John Scot Barrowman was born on 11 March 1967 and is a Scottish-American actor, author, presenter, singer and comic book writer.
77 Facts About John Barrowman
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John Barrowman is known for his role as Captain Jack Harkness in Doctor Who and Torchwood, and as Malcolm Merlyn in the Arrowverse.
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Alongside his theatrical career, John Barrowman has appeared in films such as the musical biopic De-Lovely and musical comedy The Producers.
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John Barrowman has had a number of guest roles in television programmes both in the US and the UK.
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John Barrowman hosted the BBC One quiz show Pressure Pad in 2013 and 2014.
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John Barrowman starred in The CW's Arrow and Legends of Tomorrow as Malcolm Merlyn.
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John Barrowman is featured on more than 12 musical theatre recordings, including cover tunes found on his 2007 album Another Side and 2008's Music Music Music.
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John Barrowman has published two memoirs and autobiographies, Anything Goes and I Am What I Am, with his older sister Carole as co-author.
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John Scot Barrowman was born in Mount Vernon, Glasgow, on 11 March 1967, the youngest of three children.
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John Barrowman lived in Glasgow for the first eight years of his life.
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John Barrowman's mother was a singer who worked in a record shop, while his father was employed by the Caterpillar heavy machinery company in nearby Uddingston.
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The family settled in Joliet, Illinois, where John Barrowman attended Joliet West High School in the heart of a "quintessentially middle-class conservative town".
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John 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".
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John Barrowman spent his senior year shovelling coal for an Illinois power company.
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John Barrowman's father had arranged the job to give him the experience of manual labour.
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John Barrowman graduated from high school in 1985, and he later became a naturalised US citizen while retaining his British citizenship.
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John Barrowman then attended DePaul University, studying voice for a semester, before performing at the Opryland theme park in Nashville, Tennessee for two summer seasons.
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John Barrowman then transferred to the United States International University in January 1988, where he studied performing arts.
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John 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.
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John Barrowman has appeared 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.
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John Barrowman was part of the musical Godspell in 1994, and was a soloist in two songs, "We Beseech Thee" and "On The Willows".
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John Barrowman played Joe Gillis in Sunset Boulevard in the West End and, briefly, on Broadway.
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In 2002, John Barrowman appeared as Bobby in Sondheim's Company in the Kennedy Center's Stephen Sondheim Celebration.
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On March 23 of 2002 John 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.
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John 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.
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John Barrowman starred in pantomime productions of Cinderella at the New Wimbledon Theatre and in Jack and the Beanstalk at Cardiff's New Theatre.
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John Barrowman presented Andrew Lloyd Webber's 60th birthday party in London's Hyde Park on 14 September 2008.
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From 1993 to 1994, John Barrowman reported on technology news as the host of the Electric Circus segment of the show.
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John Barrowman appeared on the children's television game show, The Movie Game from 1994 to 1996, taking over from Jonathon Morris.
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John Barrowman was one of the regular presenters on Channel 5's afternoon show 5's Company from 1997 to 1999.
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John Barrowman read bedtime stories on the CBeebies channel between 1 and 5 May 2006.
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On 11 and 18 February 2007, John Barrowman guest-presented two editions of Elaine Paige on Sunday, a pre-recorded BBC Radio 2 weekly musical theatre and film music showcase.
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In 2007, John Barrowman was a judge on the BBC One TV series Any Dream Will Do, hosted by Graham Norton.
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John Barrowman guested on the BBC Two comedy panel quiz show Never Mind the Buzzcocks, challenging host Simon Amstell to a "gay-off".
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John Barrowman guested on Al Murray's Happy Hour, The Charlotte Church Show, and Friday Night with Jonathan Ross.
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On 27 July 2007, John Barrowman guest hosted The Friday Night Project, on Channel 4.
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In 2008 John Barrowman presented a primetime BBC game show called The Kids Are All Right.
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On 1 March 2008, John Barrowman appeared as a panellist of the Eurovision Song Contest selection show, Eurovision: Your Decision on BBC 1 with Carrie Grant and Terry Wogan.
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In 2008, John Barrowman became the presenter for Animals at Work, a children's television show on CBBC that showcases "animals with extraordinary skills that make people's lives easier and safer"; Animals at Work began in 2009 with 26 episodes.
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In February 2010, John Barrowman appeared as a guest host on UK shopping channel QVC.
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In 2011, John Barrowman guest hosted the Christmas special of Never Mind the Buzzcocks.
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In 2012, John Barrowman guest presented three episodes of This Morning with Kate Thornton.
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In July 2012, John Barrowman co-hosted the G4's 2012 Live Comic Con in San Diego with Candace Bailey.
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In 2013, John Barrowman began hosting the BBC One game show Pressure Pad and in 2014, he hosted Channel 4 show Superstar Dogs: Countdown to Crufts, which began airing on 17 February 2014.
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In 2014, John Barrowman hosted the Channel 4 programme Small Animal Hospital and in October 2016, he was a guest team captain for an episode of Celebrity Juice and he guest presented an episode of The One Show.
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John Barrowman was considered for the role of Will in Will and Grace, but the producers reportedly felt he was "too straight" and the role eventually went to straight actor Eric McCormack instead.
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On 25 March 2008, John Barrowman made a guest appearance in episode 22 of the BBC's Hotel Babylon.
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John Barrowman starred in the ABC drama series pilot Gilded Lillys created and produced by Shonda Rhimes.
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Since 2012, John Barrowman has portrayed Malcolm Merlyn, one of the main antagonists in The CW series Arrow.
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John Barrowman was a recurring cast member for the first two seasons and was promoted to a main cast member beginning with the third season.
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John Barrowman appeared as Ben Carpenter in the low-budget film Shark Attack 3: Megalodon.
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John Barrowman co-presented and performed in the BBC One series The Sound of Musicals.
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John Barrowman took part in the reality television series Dancing on Ice on ITV1 in January and February 2006.
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John Barrowman was one of five celebrity guests on the Strictly Come Dancing Christmas Special, and achieved both the top score and first place when the audience vote had been counted.
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On 12 November 2018, John Barrowman was confirmed to be participating in that year's series of I'm a Celebrity.
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John Barrowman eventually finished third behind Emily Atack and Harry Redknapp.
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John Barrowman got the role when he was introduced to his friend's partner who was a Mattel employee at a restaurant in Palm Springs, California.
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John Barrowman played recurring guest character Captain Jack Harkness, a pansexual time traveller from the 51st century in the BBC science fiction drama Doctor Who when the series was revived in 2005.
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John Barrowman participated in a Doctor Who special on the BBC's The Weakest Link.
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In 2010, John Barrowman returned to Doctor Who with a cameo in "The End of Time" along with other previous stars.
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In January 2020, John Barrowman made a surprise appearance in "Fugitive of the Judoon", the fifth episode of Doctor Who's twelfth series.
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John Barrowman appeared again in the 2021 New Year's Day special "Revolution of the Daleks".
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In 2009, John Barrowman published I Am What I Am, his second memoir detailing his recent television work and musings on fame.
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John Barrowman's first published work of original fiction was a Torchwood comic strip, titled Captain Jack and the Selkie, co-written with sister Carole.
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John Barrowman worked with Stonewall, a gay rights organisation in the UK, on the "Education for All" campaign against homophobia in schools.
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John Barrowman was voted Entertainer of the Year in 2006 by Stonewall, and placed on the "Out 100" list for 2008, an annual list of notable LGBT people compiled by Out magazine.
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In June 2010, John Barrowman met with then-Conservative Party leader and Prime Minister David Cameron as a representative of the LGBT community.
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John Barrowman was one of 48 British celebrities who signed a public notice warning voters against Conservative Party policy towards the BBC prior to the 2010 general election.
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John Barrowman publicly supported Scotland remaining in the United Kingdom in the 2014 Scottish independence referendum, and was one of 200 public figures who were signatories to a letter to The Guardian opposing Scottish independence.
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John Barrowman is known for speaking in his American accent while in public but switching back to his original Scottish accent when with his family.
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John Barrowman uses it when in Scotland and when speaking to another Scottish person.
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John Barrowman met his husband, Scott Gill, after Gill came to see John Barrowman in a production of Rope at the Chichester Festival Theatre in 1993.
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In 2011, John Barrowman released his own skin care line, titled HIM.
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Neighbours and fans showed up for the occasion, with John Barrowman documenting most of the day on his social media accounts.
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On 30 November 2008, John Barrowman allegedly exposed himself during an episode of Radio 1's Switch programme.
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On 7 May 2021, John Barrowman issued a statement that read:.
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On 23 November 2021, John Barrowman appeared on the daytime TV show Lorraine.