrowman's father helped him get a summer job at an energy company as a digger. He wanted to show the boy the brunt of manual labor and the priority of education. John worked faithfully for this company for a whole summer, but this work never seemed to him particularly attractive.

The beginning of an acting career

After leaving school in 1985, John Barrowman became a student at the United States International University with a degree in acting. According to the actor himself, special education gave him a real start in life and became a turning point in his life. The debut of the young artist took place on the stage of the London theater "West End" in the musical Anything Goes and was enthusiastically received by critics. Further, the actor repeatedly appeared in various productions in the West End and on Broadway. Barrowman's theatrical talent was appreciated when, in 1998, he was nominated for the Laurence Olivier Award for Best Actor in The Fix. The last theatrical work in the "West End" was the role in the play "Cages for Freaks".

Work in cinematography

After a fantastic success in the theater, John Barrowman decided to expand his horizons and comprehend the art of cinema. The artist began his film career in 1995 in the USA with the rolePeter Fairchild in New York, Central Park. After this role, Barrowman played in many films, such as "Titans", "Producers" and others. The cinematic career of the actor slowly but surely went uphill. In 2005, John appeared in the episode "Empty Child", after which he immediately fell in love with the viewer.

Role in Doctor Who

In 2004, John landed the central role of captain and time traveler Jack Hartness in the cult television series Doctor Who. For John Barrowman, this was one of the most successful works. As planned by the writers, Jack Hartness became the first pansexual companion of the Doctor, which caused a considerable outcry in society. Thanks to this fact, Barrowman has become a true symbol of open homosexuality and the freedom to choose a partner, regardless of gender.

The character's popularity grew everywhere, and this was the first impetus for the creation of a full-fledged spin-off "Torchwood", which brought the actor even more popularity. John participated in the projects "Doctor Who" and "Torchwood" for 6 years and was repeatedly awarded for his roles in these series.

Further acting career

In addition to the above series and films, John Barrowman took part in such well-known projects as "Scandal", "Mary", as well as in the series "Desperate Housewives", where he played the role of Patrick Logan. Every year the roles of the artist becomes more and more. He successfully combines theatrical andcinematic career and manages to be in demand literally everywhere.

Recently, the actor could be seen in the sensational film "Target Number One", as well as in the historical film "Gilded Lilies". In addition to his film career, Barrowman is very active in various television projects and entertainment programs. He is equally contagious in pursuing his dream in Any Dream Will Do and masterful in acrobatic pirouettes in Dancing on Ice.

Private life

John Barrowman is openly gay, which was very much reflected in the Torchwood project, where the hero was openly pansexual. Moreover, the actor never hid this fact from the public and even entered into a partnership with his longtime lover, architect Scott Gill, in 2006.

Scott Gill and John Barrowman met back in 1993 at a theater festival. Gill approached the actor to express his admiration for the brilliant performance in the production of Rope, in which Barrowman was then taking part.

The couple live a fairly secluded life at their homes in Cardiff and London. A small and very cozy civil partnership ceremony took place in Cardiff. The parents and other relatives of Scott and John were present, as well as colleagues from the Torchwood series and famous producer Russell Davies. In those years, the actor repeatedly said that his choice was a civil partnership, since he did not see the point in an official marriage. However, on July 2, 2013, Scott Gill and John Barrowman still issuedrelationship officially. The modest ceremony was held with family in the state of California, USA.

Creating a memoir

In 2008, the actor released a book of his memoirs with the telling title Anything Goes, and already in 2009 John's second book I am what I am saw the light of day. In the second book, Barrowman spoke about his work in film and television, about the ups and downs that he had to endure on the way to fame.