Mark McGann
| Mark McGann | |
|---|---|
| Born |
12 July 1961 Kensington, Liverpool, Lancashire, England, UK |
| Occupation | Actor, film director, musician |
| Years active | 1981–present |
Mark McGann (born 12 July 1961) is an English actor, director and musician.
Acting career
McGann first appeared on stage in 1981 in the production Lennon at the Everyman Theatre and the London Astoria where he portrayed John Lennon, the role which won him the first of his two Olivier Award nominations for best actor in a West End show. He was later to reprise this role in two other productions, Imagine and the film John and Yoko: A Love Story for NBC television in the United States.
His first television appearance was as 'Mad Dog' in Scully by Alan Bleasdale in 1983 with Cathy Tyson and Elvis Costello. A long career in TV followed seeing him play a wide variety of characters including 'Marcus Bannerman' in the World War I era drama series by Russell T. Davies The Grand in 1999; 'Joseph Bazalgette' the great Victorian industrial engineer in the award winning factual drama/doc Seven Great Industrial Wonders of the World in 2002; and 'Tom Crean' the Irish companion of Ernest Shackleton in Shackleton opposite Kenneth Branagh; and 'Niven Craig' in Peter Medak's Let Him Have It.
He also received acclaim for his role as 'Conor Phelan' in The Hanging Gale a BBC drama set against the backdrop of the Irish Potato Famine of 1846 in which he appeared with his three brothers.
McGann has appeared in many theatre productions including Blood Brothers by Willy Russell in 1984 in which he played 'Mickey', An Inspector Calls by J. B. Priestley for the National Theatre in which he played 'Inspector Goole', and also at the National Theatre in Alan Bleasdale's On the Ledge for which he played 'Upright'; other theatre appearances include Macbeth in Macbeth by William Shakespeare and Mosca in Volpone by Ben Jonson.
Production career
McGann was musical director and principal actor, (along with Gary Olsen and Felicity Montagu) in the musical Up on the Roof, which started out at the Donmar Warehouse before transferring in to the West End and for which he received his second Olivier Award nomination. He went on to star as Gethin Price in Comedians by Trevor Griffiths at the Young Vic; Killers at the Royal Court, and as Don Giovanni in Don Giovanni at Greenwich.
McGann is also a songwriter who has written many original compositions including the original song for the show Up On the Roof and all the original songs on the album The McGanns which he made in 1999 with his brothers Joe and Steve for Coalition/Warner Bros.
He has recently directed versions of new plays by South African writer Peter Krummeck and English writers Colin Swash and Neil A. Edwards for the Oval Theatre, London, Andover Lights Theatre, Hampshire and Greenwich Theatre respectively. McGann also runs Drama Direct Ltd offering a wide variety of creative projects to the entertainment industry.
Personal life
McGann's three brothers (Joe, Paul, and Stephen) are all actors. He lives with his wife Caroline in Frome, Somerset.