Sam Heughan

Scottish actor Sam Heughan gradually established his name in a string of contemporary historical TV dramas before travelling further back in time to the 18th Century when he was cast as the hero of fantasy series "Outlander" (Starz 2014-). Born in Dumfries and Galloway, Heughan graduated from the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama in 2003 and initially focused on theatre work until he made his small screen debut playing a spy sent back to the Channel Islands on a reconnaissance mission in World War II epic "Island At War" (ITV1 2004). In 2005, Heughan appeared as Livingston FC footballer Andrew Murray in three episodes of Scottish soap opera "River City" (BBC Scotland 2002-) and subsequently portrayed real-life figures John Tunstall, the first man killed in the Lincoln County War, in docudrama "The Wild West" (BBC1 2006), and Edward McNally, the army nurse corporal lover of Lord Montagu in the decriminalisation of homosexuality tale "A Very British Sex Scandal" (Channel 4 2007). Following guest appearances in detective series "Midsomer Murders" (ITV1 1997-) and "Rebus" (ITV 2000-07) and a two-episode stint in parliamentary drama "Party Animals" (BBC2 2007), Heughan joined the cast of daytime soap opera "Doctors" (BBC1 2000-) as Nurse Cherry Malone's secret drug-dealing boyfriend Scott Neilson. After playing Charles Fletcher, the first doctor to administer penicillin to a patient, in one-off medical drama "Breaking The Mould" (BBC4 2009), Heughan continued to take on biographical roles in Battle of Britain drama "First Light" (BBC2 2010) as the youngest ever Spitfire pilot, Geoffrey 'Boy' Wellum; and in ancient historical epic "Young Alexander The Great" (2010) as the titular Greek king. Heughan then landed the part of Lieutenant McStay in the BAFTA-winning adaption of William Boyd's 20th Century-spanning novel "Any Human Heart" (BBC2 2010); a husband struggling to deal with the mysterious disappearance of his wife in psychological neo-noir "Emulsion" (2010); and Ashton Prince of Castlebury in romantic comedy-drama "A Princess For Christmas" (2011). After a three-year period treading the boards, Heughan returned to TV screens as Jamie Fraser, the dashing worldly hero of time-travelling fantasy adventure "Outlander" (Starz 2014-) and played one of eight actors who travel to the Arctic Circle to film Ibsen's The Lady From The Sea in meta-comedy "Heart Of Lightness" (2014).