- Trained as a drama teacher at the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama.
- His photograph appears in the background of the documentary Lost in La Mancha (2002) on a pinboard: apparently he was cast in Terry Gilliam 's "The Man Who Killed Don Quixote" but did not film any scenes before production was called off.
- Has worked on many voice-overs for documentaries such as Equinox, Horizon and Reputation. He has also worked extensively in radio, and has written and read his own stories for BBC Radio.
- He played King James I in Will Shakespeare (1978) and his son, King Charles I, in The Return of the Musketeers (1989).
- He was nominated for a Laurence Olivier Award in 1982, for his performance as "Schwekyk" in Bertolt Brecht's "Schwekyk in the Second World War", at the National Theatre.
- He was awarded the Outstanding Contribution to Film & Television accolade at the 2015 British Academy Scotland Awards.
- He co stared with Iain Cuthbertson and Imelda Staunton in an 18 minute short called The Pen which was screened at the Edinburgh Film Festival in 1995.
- Received an honorary doctorate from Glasgow University on 28th of June, 2023.
- Made his professional acting debut in 1967 in Bertolt Brecht's 'The Resistible Rise of Arturo Ui' at the Glasgow Citizens Theatre.
- After school, he chose to initially pursue a career based on an interest in architecture and spent three years as a quantity surveyor's apprentice before deciding to attend the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama.
- Raised by his father, a plumber, and his mother, a hairdresser.
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