Sharman Macdonald (Dramatist) - Pics, Videos, Dating, & News Sharman Macdonald Female Born Feb 8, 1951 Sharman Macdonald is a Scottish playwright, screenwriter, and former actress. She is the mother of the film actress Keira Knightley. related links Photos View newly released photos of Sharman Macdonald. Keira Knightley Gets Married! Details Of Her Low Key French Wedding Here Ok Magazine - May 04, 2013 ' \n Keira Knightley practically skipped out of the town hall in Mazan, France where she and James Righton got married on Saturday, May 4. \n The happy couple, who got engaged a year ago, exchanged vows in front of around a dozen guests, including Keira\'s mother, <mark>Sharman MacDonald</mark>, and James\' father, Nicholas, and brother, Bill. \n In keeping with the low-key tone of the day, Keira wore a Chanel jacket over her strapless white tulle dress, and she adorned her hair with a deli...

This Is Where We Got To When You Came In, Bush Theatre The Arts Desk Google News - Sep 18, 2011 'Stephen Poliakoff, <mark>Sharman Macdonald</mark>, Jonathan Harvey amongst many others made their stage-writing entrance within its modest portals. Forgive me while I get a little bit slushy here. Memories are flooding in.

The Bush has seen innumerable world' Complicated Romance In The Edge Of Love Gulfnews.Com Google News - Sep 16, 2011 'The plot Written by Keira&#39;s playwright mother, <mark>Sharman Macdonald</mark>, the film is loosely based on David Thomas&#39;s book, Dylan Thomas: A Farm, Two Mansions and a Bungalow, about the liaisons and complicated love life of the famous' Celebrity Of The Day: 'a Dangerous Method' Star Keira Knightley Globe And Mail Google News - Sep 11, 2011 'The daughter of actor Will Knightley and playwright <mark>Sharman Macdonald</mark>, Knightley sees herself as a child of the theatre, and she looked forward to wrapping her tongue around the script&#39;s complex dialogue. (She&#39;s currently working on her next project,' Learn about the memorable moments in the evolution of Sharman Macdonald. CHILDHOOD 1951 Birth Born on February 8, 1951.

TWENTIES 1972 21 Years Old Macdonald was born in Glasgow, and educated at the University of Edinburgh, from which she graduated in 1972. … Read More She credits fellow Scot Ian Charleson with supporting and encouraging her to follow her theatrical aspirations, and she later contributed a chapter to the 1990 book, For Ian Charleson: A Tribute. Macdonald moved to London after university, and worked as an actress with the 7:84 Theatre Company and at the Royal Court Theatre. Although her acting career included 7 years of television work, she eventually left it, due in large part to stage fright. Read Less THIRTIES 1984 33 Years Old While working as an actress, Macdonald wrote her first play, When I Was a Girl, I Used to Scream and Shout; it was first performed at the Bush Theatre in 1984, and won her the Evening Standard Award for most promising playwright. … Read More Some of the themes in Scream and Shout were inspired by games that her son, Caleb, played with his friends.

Of this, Macdonald has said that "it's the result of a bet, this writing life. I was desperate for a second child. Desperate never to act again. Most of all desperate to stop eating lentils, French bread and tomatoes. We were broke, Will and me. We had one child. My hormones were screaming at me to have another. So. Will bet me a child for the sale of a script". Read Less FORTIES 1991 40 Years Old Her other work includes The Brave, commissioned by the Bush Theatre; When We Were Women, first performed at the Cottesloe Theatre; All Things Nice, commissioned by the English Stage Company and first performed at the Royal Court Theatre in 1991; The Winter Guest, which was made into a film, in 1997, directed by Alan Rickman; The Girl With Red Hair (2005), which had its first reading in August 2003; and Windfall a film adaptation of Penny Vincenzi's best-selling novel PiVotal Pictures.

FIFTIES 2006 55 Years Old She has written two plays for the National Theatre's Shell Connections programme; After Juliet (in which Macdonald's daughter starred as a young girl), and 2006's Broken Hallelujah. … Read More Macdonald's resume also includes the novels The Beast (1986) and Night Night (1988), the radio plays (for the BBC) such as Sea Urchins and Gladly My Cross Eyed Bear (1999), the libretto to Hey Persephone!, performed at Aldeburgh with music by Deirdre Gribbin, and Lu Lah, Lu Lah (2010) commissioned for a young all-female cast and performed at the Cheltenham Ladies' College in Cheltenham.<br /><br /> Macdonald is married to the actor Will Knightley. They have two children, Caleb and Keira Knightley. Read Less Original Authors of this text are noted on . Sharman Macdonald - Literature Literature Faber and Faber Ltd Biography Playwright and novelist Sharman Macdonald was born in Glasgow in 1951.

Educated at the University of Edinburgh, she graduated in 1972 and moved to London where she acted with the 7:84 theatre company and at the Royal Court Theatre. While she was working as an actress, she wrote her first play, When I Was a Girl, I Used to Scream and Shout (1985), first performed at the Bush Theatre in 1984. The play won the Evening Standard Award for Most Promising Playwright. Her other plays include The Brave, commissioned by the Bush Theatre; When We Were Women, first performed at the Cottesloe Theatre; All Things Nice (1991), commissioned by the English Stage Company and performed at the Royal Court Theatre in 1991; The Winter Guest (1998), commissioned and directed by Alan Rickman and filmed in 1997 starring Emma Thompson and Phyllida Law; and After Juliet (1999), a sequel to Romeo and Juliet dealing with Rosalind's story after the death of Juliet, commissioned by the Royal National Theatre for the BT National Connections Scheme for young people.

Her new play, The Girl with Red Hair (2003), premiered at Traverse, Edinburgh in 2003, transferring to London. She is also the author of two novels, The Beast (1986) and Night Night (1988), and wrote the screenplay for Wild Flowers (1989) for Channel 4 Television and the BBC Radio play Sea Urchins (1998). A further radio play, Gladly My Cross Eyed Bear, was broadcast in 1999. She wrote the libretto to Hey Persephone!, performed at Aldeburgh with music by Deirdre Gribbin. Sharman Macdonald has two children, and is married to the actor Will Knightley. Her latest work is Wartime Drama When We Were Lovers, performed at the Orange Tree Theatre in September 2015 Critical perspective Sharman MacDonald's career as a writer had an interesting start. As a young actress working in London in the 1970s and 1980s, she was plagued by stage fright and desperate to give up acting.

She and her husband Will Knightley had one child, Caleb, and although MacDonald was keen for another baby, they could not afford to expand their family. She turned her attention to writing plays, and her husband made a bet - if she sold a play, they could afford another child. Consequently, MacDonald wrote her first play, When I Was a Girl I Used to Scream and Shout (1985). It was a success - and also led to the birth of her daughter, future actress Keira Knightley. MacDonald's plays are domestic and emotionally poignant, contemplative rather than action-packed. She is skilled at emotional exploration: her characters are authentic, complex and multi-faceted, and her dialogue is quietly penetrating and captivating. Thus, while MacDonald's plays are quiet and gentle on the surface, she delves sharply into the emotional and psychological depths of her characters' lives. She regards the family as a microcosm of society, and thus her intimate domestic portraits indirectly comment on the wider world: 'If we don't study the family, how can we understand the wider power plays in society? It's in the family that it all begins' (MacDonald interviewed in The Guardian, 17 March 2005).

Her main emphasis is on the lives and experiences of women, with a particular empTasis on mother-daughter relationships, and the tensions and difficulties that tend to be embedded within these relationships. Her settings are frequently grey and dreary Scottish towns, which heighten the intensity of the family dramas. When I Was a Girl I Used to Scream and Shout was inspired partly by MacDonald's relationship with her own mother, although the story is not autobiographical. It features 30-something Fiona and her mother Morag, on holiday together in the same Scottish coastal town where Fiona had experienced a cold, lonely childhood. The story goes back and forth between the present time and 17 years earlier, when 15-year-old Fiona deliberately got pregnant in order to sabotage her mother's plans for re-marriage. The absence of Fiona's deserter father makes the one-to-one nature of the mother-daughter relationship all the more intense.

Like most of MacDonald's work, When I Was a Girl de-mystifies mother love, offering a raw and honest look at its intensity and self-sacrifice, along with the resentment and bitterness that can hover beneath the surface, and the mother's need for validation from the child: 'MORAG: The midwife held you up. You looked right at me. You didn't cry. No, madam. Not you [...] You wouldn't suck. I tried to feed you. I did everything that was proper. You'd take nothing from me.' (When I Was a Girl) MacDonald continues to explore domestic themes and family relationships in subsequent plays, such as When We Were Women (first published in When I Was a Girl, I Used to Scream and Shout and Other Plays, 1990) and All Things Nice (1991). Another of her most well-known works is The Winter Guest (first published in Plays One, 1995), which was adapted into a feature film in 1997, starring real-life mother and daughter Phyllida Law and Emma Thompson.

Again it explores an intense and ambivalent mother-daughter relationship - Elspeth is visiting her recently widowed daughter Frances, and though the former wishes to offer support, their relationship is fraught with tension. MacDonald once again is not afraid to show that mother love does not always come easily, nor does it always flow unconditionally. As Elspeth looks back on giving birth to Frances, she articulates not only the shock of new motherhood but also, later on, the equally painful process of letting go of one's adult child: 'ELSPETH: Looking after a person, being responsible for them. That's hard learnt [...] You taught me to care, my God. Demanded that I ... that I care. With your screaming and your crying and your wee hands that beat at me and grabbed at me [...] Just because you're all grown up. I've to stop? All that caring. I've to stop?' (The Winter Guest in Plays One, 1995) After Juliet (1999) is MacDonald's own sequel to Romeo and Juliet, following the story of Juliet's cousin Rosaline after the death of the two famous lovers.

It was commissioned by the Royal National Theatre for the BT National Connections Scheme for Young People, and has proved particularly popular in school drama departments. MacDonald's approach, with its accessible dialogue, believable teenage characters and moments of comedy, gives the story a fresh appeal for a young, modern-day audience, as After Juliet reveals the fragility of the truce between the two families: 'VALENTINE: I see a spitting cat / In your eyes, Rosaline. / I don't see a truce' (After Juliet) The Girl With Red Hair (2003) has been highly acclaimed. Once again, it explores mother-daughter love in a Scottish coastal setting, though this time it is more tragic: 17-year-old Roslyn, the red-headed girl of the title, has been killed in a car accident a year previously, and the play explores not only the devastating grief of her mother, but the impact on the whole community. The intensity of the subject-matter is lightened by touches of humour and the gradual suggestion that the bereaved may begin to heal, learn to love again and move forward with their lives.

MacDonald's next project was a screenplay, originally called The Best Time of Our Lives but eventually re-titled The Edge of Love. It was released as a feature film in 2008, starring MacDonald's daughter Keira Knightley along with Sienna Miller, Matthew Rhys and Cillian Murphy. Set during World War II, it is the story of Dylan and Caitlin Thomas and their friends, Vera Phillips and William Killick. The Edge of Love was not intended as a biopic of Dylan Thomas' entire life story, for it spans just a few years and focuses on the dynamics between all four characters. MacDonald uses this period in the poet's life as a vehicle to explore the boundaries, ambiguities and complexities of friendship and sexual relationships. She is particularly interested in the friendship between the two women, which is complicated by the fact that Vera was Dylan's childhood sweetheart. The research for the screenplay was aided by film student Rebekah Gilbertson, the real-life grand-daughter of Vera and William.

Elizabeth O'Reilly, 2010 sharman macdonald : definition of sharman macdonald and synonyms of sharman macdonald (English) 5 External links Career Macdonald was born in Glasgow , and educated at the University of Edinburgh , from which she graduated in 1972. She credits fellow Scot Ian Charleson with supporting and encouraging her to follow her theatrical aspirations, and she later contributed a chapter to the 1990 book, For Ian Charleson: A Tribute. [1] Macdonald moved to London after university, and worked as an actress with the 7:84 Theatre Company and at the Royal Court Theatre . Although her acting career included 7 years of television work, she eventually left it, due in large part to stage fright. [2] While working as an actress, Macdonald wrote her first play, When I Was a Girl, I Used to Scream and Shout; it was first performed at the Bush Theatre in 1984, and won her the Evening Standard Award for most promising playwright. Some of the themes in Scream and Shout were inspired by games that her son, Caleb, played with his friends.

Of this, Macdonald has said that "it's the result of a bet, this writing life. I was desperate for a second child. Desperate never to act again. Most of all desperate to stop eating lentils, French bread and tomatoes. We were broke, Will and me. We had one child. My hormones were screaming at me to have another. So. Will bet me a child for the sale of a script". [3] Her other work includes The Brave, commissioned by the Bush Theatre ; When We Were Women, first performed at the Cottesloe Theatre ; All Things Nice, commissioned by the English Stage Company and first performed at the Royal Court Theatre in 1991; The Winter Guest , which was made into a film, in 1997, directed by Alan Rickman ; The Girl With Red Hair (2005), which had its first reading in August 2003; and Windfall a film adaptation of Penny Vincenzi's best-selling novel PiVotal Pictures.

She has written two plays for the National Theatre 's Shell Connections programme; After Juliet (in which Macdonald's daughter starred as a young girl), and 2006's Broken Hallelujah. Macdonald's resume also includes the novels The Beast (1986) and Night Night (1988), the radio plays (for the BBC ) such as Sea Urchins and Gladly My Cross Eyed Bear (1999), the libretto to Hey Persephone! , performed at Aldeburgh with music by Deirdre Gribbin , and Lu Lah, Lu Lah (2010) commissioned for a young all-female cast and performed at the Cheltenham Ladies' College in Cheltenham . Personal life Macdonald is married to the actor Will Knightley . They have two children, Caleb and Keira Knightley .

Selected writings When I Was a Girl, I Used to Scream and Shout (1984, stage play) The Beast (1986, gently surreal novel about a family picnic at Kenwood in Hampstead) Collins, ISBN 0-00-223021-6 The Brave (1988, stage play) Night Night (1988, novel about a 1980s family in emotional freefall) Collins, ISBN 0-00-223311-8 Soft Fall the Sounds of Eden (2004, radio play) References ^ Ian McKellen, Alan Bates, Hugh Hudson, et al. For Ian Charleson: A Tribute . London: Constable and Company, 1990. pp. 63–67.

^ Getting There: Sharman Macdonald , National Theatre , as-appeared in Stagewrite (Summer 1999) External links Keira Knightley — Ethnicity of Celebs | What Nationality Ancestry Race by ethnic on February 23, 2010 Birth Name: Keira Christina Knightley Place of Birth: Richmond Upon Thames, Surrey, England, U.K. Date of Birth: 26 March, 1985 Ethnicity: English, Scottish, Welsh Keira Knightley is a British actress. She is famous for starring in the film Bend It Like Beckham, and the Pirates of the Caribbean trilogy, among many other roles. Keira is married to musician James Righton . She is the daughter of playwright Sharman MacDonald and actor Will Knightley (Kevin William Knightley). Her father is English. Her mother, who was born in Scotland, is of Scottish and Welsh ancestry. Her brother, Caleb Knightley, has also worked in film. She was meant to be named “Kiera”, after a Russian ice skater, Kira Ivanova. Her mother misspelt the name when registering her birth.

Keira’s paternal grandparents were William Francis Knightley (the son of Frederick William Knightley and Caroline Margaret Pepper) and Violet Grace Jones. Frederick was the son of Charles Knightley and Sarah Ann Astle. Caroline was the daughter of John Pepper and Bridget. Keira’s maternal grandparents were Joseph Henry Hosgood MacDonald (the son of William Hearson H. MacDonald and Mary McDonald) and Janet Rewat Williams. Joseph was born in England, and had Scottish ancestry. Janet had Welsh ancestry. Sources: Genealogies of Keira Knightley – Article about Keira’s mother’s family – photo by Featureflash / Shutterstock.com neiltennant August 23, 2015 at 6:37 am She is not the typical british girl i looked at so many discussions and every time some speaks about the so called DARK BRITS Cheryl Cole, Vic Beckham and Keira Knightley are mentioned !

but this is not very accurate and reliable i was in Britain years and years again and never seen Brits with that dark features without having Italian, Sephardic Jewish or other varieties therefore I think there must be more research in the ethnic background of those mentioned people stonelord November 1, 2015 at 11:19 am I live in Britain and many, many people are dark haired and dark eyed, especially in the west (Cornwall, Devon) and in Wales, though you can find the type anywhere. I am myself and most of my family through several generations Sharman Macdonald - Alchetron, The Free Social Encyclopedia I Live my life to the Fullest!!! coz you know you only get one !!! Sharman Macdonald Spouse Will Knightley (m. 1976) Period 1984–present Born 8 February 1951 (age 64) Glasgow, Scotland, U.K.

(1951-02-08) Occupation Playwright, screenwriter, former actress Alma mater University of Edinburgh Genre Drama, fiction, libretto, radio drama, screenplay Subject Mother/daughter relationships Children Keira Knightley, Caleb Knightley Movies The Edge of Love, The Winter Guest, Wild Flowers Books The Girl with Red Hair, All Things Nice, Shades Plays After Juliet, When I Was A Girl - I Used To, The Winter Guest Similar People Will Knightley, Keira Knightley, Caleb Knightley, James Righton, John Maybury Sharman Macdonald (born 8 February 1951) is a Scottish playwright, screenwriter, and former actress. Life and career Macdonald was born in Glasgow, the daughter of Janet Rewat (nee Williams) and Joseph Henry Hosgood MacDonald. She has Scottish and Welsh ancestry. Macdonald was educated at the University of Edinburgh, from which she graduated in 1972. She credits fellow Scot Ian Charleson with supporting and encouraging her to follow her theatrical aspirations, and she later contributed a chapter to the 1990 book, For Ian Charleson: A Tribute.

Macdonald moved to London after university, and worked as an actress with the 7:84 Theatre Company and at the Royal Court Theatre. Although her acting career included 7 years of television work, she eventually left it, due in large part to stage fright. While working as an actress, Macdonald wrote her first play, When I Was a Girl, I Used to Scream and Shout; it was first performed at the Bush Theatre in 1984, and won her the Evening Standard Award for most promising playwright. Some of the themes in Scream and Shout were inspired by games that her son, Caleb, played with his friends. Of this, Macdonald has said that "it's the result of a bet, this writing life. I was desperate for a second child. Desperate never to act again. Most of all desperate to stop eating lentils, French bread and tomatoes. We were broke, Will and me. We had one child. My hormones were screaming at me to have another. So. Will bet me a child for the sale of a script".

Her other work includes The Brave, commissioned by the Bush Theatre; When We Were Women, first performed at the Cottesloe Theatre; All Things Nice, commissioned by the English Stage Company and first performed at the Royal Court Theatre in 1991; The Winter Guest, which was made into a film, in 1997, directed by Alan Rickman; The Girl With Red Hair (2005), which had its first reading in August 2003; and Windfall a film adaptation of Penny Vincenzi's best-selling novel PiVotal Pictures. She has written two plays for the National Theatre's Shell Connections programme; After Juliet (in which Macdonald's daughter Keira starred as a young girl), and 2006's Broken Hallelujah.

Macdonald's resume also includes the novels The Beast (1986) and Night Night (1988), the radio plays (for the BBC) such as Sea Urchins and Gladly My Cross Eyed Bear (1999), the libretto to Hey Persephone!, performed at Aldeburgh with music by Deirdre Gribbin, and Lu Lah, Lu Lah (2010) commissioned for a young all-female cast and performed at the Cheltenham Ladies' College in Cheltenham. Personal life Macdonald is married to the actor Will Knightley. They have two children, Caleb and actress Keira Knightley.

Selected writings When I Was a Girl, I Used to Scream and Shout (1984, stage play) The Beast (1986, gently surreal novel about a family picnic at Kenwood in Hampstead) Collins, ISBN 0-00-223021-6 The Brave (1988, stage play) When We Were Women (stage play) Night Night (1988, novel about a 1980s family in emotional freefall) Collins, ISBN 0-00-223311-8 Soft Fall the Sounds of Eden (2004, radio play) VisitScotland highlights celebrities with Scottish roots - Holyrood Partnership : Holyrood Partnership VisitScotland highlights celebrities with Scottish roots VisitScotland highlights celebrities with Scottish roots Blog Edinburgh PR agency digs out the genealogy surprises of famous people with proud Scottish heritage VisitScotland has released their list of the world’s most famous “wannabe Scots” – each of whom can lay claim to having Caledonian heritage. The list was drawn up to highlight the growing popularity of Scottish geneology and its role in the Homecoming Scotland 2009 tourism drive.

Americans: Barack Obama American President Barack Obama is reported to be of Scottish ancestry and has received invitations from First Minister Alex Salmond and Scottish Minister Jim Murphy to return home to celebrate Homecoming 2009. Barack Obama made history when he was voted in as the first black president of the United States of America in November 2008. Democrat Obama will take over from Republican George W Bush later this month (Jan 20 2009). A maternal ancestor of Obama’s, Edward FitzRandolph, is said to have emigrated to America in the 17th century. He is also said to be descended from William the Lion, who ruled Scotland between 1165 and 1214. Donald Trump The world’s most famous businessman Donald Trump’s mother Mary Anne MacLeod hails from Stornoway. She was born in 1912 to fisherman and crofter William and his wife Catherine. The man behind the hit show ‘The Apprentice’ is proud of his Scottish heritage. His Scottish ties inspired him to look at the country for a multi-million pound golf resort.

The billionaire tycoon was recently given permission, after controversy through the planning stages, to build Trump International Golf Links on the Menie Estate, Balmedie, Aberdeenshire. It is said the 1400-acre site will feature two championship-calibre golf course, a five-star hotel, as well as hundreds of homes. Reese Witherspoon Hollywood starlet Reese Witherspoon’s family descend from East Lothian. Born Laura-Jean Reese Witherspoon, the Legally Blonde actress has become one of the world’s best-paid and highly-coveted movie stars in recent years. Reese is a descendant of Scottish-born John Witherspoon, a signatory on the United States Declaration of Independence. John was born in Gifford, Yester, East Lothian in 1723 and emigrated to the United States in 1768. He was the only clergyman and college principal to sign the declaration. The megastar featured in a Scottish Executive backed internet magazine in 2006 to boost Scotland’s popularity. Jennifer Aniston Friends beauty Jennifer Aniston’s mother Nancy Dow is of Scottish descent.

Jennifer became famous in the early 1990s as Rachel Green in the hit sitcom. She has since starred in romantic comedies such as The Break-Up, Along Came Polly and Marley and Me. Nancy, an actress herself, was born in New York City to an Italian mother and Scottish father Gordon McLean Dow. Jennifer and her mother became estranged for nearly a decade after Nancy talked about her famous daughter on a TV show and later wrote a book about their relationship. In 2005, after Jennifer’s divorce from Brad Pitt the pair reconciled. Elvis Presley The King of Rock and Roll famously only ever once touched Scottish land in a flight transfer at Prestwick Airport in 1960 as he flew from the United States to Germany to take part in military service. But the most famous musician of all-time is perhaps less well-known for his Scottish roots. A historian found that his family tree leads back to the Aberdeenshire village of Lonmay, near Fraserburgh.

Andrew Presley, whose parents married in Lonmay in 1713 according to records, emigrated to the United States of America in 1745 with roots linking him to Elvis’ parents, who married in 1933 and later gave birth to the world’s most famous musician. Johnny Cash Legendary country and western singer and song-writer Johnny Cash’s family descended from Scotland. The Cash clan arrived in the New World from Scotland during the 17th century, after mariner William Cash sailed the Atlantic and settled in Salem, Massachusetts, in 1612. But the singer’s Scottish roots go back further and can be traced to Ada of Warenne, the sister of Malcolm IV. Church records show that Malcolm IV’s niece was a Cash, whose husband, the Earl of Fife, was awarded a large estate by the king who ruled Scotland between 1153 and 1165. Johnny Cash once said Scotland was his ‘ancestral home’ on TV. Jay Leno Acclaimed American talk-show host Jay Leno’s mother is of Scottish descent. He was born in 1950 and named James Douglas Muir Leno.

The comedian’s mother Catherine Muir was a filmmaker was born and spent the early years of her life in Greenock before emigrating to the United States at the age of 11. She married Jay’s Italian father Angelo Leno and the pair brought up Jay in Massachusetts. Jay Leno has hosted The Tonight Show for over 20 years. It was recently announced he will host his last show in May but is in talks to remain with the network NBC. Eminem One of the world’s most infamous rappers can trace both sides of his family back to Scotland. Eminem’s – real name Marshall Mathers III – Scottish roots were revealed in 2003. The hip hop star first hit the big time in 1999 with the Slim Shady LP and vowed to retire in 2005 after four solo albums, although he has recently made a comeback. A Highland film company traced his family tree for a documentary Eminem’s Celtic Connections. On his father’s side researchers found a Peter Mathers who married a Scottish woman and an Edinburgh woman named Ailsa McAllister, born in 1847, on his mother’s side of the family.

The surname Mathers is also linked with the Scottish Barclay clan. John Wayne The film star John Wayne hailed from Scottish roots – with both his mother and father being descendants of Scotland. Born Marion Robert Morrison in 1907 to Clyde Leonard Morrison and Mary Alberta Brown, John Wayne became the ultimate American icon starring in over 200 movies and is widely regarded as the most famed cowboy of all time. He died in 1979 after winning Academy and Golden Globe awards for epitomising rugged masculinity and becoming an enduring American icon. A 2007 Harris Poll placed Wayne third among America’s favorite film stars, the only deceased star on the list and the only to appear every year. Gwen Stefani Singer and fashion designer Gwen Stefani has more in common with rocker husband Gavin Rossdale than first meets the eye – the pair can both trace their roots to Scotland. Gwen’s mother, Patti Flynn, is of Scottish and Irish descent. She was born in California and her father Dennis is Italian. Londoner Gavin is said to be half-Scottish and half-Russian.

Gwen Stefani was part of 90s chart-topping band No Doubt and has went on to have a successful singing solo career, as well as being responsible for designing the L.A.M.B. clothing line and products. She has two sons. Eric McCormack Will and Grace star Eric McCormack is of Scottish ancestry. In 2006, the hugely popular TV star launched a search to trace his Scottish roots, wearing a kilt to the Edinburgh Television Festival. The 45-year-old believes his family initially came from Ireland but headed to Scotland around the time of the potato famine and that the McCormack family was part of the bigger Buchanan clan. Eric played gay lawyer Will in the hit show which followed the lives of him and his best friend, interior designer Grace. He has also appeared in movies and on the stage, as well as recording music and owning a production company. Kiefer Sutherland Hollywood hellraiser Kiefer Sutherland was born in London and raised in Canada by parents of Scottish descent.

Kiefer, who is best known for playing Jack Bauer in the hit series 24 and has appeared in over 70 films, has visited his homeland several times and has been spotted partying in some of Edinburgh’s hottest nightspots. He has Scottish ancestry from both parents, Golden Globe award-winning actor Donald Sutherland, who recently featured in hit US show Dirty Sexy Money, and actress Shirley Douglas. He is the grandson of Canadian politician Tommy Douglas. The family’s Scottish roots are said to trace back to Shetland. Neve Campbell Neve Campbell is a well-known TV and film actress, having leading roles in films such as Scream and The Craft and starring in hit 90s sitcom Party of Five. Neve’s father, drama teacher Gerry Campbell, emigrated to Canada aged 11 with his parents from the East End of Glasgow. She performed in a Scottish dance troupe as a child and attended Burns Suppers. Neve has claimed to have seen the ghost of her dead grandmother and attributes her belief in the supernatural to her Scottish heritage; she also credits her pragmatic approach to work and life to her family’s roots. Mike Myers Comedy actor Mike Myers has used his Scottish roots to help create some of his most famous characters.

Cartoon ogre Shrek was originally intended to have Mike’s natural Candian accent but the movie star decided to switch as he believed Scottish people had a great attribute of being able to switch very easily between love and anger – like the character. He also played a Scot baddie in Austin Powers and a Scottish father in So I Married an Axe Murderer. Mike’s parents emigrated to Canada from Liverpool and he claims to be of English, Scottish and Irish ancestry. Joni Mitchell Joni Mitchell is one of Canada’s most celebrated singers, songwriters and painters with a career spanning five decades. Joni was born Roberta Joan Anderson to a Norwegian father Bill Anderson and Myrtle McKee, who is of Scottish and Irish heritage. Her mother was a teacher and her father was an officer in the Royal Canadian Air Force. Her work is highly respected both by critics and fellow musicians. Rolling Stone magazine called her “one of the greatest songwriters ever”. She is most famous for her 1970s hit Big Yellow Taxi and was featured on the soundtrack of the 2003 hit film Love Actually.

Australians: Heath Ledger Late Australian movie star Heath Ledger was half Scottish on his mother Sally’s side and his father Kim has Irish ancestry. His mother is said to descend from the Clan Campbell. The movie star died in New York in 2008 from an accidental overdose of prescription drugs. He portrayed The Joker in his final film Batman: The Dark Knight in a role that has seen him receive several posthumous awards. He is also famed for his roles as a gay cowboy in Brokeback Mountain, a bad boy in 10 Things I Hate About You and a valiant knight in A Knight’s Tale. Dame Nellie Melba Dame Nellie Melba was a legendary opera soprano who died in 1931. Her father was a Scottish building contractor. She was one of the country’s most famous sopranos and the first Australian to gain international recognition. Today she appears on the Australian $100 bill. She was originally named Helen Porter Mitchell. Her father David emigrated to Australia in 1852. The stonemason was responsible for some of Melbourne’s most famed buildings including a church and a college.

Nellie established herself as the prima donna at the Royal Opera House in Covent Garden. She married and had one son. Kimberley Davies Australian soap star Kimberley is most famous for her role as Annalise on hit show Neighbours. The actress is of Scottish descent. Kimberley was born in Victoria in 1973. The 35-year-old appeared on UK reality show I’m A Celebrity… Get Me Out of Here in 2005 and appears in the Daz washing powder soap adverts. She has also starred in hit US sitcom Ally McBeal and soap Pacific Palisades. She is married to Jason Harvey and has two children. The family moved to Los Angeles for nine years but has now returned to Australia. Eddie McGuire Eddie McGuire is a well-known Australian television presenter and businessman known for his long association with Australian Rules Football. Eddie is the son of a Glaswegian coal miner and an Irish farm girl who emigrated to Melbourne in 1958. He has hosted the Australian version of Who Wants to be a Millionaire?, the AFL Footy Show, Nine Network game show 1 vs 100 and he is the president of the Collingwood Football Club.

His television high point has been said to be hosting the 2003 Logie Awards, an Australia TV annual awards show and he went on to host the ceremony in 2004 and 2005. Rose Byrne Rose Byrne is an Australian Golden Globe-nominated actress. Rose was born in 1979 and is of Irish and Scottish descent. She has starred in Star Wars: Episode II – Attack of the Clones and has been the face of Max Factor make-up. The 29-year-old was named in the Most Beautiful People list in 2007 in Who Magazine. Early in her career she appeared on popular Australian soaps Heartbreak High and Echo Point. The 29-year-old was born in Balmain, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. Her parents are Jane, a primary school administrator, and Robin Byrne, a semi-retired statistician and market researcher Oscar-winning actor Russell Crowe is best known off screen for his hell-raising behaviour. The actor is of Scottish, Welsh, Irish, Norwegian and Maori ancestry. He was born in Wellington, New Zealand in 1964 and moved to Australia with his family at an early age.

His parents were on-set caterers and his grandfather a cinematographer. Russell Crowe has appeared in several box office smashes including Gladiator and A Beautiful Mind. Russell is a co-owner of National Rugby League team South Sydney Rabbitohs. He is married to Australian singer and actress Danielle Spencer and the couple has two sons Charlie and Tennyson. Lucie Silvas Pop sensation Lucie Silvas was born in London in 1977 but moved to Auckland, New Zealand aged two and moved back to England aged 13. Lucie’s mother Isabella is Scottish and is an opera singer. She landed a record deal in 2000 and later became a songwriter for the likes of Gareth Gates and Liberty X. Lucie has released two solo albums – What You’re Made Of and The Same Side. She has also sang with Ronan Keating in a show to celebrate the works of Elton John. The family moved to New Zealand after her father found a dream home for sale near a golf course. Frankie Stevens Frankie Stevens, born Francis Donald McKechnie Stevenson, is a New Zealand entertainer currently best known as a judge on all three seasons of New Zealand Idol. He is of mixed Scottish and Maori descent.

At the age of 16 he joined Peter Nelson and the Castaways and went solo in 1969. In 1970 he moved to London and entered Opportunity Knocks six times in a row, sang at the Palladium and the Albert Hall and represented Great Britain in several singing contests. He went on to tour with the likes of Sammy Davis Jnr and Olivia Newton-John before starring in Jesus Christ Superstar. Kate Sheppard Katherine Wilson Sheppard was the most prominent member of the New Zealand’s women’s suffrage movement and remains the country’s most famous suffragette. New Zealand was the first country to introduce universal suffrage so Kate’s work had a considerable impact on other movements throughout the world. She was born in Liverpool in the 1840s to Scottish parents. She was taken to Christchurch in 1869 by her mother and she married a few years later and had a son Douglas. She died in 1934 and today she appears on the country’s $10 bill and there is a memorial exists for her in Christchurch. Helen Clark It has been claimed that New Zealand’s former Prime Minister Helen Clark ancestors hailed from Shetland.

Helen was the 37th New Zealand Prime Minister and served in three successive terms from 1999 to 2008. She led the Labour Party until it lost the 2008 General Election. She is now the party’s foreign affairs spokeswoman and MP for Mount Albert which she has been since 1981. Forbes Magazine ranked her as the 20th most powerfulwoman in the world in 2006. She was the second female Prime Minister of New Zealand and the first to have won an office at election. Europeans: Sarah Connor German singer Sarah Terenzi, known as Sarah Connor, is one of the country’s biggest pop stars. Her mother Soraya Gray was a model of Scottish and German heritage and her father Michael Lewe was an American advertising manager. She has released eight albums since 2001 and has had five number one singles. She became the first act to ever have four consecutive chart-topping hits on the German Media Control singles chart. Sarah was married to American Marc Terenzi of boy band Natural until November 2008 and the couple has two children. The couple had a reality show on German television ‘Sarah and Marc in Love’.

Keira Knightley Classic English rose Keira Knightley is actually of Scottish descent. Her mother, award-winning playwright and former actress Sharman Macdonald is from Glasgow. Sharman wrote the 2008 hit Edge of Love which starred her daughter and debuted at the Edinburgh International Film Festival. Keira found fame in the 2002 British comedy Bend It Like Beckham. Since then she has appeared in hit films including Hollywood blockbuster series Pirates of the Caribbean alongside Orlando Bloom and Jonny Depp, Christmas favourite Love Actually, and several period films including playing Elizabeth Bennett in Pride and Prejudice. Keira has been hired as the face of many luxury brands including Asprey and Chanel. Colin Jackson Welsh sprinter Colin Jackson is of Jamaican, Native American and Scottish ancestry. His great-grandfather Duncan Campbell was part of a large Scottish community that settled in Jamaica and he fathered a child with his housemaid Albertina Wallace. At the time it was not unusual for men to have children with their staff and she was given his house to raise the child. Colin is now a sports commentator after retiring from competing in 2003.

He held the men’s 100m hurdles world record from 1993 to 2006 and was voted BBC Wales Sports Personality of the Year three times. Edvard Grieg Edvard Grieg was a 19th Century Norwegian composer and pianist who composed during the Romantic period. He is best known for his Piano Concerto in A Minor, his incidental music for Henrik Ibsen’s play Peer Gynt and his collection of piano miniatures Lyric Pieces. Edvard drew his inspiration from Norwegian folk music. After the Battle of Culloden his great-grandfather travelled extensively and settled in Norway around 1770. The original spelling of the family’s surname was Greig. An arrangement of part of the Piano Concerto made iconic television comedy in the 1971 Morecambe and Wise Show, conducted by Andre Previn. Douglas Murray Douglas Murray is a Swedish ice hockey player who currently plays for the San Jose Sharks in America’s National Hockey League. His paternal ancestors hail from Scotland and his mother gave all her children British names – Charles, Ted and Roseanna. Douglas recently renewed his contract with the Sharks for four years at an estimated cost of $10 million.

The 28-year-old has served as an alternate captain on the team. He has been a pro ice hockey player since 2003. Douglas is co-founder of and managing partner of Uber Dispensing Company. The company produces the UberTap, a hands-free three-sprout keg tap invented by Murray and several university friends. Award winning public relations Holyrood Partnership provides a wide range of services – inclduing researching and writing stories for use in the media, on websites and beyond. If your business could use our story telling skills to raise your business profile and make your business website more interesting to potential clients and customers, then we’d love to speak with you (we’re a chatty bunch). There are many ways to get in touch with us, including by phoning 0131 561 2244 or just fill in the simple form below and we’ll get straight back to you: Name(required)

Question: Scottish playwright Sharman Macdonald is the mother of which famous English actress?
Answer: Keira Knightly