Sam Heughan

Life and career

Heughan was born in Balmaclellan, Dumfries and Galloway, Scotland, on 30 April 1980. At the age of five, he moved to nearby New Galloway where he attended Kells Primary School. During this time, he lived in converted stables in the grounds of Castle Kenmure. Moving to Edinburgh aged 12, he attended James Gillespie's High School for a year and then moved to the Edinburgh Rudolph Steiner School till the end of the sixth year. He subsequently spent two years working and travelling, before enrolling at the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama (now the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland) in Glasgow, graduating in 2003.

In 2009, Heughan landed a recurring role as Scott Nielson, the boyfriend of Nurse Cherry Malone and secret drug dealer in the BBC soap opera Doctors. In 2011, he played Prince Ashton in the Hallmark Channel film A Princess for Christmas.

In 2011, he starred in BBC drama First Light and, in 2012, he starred as Batman in the touring stage show Batman Live. During this time he made the news for his assistance in a real-life citizen's arrest.

In 2013, Heughan was cast as Jamie Fraser on the Starz period drama series Outlander. He was the first cast member officially announced, to great praise by the author of the series, Diana Gabaldon, who said, "That man is a Scot to the bone and Jamie Fraser to the heart. Having seen Sam Heughan not just act, but be Jamie, I feel immensely grateful to the production team for their painstaking attention to the soul of the story and characters."

Heughan attributed much of his early success to his participation in youth theatre and, in August 2014, became a patron for YTAS (Youth Theatre Arts Scotland). He supports the charitable organisation's mission, 'to transform lives through youth theatre by providing inspiring participatory opportunities for young people in Scotland.'

In 2016, Heughan was named Barbour's first Global Brand Ambassador. In September of that year he took part in the Great North Run to raise funds for Bloodwise, which he has supported since 2011, and became president of Scotland Bloodwise. Since 2015, he also has his own charitable foundation My Peak Challenge.